[foodahollic]

Following suggestion of Mbuster, I am starting a thread on Coconut Oil. Used to be a lot of folks here who added it to their coffee every morning. Now the Idea has gone silent.

Which brand do you buy? How do you make sure the Coconut Oil you have bought has not - gotten old. Overrun with free radicals.

What happens if you leave it off for awhile? I mean, how well is it working to help you?

 

[itissteve]

I don't use coconut oil in bulletproof coffee, but I do use it in some cooking. I try to buy as "simple" an oil as I can -- labeled as "unrefined", cold-pressed, virgin oil. It's fine if it's organic, but that's not a showstopper for me. I've found the Nutiva brand fills the bill for me without the huge grocery bill that sometimes comes with organic/virgin/etc.

The oil is solid at the temperatures we keep our house, which is a minor pain, but it's not hard to scoop it out and melt it in a pan or the microwave as needed. The unrefined stuff also has a more noticeable coconut flavor so I try to use it in dishes in which the flavor will work (Asian, Indian, etc.).

I also try to buy the smallest practical quantity. Or the jar can be stashed in the refrigerator to extend its life. I'm told you can smell rancid oil. I've never gotten there with coconut oil.

 

[mbuster]

For those that didn't see it in the other thread, I still use coconut oil in my coffee. I use a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil, so may be closer to 2 than 1. I also add a tablespoon of MCT oil, 1-2 tablespoons of real butter, and 4 or 5 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. I don't eat breakfast and most days that I don't eat lunch, I'll make another cup of coffee with most if not all the same ingredients.

I use the Nutiva brand, virgin, cold pressed, and unrefined. I get it in gallon buckets and usually buy 4 gallons at a time to save costs vs buying it in smaller quantities. Most coconut oils have a shelf life of at least a year, Virgin cold pressed is longer. My buckets have "best by" dates on them which I read is typically stamped 18 months after packaged. It does not require being refrigerated. 4 gallons usually last me a year and a half and I haven't had any gone bad yet, even several months past the best by date. They say the appearance also is different if it goes bad.

Wow, I just looked at prices, and the coconut oil price has almost doubled since I bought it last. Glad I still have a gallon left.

I can't say what would happen if I left it off a while, because I've used it everyday for about the last 10 years and only left it off 5 days during that time. I've had 2 colonoscopies, and that accounts for 4 of those days of not using it. I had a stomach bug one day and even plain coffee wasn't appealing for the 5th day. Being on a keto diet, the coconut and MCT oils are sources of good fat calories to offset the calories dropped from the carb calories I've cut from my diet. They are just an easy way of adding the needed fats to my diet without having to chew on whale or walrus blubber.

 

[kyteflyer]

I just use coconut oil n cooking and not much of it, a tsp at most. The aroma of coconut when frying something doesnt work for me. I tried it in coffee and hated it. But most of the time if frying a chicken thigh, I use no oil at all. The thigh itself cooks well enough without, so it is like @itssteve mainly reserved for indian/asian food cooking.