Coconut Oil ... Copha

[EmmaB]

I'm an Australian and this is a rather unique Australian situation but the info may be useful to those overseas and I need a bit of advice about oils.

I'd been reading quite a few posts about the benefits and pleasures of cooking with coconut oil. That sounds interesting, I thought. I looked around and couldn't find it for sale in the easy places like the supermarket or the local health food shop. So a couple of days ago I went for a drive and eventually located it at a specialist organic/alternative food store closer to the city. It was quite expensive but I thought I may as well try it anyway.

Got it home, opened the jar and smelt it ... yum! Hmm ... this brings back memories, though ... what does this smell like? I like this a lot, oh wow this is so yummy!

Finally today it hit me ... chocolate crackles! This oil reminds me of chocolate crackles. They are a favourite kids party food here in Australia and would bring back happy memories for lots of Aussies. So I went through the ingredients in my head: rice bubbles, sugar, cocoa, dessicated coconut and copha. Hang on, what's copha made from? It's a solid white block, kinda like when I put the jar of coconut oil in the fridge overnight to see what happened ... is copha related to coconut oil?!

Jump onto google and all becomes clear! Copha IS coconut oil! My Mum used to mix it into melted chocolate every time she baked something with chocolate on top, to make it not set quite so hard and to keep it from cracking when it was cut.

So the big question is, how is copha manufactured? And are we looking at one of those nasty manufacturing processes that produces a nasty oil that I don't want to buy? This is where I need some expert opinion! The only information I can find is from the FAQ at http://www.kokonutpacific.com.au/which says:
What is “Copha”? Copha is hydrogenated RBD coconut oil.
But I need a little help interpreting that :)

For anyone overseas who is interested, it seems you can get copha online from http://www.everythingaustralian.com/ or http://www.aussiecatalog.com/ but there's no information on either side as to the production process.

Thanks for any advice those wise in the ways of oils can give!

[shilpa]

Hey,

I know for a fact that you get nice pure coconut oil in the Indian store.They are very cheap there when compared to organic stores.Not sure how good it is for health but I use it to massage my body and hair, makes the skin glow esp in winter.Mnay european spas use it too.But the smell of it is not too pleasing to some peop(my husband).So you can add some lavender oil to smell nice!!! :lol:

[mcsblues]

Hi Emma,

If only it was that simple (and cheap)!

To get all the benefits of any oil or fat you want it to be as natural as possible. For this reason you should avoid things like margarine which contains "trans fats" aka partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated fats. Hydrogenation simply means the vegetable oils have been through a chemical process where hydrogen was added in the presence of a catalyst to form a new molecule which will be a solid at room temperature (unlike the vegetable oil it was made from) In the process the oil will have become rancid - aka oxidised (you take vitamins and eat sources of antioxidants - the last thing you want to consume is already oxidised fats) anyway the resultant grey, foul smelling sludge has to be deodorised and artificially coloured to make it into that lovely yellow stuff millions of people spread on their wholegrain toast in the sadly mistaken belief they are doing their health a favour!

Copha is coconut oil ... but the hydrogenated part is bad news, and so is the RBD ... which stands for refined, bleached and deodorised.

The good stuff is expensive (about $28 per litre) but a litre will last you a while - so, what you need to ask for is organic, cold pressed with none of that refining/hydrogenating stuff which ruins good fats. The good news is this site;

http://www.hippocrates.com.au/coconut.html

- is based in your neck of the woods - Ring Ronald and he will look after you.

If you want more info, come and join us at www.empowerfoods.com.au - (select the forum) - this has been discussed at length!

Cheers,

Malcolm

[EmmaB]

Thanks Shilpa (welcome to the board!) and thanks Malcolm! I'll definitely call Hippocrates just as soon as I finish the tiny jar I bought from Mrs Flannerys. $28 a litre I can cope with since I'll still be using olive oil in most things so as you say it should last a while.

Thanks for refreshing my memory on what hydrogenated actually means, it was ringing bells for me but I read so much and remembers so little sometimes!

[moesie]

Hi Emmab
Look around you should be able to find some good pure coconut oil thats pure (indian stores are good) There's also a supermarket in Sunnybank that sells it.

PS
I love the Brisbane area...... :wave:

[shilpa]

hey emma,

try the indian store first coz i get pure coconut oil frm there and its less than half the price.india has a ton of coconut trees everywhere hence its very cheap.its about $9 or $10 per litre.

malcolm thanks for the info on trans fats,i shd switch to regular stuff asap.