A friend recently asked me …
“What is the difference between unrefined coconut oil and refined coconut oil?”
Here’s my quick answer, the notable differences:
Unrefined coconut oil …
- is marked as one -or combination- of these words:
- “unrefined”
- and/or “raw”
- is made from fresh coconut meat
- has coconut flavor and aroma
- has lower smoke point than refined coconut oil
- some are made without heat (i.e. cold-pressed, virgin)
- ‘virgin’ or ‘extra virgin’ terms do not have standard use, mostly is used to convey that there the processing is free of heat and chemicals
Refined coconut oil …
- is marked:
- “refined”
- and/or “expeller pressed”
- is made from dried coconut meat
- has virtually no flavor
- has higher smoke point
- is processed to deodorize -remove the flavor and aromas- usually by heat
- is bleached to remove unwanted microbes
BOTH:
- both melt at the same temp, about 76°
- both have about 90% saturated fat
- both have similar nutritional value
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Here’s more detail from eHow ……..
Refined Vs. Unrefined Coconut Oil
http://www.ehow.com/about_5392760_refined-vs-unrefined-coconut-oil.html
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Here’s more detail from a supplier ……..
How is Coconut Oil produced?
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/what_is_virgin_coconut_oil.htm
FYI – I will comment more on the above points another time.