RBD oil comes from the dried kernel of coco fruit.  Since drying of the coconut meat and extracting of the oil can be unhygienic, the crude oil undergoes sanitizing methods.  RBD oil then, becomes tasteless, colorless, and odorless.

 

Though refining involves heating and adding some chemical solvents, it does not make this type of coconut oil that unhealthy because the essential fatty acids in coco oil are resistant to the harms of the process.  The procedure, though, may remove some natural antioxidants.

 

Further processing of refined coconut oil to hydrogenated coconut oil, however takes away the good fats and creates harmful trans fatty acids instead.  Hydrogenation is a process of forcing hydrogen gas to the coconut oil to lengthen its shelf life.

 

How to make RBD oil?

 

Unlike with the virgin coconut oil (or unrefined coconut oil), making refined coco oil can be a very tedious, time-consuming, and dirty work.

 

1.) Drying of coconut meat (copra). Copra is the name for the sun-, kiln-, or smoke-dried meat of the coconut fruit.  Before extracting the coco oil, the white coconut meat is dried to a moisture level of 3.5 % from its original 50% moisture.

 

2.) Crush or grind the coconut meat and put hot water on the crushed copra, then squeeze the meat to extract some oil. Squeezing will need powerful equipment since the dried meat can be too hard if kneaded manually.  High quality dried coconut meat usually produces 60-65% coconut crude oil.  Sometimes, solvents are used to make the most oil from copra.

 

3.) Remove the impurities present in the crude oil through filtering.  This is followed by hours of boiling to remove an unpleasant odor from the oil.

 

4.) In a second filtering process, bleach is added to sanitize the oil.  This will make the oil tasteless, odorless, and colorless. Some manufacturers add food coloring and flavoring to attract customers.

 

Uses of refined coconut oil

 

1.) Cooking needs

• Cooking with coconut oil is a healthier alternative than the usual vegetable oil you use for your cooking needs.  This is because coconut oil has a neutral effect on your blood cholesterol levels.  More so, it has lauric acid that helps in strengthening your immune system.

 

Refined coconut oil may be used for sautéing vegetables or frying eggs, pancakes, or even rice.  It is highly stable which means, it does not go rancid even after a year on your shelf.  It has higher smoking point than the virgin coconut oil, so, RBD coco oil is recommended when one would use higher amounts of heat in cooking.  Because it is generally tasteless, it does not affect the flavor of your food.

 

• RBD oil can be used in manufacturing whipped toppings, margarines, coffee creamers, candies and some food shortening.

 

2.) Cosmetics ingredient

Whether it is coconut oil organic or not, coco oil still contains lauric acid.  This can be converted into fatty acids that become antifungal, antimicrobial, and antibacterial agents and have a quick-lathering property.  This is why refined coco oil is commonly used as ingredient for soaps, shampoos, shaving creams, and some lotions.

 

Pure organic coconut oil, learn more of what better quality organic coconut oil has to offer and find out what are the the health benefits you can get in using pure organic coconut oil in cooking.