How to Make a Coconut Oil Centrifuge

There are four types of coconut oil: refined, hydrogenated, fractionated and virgin. Virgin oil is obtained through the fermentation of coconut milk, when the oil separates from the milk. Centrifuges, machines that make substances rotate at a high speed by using a perpendicular force, are often used to complete this separation, similar to the way they separate cream from cow’s milk. With the aid of a manual or automatic centrifuge, you can make virgin coconut oil at home.

Things You'll Need

• Machete
• Blender
• Bowl
• White T-shirt
• Clean bottles

Instructions

1. Select fresh, ripe coconuts and open them with a machete. Use the machete to remove the husk if desired.

2. Cut the coconut’s meat into small pieces, and place the pieces into the blender. Add 3 cups of water for every 2 cups of coconut.

3. Cover a bowl with a T-shirt and put the blended mix on top of it. Press the T-shirt and squeeze it so that coconut milk collects in the bowl. Throw away any leftovers.

4. Place the milk in an environment no hotter than 79 degrees F. Cover with a lid to prevent foreign objects from contaminating the milk.

5. Let the milk rest for about 25 to 35 minutes and then chill until it reaches 50 degrees F in the refrigerator. When you take the milk out, it should look like sour cream with oil floating on top. This marks the end of the fermentation process.

6. Place all the oil into the centrifuge. The milk will go off to one side; throw this away. The pure oil should be on the other side; keep this. If you are using an old centrifuge, the milk will be on the bottom and the oil on top of the vase.

7. Repeat Step 6 as many times as necessary to get rid of all the milk. The more times you repeat it, the purer your oil will be.

8. Pour the oil into clean bottles and use as desired.

References

• Central America Forum: How to Make Virgin Coconut Oil

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Wilderness Family Naturals: Centrifuged Coconut Oil