Shea okay?

[Drchurchillsoaps]

I received Shea today that came much different than last supplier. I have attached a photo is the white crust on the product. Is this normal?

Cut into it and even stranger

Cut into it and even stranger

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Looks like fat bloom to me. Scrape off a bit of the whitish areas, melt it up and watch if it becomes absolutely clear. If yes, it's most probably just that unfortunate crystallisation that sometimes happens to hard fats (due to temperature fluctuations during transport/storage). Cocoa butter and palm oil are most susceptible, but any hard oil can be affected to some degree.
Only if the “white” areas look different to the normal fat when molten, then it's a real quality issue and you might contact the vendor.

 

[Drchurchillsoaps]

Looks like fat bloom to me. Scrape off a bit of the whitish areas, melt it up and watch if it becomes absolutely clear. If yes, it's most probably just that unfortunate crystallisation that sometimes happens to hard fats (due to temperature fluctuations during transport/storage). Cocoa butter and palm oil are most susceptible, but any hard oil can be affected to some degree.
Only if the “white” areas look different to the normal fat when molten, then it's a real quality issue and you might contact the vendor.

Found some grey too. I contacted baraka about the issue. Hope it’s not a bust. Does not smell off.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Eww, that grey doesn't look exactly appetising indeed, not at all like fat bloom. Yes, contacting them is absolutely appropriate; that's what lot numbers are for.

 

[TheGecko]

Grey, green and black are never good 'colors' to have in your oils and butters.

 

[Drchurchillsoaps]

Thanks for the response. I’ll await contact from supplier to seek a resolution

 

[Cat&Oak]

Thanks for the response. I’ll await contact from supplier to seek a resolution

Wow that's crazy

 

[Saponificarian]

Some Shea butter are almost yellowish grey. Shea butter from Nigeria and Ghana are usually that colour, in fact if it’s yellow Shea from that region, it probably has a touch of Palm oil.
Nothing wrong with your Shea and this type of Shea is typically not ‘oily’. Almost has a dry feel. Also has a high stearic content as well hence the whitish stuff through it.

 

[Drchurchillsoaps]

Some Shea butter are almost yellowish grey. Shea butter from Nigeria and Ghana are usually that colour, in fact if it’s yellow Shea from that region, it probably has a touch of Palm oil.
Nothing wrong with your Shea and this type of Shea is typically not ‘oily’. Almost has a dry feel. Also has a high stearic content as well hence the whitish stuff through it.

It is as oily as my previous Shea. Supposed to be ivory, not yellow and doesn’t appear to be yellow in color. The grey was only in the bottom corner of the box. I just wish it came a solid color. I haven’t purchased much but I see it all the time at the flea market, Whole Foods, ethnic grocery stores. Never have I seen anything but ivory and yellow. I have yet to see grey as a main color and never seen multiple colors in the same container

 

[Cat&Oak]

It is as oily as my previous Shea. Supposed to be ivory, not yellow and doesn’t appear to be yellow in color. The grey was only in the bottom corner of the box. I just wish it came a solid color. I haven’t purchased much but I see it all the time at the flea market, Whole Foods, ethnic grocery stores. Never have I seen anything but ivory and yellow. I have yet to see grey as a main color and never seen multiple colors in the same container

I've never seen shea like that either in fact last night I was actually watching a documentary about Baraka shea butter and when they were packaging it it looked golden yellow and clean. I didn't see any white or grey streaks. To me it looks unusual as well.

 

[Arimara]

The greyish part is fine. That might be from the nut. You can get rid of it if you want. Just render it with water. But that is normal for unrefined shea to have some bits like that.

 

[dibbles]

I have never used Baraka, but everything I've heard about the company is very positive. I hope you get an answer to your question from them soon.

 

[Cat&Oak]

The greyish part is fine. That might be from the nut. You can get rid of it if you want. Just render it with water. But that is normal for unrefined shea to have some bits like that.

That's true I've never used unrefined shea before so maybe this is perfectly normal

 

[Drchurchillsoaps]

The greyish part is fine. That might be from the nut. You can get rid of it if you want. Just render it with water. But that is normal for unrefined shea to have some bits like that.

Makes sense. Thank you for your input. I’m waiting to hear from Wayne again and I will update his feedback about the product.

 

[Drchurchillsoaps]

WAYNES REPLY:
Hi Eric

Thanks for letting us know about your shea. Everything is 100% satisfaction guaranteed so don’t worry, we have your back and will get this taken care of.

I think the big issues is the crazy heat we have had this summer.

The look of the shea is not nice, but unfortunately a bit normal this summer with all the heat. The good news is that the shea is perfectly normal and fine to use. If you melt it and stir it (you can strain it too if you want)

What happens is that when the shea oils/butter are separated from the shea nut solids during the processing there are always some micro-solids that remain. They are just part of the shea nut.

You normally don’t notice them because as the shea is cooling and turning into a solid (the women call it caking) they stir it periodically and the micro solids are distributed evenly throughout the shea.

This year, with the intense heat we had the shea warmed and sat at liquid/partial liquid state for days, maybe weeks depending on where it sat in the warehouse containers.

When it sits in this form for extending periods the micro-solids tend to gather together at the sides or bottom and that gives you the blackish/darkish/gray types of colours. The shea is perfectly fine. As you can see from the attached analysis, the impurities are at 0.04%, less than half of the 0.09% allowed for FOOD GRADE shea butter.

But, all that doesn’t mean anything if you aren’t satisfied.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

That's good to know that the shea itself is fine, and also a good sign that the vendor reacted quickly and verbosely. Took your concerns seriously and even explained a bit about the whys of this sediment.

If you have the time and stove capacity, it'd be good to melt up the whole block and incorporate everything (distribute it into multiple smaller containers for easier dosage/storage). Otherwise the colour and melting behaviour (stearic spots, false trace) might vary across using up the block.

 

[Drchurchillsoaps]

I placed in the oven at 170 for a few hours to melt, then placed into containers for cooling.

 

[AliOop]

Thanks for posting the vendor's response. I learned something new today, which always makes it a good day.