Buying coconut oil? Choose carefully

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Unwilling to part with expensive prices. We had been using the cheap coconut oil on the right. We decided to start cooking with coconut oil because coconut oil is one of the few oils that is not damaged when heated to temperatures used in cooking, frying, and baking. Corn, soy, sunflower, canola, and safflower oils undergo detrimental changes when heated to cooking, frying, or baking temperatures . It smelt yummy to when opened while the cheaper one had no smell.

Refined Coconut Oil: A refined coconut oil is usually rather tasteless and odourless. Because it has been refined, it can usually withstand slightly higher cooking temperatures before reaching its smoke point. Refined coconut oils are excellent for cooking foods where you need lots of clean, pure, malleable fat without a dominating coconut flavour. (Think pie crusts or french fries.) Refined coconut oils do not offer the same health benefits of a virgin, completely raw coconut oil, but they are still excellent sources of most of the beneficial fatty acids. Things to watch out for: not all refined coconut oils are alike! Most are refined using a chemical distillation process dependent on lye or other harsh solvents, or they’re made from the rancid oil by products leftover from creating desiccated (dry) coconut flakes. Sadly, these are refined, bleached, and deodorized in an effort to create a palatable product that can be sold to consumers. Many coconut oils are even hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated! (Avoid these at all costs as the hydrogenation process creates synthetic trans-fats.) coconut without the addition of any

Unrefined Coconut Oil An unrefined coconut oil is typically labelled “virgin” or “extra-virgin.” In general, though, virgin and extra-virgin coconut oils are made from the first pressing of fresh, raw coconut without the added chemicals. Source : http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-choose-a-good-coconut-oil