coconut oils

[LunaSkye]

I like to use virgin coconut oil (NaOH-SAP is .178) as I believe that it is the closest to natural as I'm going to get without extra drama (I heard raw coconut oil will go rancid super fast). Upon using soapcalc, however, I only see coconut oil 76 degrees/92 degrees and fractionated coconut oil. I am wondering if the first two oils refer to what is available at the market or are they totally different from their refined/unrefined counterparts?

 

[pamielynn]

VCO is the same as 76*

 

[FlybyStardancer]

The 76/92 is a reference to the oil's melting point. Most coconut oils sold in stores (like virgin coconut oil) will melt at 72 degrees F. Highly processed/refined coconut oil will have a melting point of 92 degrees, but that's much harder to find and will have something on the packaging to tell you that it has a higher melting point. Fractionated coconut oil is CO that's been processed so that much of the fatty acids are removed, especially the lauric and myristic acids that cause CO to solidify. The result is an oil that stays liquid even when the other types of CO would be rock hard.

 

[LunaSkye]

Thank you. That will help me out a lot!