Coconut oil question.

[greasyspoon42]

I keep my liquid oils out in the garage where I mix my batches. Notice since it is starting to get cooler at night my coconut oil gets a white soildish layer in bottom. I know it is because the temperature is dropping down to where is becoming a soild. But do I need to shake it or mix it up for best results, or is the clear liquid part good enough?

Thanks

 

[Relle]

I keep my liquid oils out in the garage where I mix my batches. Notice since it is starting to get cooler at night my coconut oil gets a white soildish layer in bottom. I know it is because the temperature is dropping down to where is becoming a soild. But do I need to shake it or mix it up for best results, or is the clear liquid part good enough?

Thanks

You need to melt it before you put it in with your other oils and give it a good stir, you can't shake the solid into the liquid, it needs to be all liquid before adding.

 

[greasyspoon42]

I understand and do that. I shake it up and put it in my oils to melt. I was just curious if I could pour without shaking and get the same results.

 

[AliOop]

So you mean using the liquid portion off the top of the bucket? You can do that.

 

[Ekuzo]

I agree with AliOop - you can use the liquid part and there's no need to scoop from the solid as well, as long as you're getting enough for your recipe. It will produce the same results

 

[SoapyBenjamin]

I think what @greasyspoon42 is asking is if the liquid part of the partially solidified soap has the same fatty acid profile as the part that is solid. I.e. is the liquid portion more like fractionated coconut oil? Not 100% certain, but I suspect the answer is no. I think it's just the part that hasn't reached the solidification temps.

 

[Ekuzo]

I think what @greasyspoon42 is asking is if the liquid part of the partially solidified soap has the same fatty acid profile as the part that is solid. I.e. is the liquid portion more like fractionated coconut oil? Not 100% certain, but I suspect the answer is no. I think it's just the part that hasn't reached the solidification temps.

I get the logic behind that, it's not lacking reason - for example some people advise to melt the palm oil completely and stir it really well to make sure you distribute the fatty acids evenly (even though I've never done that and my results are consistent so far). With coconut oil it seems you get more or less the same fatty acid profile in both the liquid and the solid form and people usually don't advise shaking or stirring it to mix it thoroughly. Who knows, maybe it's because the stearic/palmitic content is relatively low and doesn't make much difference (even though it's around 12% combined), or maybe it's something else? Someone who knows more about the science behind that may be able to explain more