Cookaholics Bulletin Board

The following link from today's NYT has a very intriguing (beguiling?) article on this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/dining/02Appe.html
Does any have access or experience with this - in the kitchen

Wino,

Coconut oil has a very short shelf life. I't has wonderful flavor.

It is perfect for sauteeing apples/pears (or other fruits), making popcorn, sauteeing shrimp (finish with coconut butter) and anything that benefits from the flavor.

Tim

I believe this article mentions that stores keep it refrigerated, which is what I plan to do. However, THANKS, as I will buy only a small amount.

Virgins, pearls, blood sacrifice. What must we look like to the casual observer?

Back to your regular program.

Actually, I believe virgin coconut oil (like most any saturated fat) has an excellent shelf life. Many commercial bakeries used it in the early 1900's because of its stability. I only put it in the fridge when I need it to be solid in August or I need to make pastry. I call it "hippy Crisco" and I buy in the largest jar available.

I use it whenever a recipe calls for shortening. Also in granola.

Jes,

I stand corrected. It has a shelf life of two years. I had purchased a jar from my local organic store that went rancid within a few months. The next batch went into the fridge.

Tim

Wino, I've found it at Bulk Barn if you are looking for a local source. Mine solidified in the cabinet and only stayed liquidy in hotter months. It is awesome for popcorn, which is the only thing I've used it for.

Got sidetracked yesterday with BIZ (it's all good!) and will hit the slippery slopes of coconuts today. Given our selection of health food stores (wherein most customers and staff look anything but...) I envision a near future of pressing the damn things myself (Oh, what a lovely set of coconuts!!, etc.)

Okay, just recovering from the sticker shock - $14.50 for 16 oz. organic, exrtra virgin, Gold Top brand, coconut oil. Help me, here - have they got that stick up as far as it will go???????? There was another brand for $22 - the rules of this board prohibit those comments

I use virgin coconut oil quite a bit, I buy it at WF in the "oils" section and I love it, although I have to strongly disagree with the popcorn recommendation - the virgin stuff will SMOKE. Much better is delicious freshly rendered lard.

It is definitely a noticeable flavor when used for some things.. Mistakes were: egg dishes (either fried, scrambled or fritattas) chili-type dishes, cruciferous veggies, high temp stir fries. It is GREAT for curries, roasting root veggies (as mentioned) and soups.

Your house will smell like a pina colada when you use virgin coconut oil, which I love. I haven't used it for baking since I am barely baking anymore due to gluten issues, but I bet it would be fabulous. I always found that vegan cakes were the best cakes ever and wondered how they did it... this article may have illuminated me.

I use coconut oil a lot in my SE Asian foods, and I have found that it keeps better than just about any other oil, due to being saturated. However, if you get NON-VIRGIN oil, it will go bad quickly. I found this out the hard way.

Coconut and palm oil were vilified back when the government was pushing corn and soy oils, not so much because they were better for us, but because they were being produced in this country! Much later, population studies on areas getting huge percentages of their daily calories in coconut oil showed that it is not the artery clogger it was made out to be, and we started looking closer.

Here is the source for the best buy on coconut oil that I have found recently. A far cry from those prices in health food stores! BTW, extra virgin means nothing with coconut oil - just sounds better, they figure, and more like olive oil.

Dave