Coconut Oil with no taste or smell

Kelly,

Recently, I’ve been using the extra virgin coconut oil to saute my vegetables….. and really, MOST of the flavor is not “coconutty” at all. Last night, I sauteed zucchini in it, and it was delicious! FAR more flavor than simply steaming the zucchini. I also made “fried potatoes and onions” (they’re not really fried – just sauteed until they’re cooked through), and put sea salt and pepper on them – they were MARVELOUS. Those two sides made a wonderful addition to the spinach and bacon quiche I made (with whole, raw dairy and farm eggs). It was a great meal with all the good fats, very satisfying on a dreary rainey day.

But – just wanted to mention – I find that sauteeing the vegetables a good way to use the evco, and the flavor goes away mostly.

I also like to scramble my eggs in the evco – it REALLY is good….. plain scrambled eggs, with sea salt and pepper. It’s interesting.

I am getting away more and more from the unflavored.

[Reply]

Thank you, Kelly for all the great info you provide here!
I have been using/experimenting with coconut oils for 2 years and have tried several brands so I thought I’d share my thoughts.
Spectrum refined coconut oil was the first I tried and we all thought it had an awful, bad flavor.
I found a refined coconut oil at Walmart that has a good “bland” flavor (not coconutty) but I’m not sure of its quality. It’s very cheap – about $3.50 for 16oz.
Tropical Traditions virgin oil is OK but not the best tasting. It almost has a bit of a perfumy aftertaste or something. I have not tried the TT refined oil.
Nutiva virgin oil has a great (mild coconut) flavor and is reasonably priced. I use it the most because I can buy it local at a health food store.
The very best tasting virgin oil is Coconut Oil Supreme (found at Coconut Oil-online.com) – it tastes like the inside of a Mounds bar – this is the one you can eat straight off a spoon (if you like coconut), however it is the most expensive when you include shipping.
Just wanted to share my experiences and hopefully it will help someone in their decision.
I appreciate all you do here and will keep reading!
Amy

[Reply]

Does the spectrum/tropical traditions refined oil really have no taste?? I cannot stand the taste of coconut oil. I am more tolerant of it now but it is still horrid and makes my skin crawl. However I do understand the benefits of lauric acid and the mcfas which I can also get from the refined. I just don’t want it to have any coconut taste!!!

[Reply]

When I give it to the kids to eat off the spoon, I usually add some chocolate chips from Enjoy Life (only three ingredients: evaporated cane juice, Chocolate Liquor, Non-Dairy cocoa Butter – I am still learning, are any of these ingredients bad for you?).

Also, I have found that I can use the healthy strong flavored coconut oils in strong flavored things and not taste the coconut. For example, we use it to brown the onion as well as saute the veggies for our chili (adding veggies makes it stretch for cheaper than adding more meat), and because of the seasonings for the chili, you really cannot taste the coconut oil! I add it to soups that have strong flavors (like tomato and such), and it really is difficult to taste the coconut. Just something to think about. Thanks for ALL the GREAT posts on your blog! I am learning SO MUCH!!

[Reply]

I just visited a local health food store – won’t mention any names…on Eastern and Burton, G.R. – The sales woman there was very very negative about refined coconut oit – she was almost angry with me for even thinking of purchasing it! She told me that I would not get any of the health benefits of the coconut by buying it this way. I told her I could not stomach the un refined stuff – and I thought to myself this has to better than the canola oil my granola recipe calls for. So do we miss that many benefits by using the refined – and also when cooking or baking with it might we actually end up refining coconut oil anyway?

[Reply]

Hi Kelly, me again! I wanted to pass on an idea for those who don’t like the taste of coconut oil.
You and many of your readers know of the “Mary’s oil blend” in Nourishing Traditions. I’ve also tried a blend from Three Stone Hearth that has red palm oil in it. I’ve never liked the taste of palm oil, but maybe the jar I bought was rancid. Anyway, those both gave me the idea to experiment with making ghee (clarified butter) and blending oils, and now my favorite cooking fat is a blend of ghee and coconut oil. After I make ghee, I blend it, while still warm, with about equal parts coconut oil, stir well, put it in a jar, maybe shaking it up from time to time to make sure it stays mixed as it cools, and the result is a wonderful, delicate-tasting, almost neutral but better-tasting fat for sauteeing and frying.

One time when I made it, I accidentally let the butter get too hot when making the ghee, and it didn’t quite burn but it did caramelize a bit. I cooled it down, then it solidified before I could mix it, so I rewarmed it… anyway I eventually filtered this and blended it with coconut oil, and this batch had the most wonderful caramel aroma and hint of caramel flavor. It was unbelievably good. Even the other batches that weren’t caramelized have all been terrific. There seems to be some synergy with blending oils, and the combination with ghee seems to raise the smoking point of the coconut oil. It really is lovely, you should try it. It tastes good enough to put in mashed potatoes as a topping!

[Reply]

I’m so glad!
On the issue of heating and refining… these are two different terms, as I understand it. If you’ve ever seen Sally Fallon do one of her presentations on “The Oiling of America” or traditional diets, she has an impressive chart showing the intricate refining process for standard vegetable oil (canola, soy, safflower, corn, sunflower mainly) and it turns out it’s no coincidence it resembles a petroleum refinery. It’s essentially the same process. These oils are not merely heated, they’re heated at high temperatures under pressure and are bleached, deodorized, catalyzed with various chemicals, what-not. That’s a far cry from simply heating coconut oil to 120 degrees and letting impurities settle out. Of course, we want to make sure our oil isn’t put through anything resembling the industrial processing of the PUFA oils (polyunsaturated fatty acids). I don’t think it’s standard to put coconut oil through all that, it certainly isn’t necessary to extract the oil. I don’t know the details of coconut oil extraction other than what I’ve read on various makers’ websites, such as Tropical Traditions. Bruce Fife may have something on this in one of his books. Basically, while we should pay attention, I think a lot of the concern about coconut oil handling is probably misplaced. But it’s good we’re all sharing information. If someone tried to sneak in deodorizers and bleach and whatnot, we users would surely notice!

[Reply]