Coconut Oil
Cooking with Coconut Oil
Have you ever had a fried egg that had a subtle nutty, vanilla taste to it? If you haven’t tried cooking with coconut oil, you are missing out. Whether you are baking, frying, or creating a sauce, coconut oil will arouse your taste buds with its amazing fresh coconut scent and subtle flavor. If you like the taste of pina coladas and coconut milk, you are going to really appreciate coconut oil.
Did you know that most movie theatres use coconut oil to cook their popcorn? I always knew that there was something about the popcorn in theatres that tasted different from the ones you get in the store. Now you know the secret~
Coconut oils are more popular in baked goods, but are very popular in some ethnic cuisines. If you love the tropical flavors of Southeast Asian cuisine, you will appreciate coconut oil even more. In countries like Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, the coconut fruit has been used in numerous dishes using the milk and oil extracted from the fruit to add sweet flavor to many dishes like curry.
Tips To Buy the Best Coconut Oil
One of the first things I love to do after buying coconut oil is to open the jar and smell it. Good quality coconut oils will have a fresh coconut scent which will last for years. Since you can’t really open and smell each coconut oil before you buy, we want to give you tips on what we look for when buying coconut oil for cooking.
Organic vs Non-organic. If you are buying your first bottle of coconut oil, keep in mind that just because a brand is labeled “organic” does not mean it is a high quality product you expect. Some brands with an organic label is misleading because they may use organically grown coconut fruits, but their method of producing coconut cooking oil may involve refining and hydrogenation methods that degrade the taste of coconut oil.
Extra-virgin cold-pressed. Similar to olive oil brands, you ideally want extra-virgin cold-pressed coconut oils. Buying coconut oil that is made from fresh, natural fruits will be best so keep a look out for coconut brands that are unrefined since we want to minimize the amount of processing done to make the oil.
Sniff test. Good quality coconut oil should give off the aroma of coconut. After you open the jar of coconut oil you purchase, make sure it has a good scent. If you can’t smell anything, the quality is poor and you should return the product. As for how this cooking oil looks, don’t be surprised to see that coconut oil is solid at room temperature. This is normal since it stays in a solid state at temperatures under 76oF. Once a little heat is added, the coconut oil will liquefy.
Is Coconut Oil Really Healthy?
Coconut oils being touted as the health food choice for vegans are the latest buzz among nutritionists. Vegans are swearing by this cooking oil and demand is stronger than ever with Whole Foods reporting double digit growth in sales for the past five years. But wait… we thought coconut cooking oil was considered unhealthy. What is going on?
If you are familiar with coconut oil, you know there is a stigma to it because researchers showed that the saturated fat creates trans fats. One thing that was left out of the original research is that they only tested partially hydrogenated coconut oil. Manufacturers process coconut oil into partially hydrogenated oil to increase the melting point of coconut oil since a lot of its consumers reside in countries with warm climate. Unfortunately, this processing produces trans fats warranting the ill stigma for coconut oil; however, not all oils made will have trans fats. For this reason we recommend only using virgin, unrefined coconut oil.
The latest research from the American Diabetic Association showed that coconut oil has high levels of lauric acid which is known to increase the levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol. In addition, there are some claims that coconut oil can help combat viruses such as HIV because lauric acid is known to have antimicrobial properties. Although research continues to occur with regards to the health benefits of coconut oil, there seems to be consensus that with moderation, coconut is considered good food.
Every day more vegetarians are becoming fans of coconut oil because it makes a great substitute to butter. As you can expect, nutritionists also prefer substituting butter with coconut oil since it is a healthier alternative. Surprisingly enough, more and more people are switching to coconut oil because they find it just tastes better than butter with a more rich, full-bodied flavor.