How Coconut Oil Is Extracted: From Coconut Flesh to Cooking Oil

Coconut oil is extracted from the white flesh of mature coconuts in one of two ways. In dry extraction, the flesh is dried into copra and then pressed. In wet extraction, fresh flesh is grated and squeezed into coconut milk, and the oil is then separated from the water by heat, fermentation, chilling or centrifugation. Pressed copra oil is usually refined into a clear, neutral cooking oil. Gentle extraction from fresh flesh gives virgin coconut oil, which smells and tastes clearly of coconut. Thai cooks use the same flesh and milk every day, so understanding the coconut oil extraction process also explains much of the richness in Thai curries and desserts.

What is coconut oil extraction?

Coconut oil extraction is the process of separating the fat in coconut flesh from its water, fibre and protein. Fresh coconut flesh is mostly water and fat, with some fibre, sugar and protein. Every method has the same goal: remove the water and the solids and keep the fat. The methods differ in when the water is removed, how much heat is used and whether the oil is refined afterwards. Those choices decide whether the finished oil tastes of coconut or of almost nothing.

What does coconut flesh look like before it becomes oil?

Oil comes from the flesh of a mature coconut, the hard brown, hairy nut sold in most supermarkets. When you crack one open, a firm, bright white layer lines the inside of the shell. It is usually about as thick as a finger. The flesh is crunchy and dense, smells sweet and milky, and leaves a slightly greasy feel on your fingertips. That greasiness is the oil you are trying to extract.

A young green coconut is a different ingredient. Its flesh is thin, soft and almost jelly-like, and it is scooped out with a spoon. In Thailand young coconuts are prized for their water and soft flesh, often served chilled. They contain too little fat for oil making.

In Thai, the coconut is maphrao, coconut milk is kati and coconut oil is nam man maphrao. A traditional Thai kitchen tool for preparing the flesh is the kratai khut maphrao, the "rabbit" grater. It is a low wooden stool, often carved in the shape of a rabbit, with a serrated metal blade sticking out of the front. The cook sits on the stool and scrapes half a coconut against the blade, so fine white shreds fall into a bowl below. The same shreds go into coconut milk, desserts and oil.

How does dry extraction from copra work?

Dry extraction makes coconut oil by first drying coconut flesh into copra and then pressing the oil out. It is the main industrial method for producing large volumes of coconut oil. Copra looks like stiff, leathery, yellowish-brown pieces of coconut. It is much harder than fresh flesh and has a nutty, sometimes smoky smell.

1. Split and dry. Mature coconuts are split, and the flesh is dried in the sun, over a fire or in a kiln until most of its water is gone. Smoke drying darkens the copra and can leave a smoky note in the crude oil.
2. Remove from the shell and chop. The dried flesh comes away from the shell more easily. It is then broken into small pieces so it presses evenly.
3. Press. The copra is fed into a mechanical expeller, a screw press that crushes the pieces under high pressure. Oil runs out, and a dry cake of fibre is left behind. This cake is often used as animal feed.
4. Filter. The crude oil is strained to remove fine particles. At this stage it is often yellowish to brown and has a strong smell.
5. Refine. Most copra oil is refined, bleached and deodorized, often labelled "RBD". Refining removes colour, free fatty acids and odour, which leaves a clear, neutral oil.

Some producers also use chemical solvents to recover the last traces of oil from the pressed cake. That oil is then refined as well.

How does wet extraction from fresh coconut milk work?

Wet extraction makes coconut oil from fresh, undried coconut flesh by first turning it into coconut milk and then splitting that milk into oil and water. Because the flesh is never dried into copra and is usually not refined, wet extraction is a common route to virgin coconut oil.

1. Grate the fresh flesh into fine, snowy shreds.
2. Squeeze out the milk. The shreds are mixed with a little water and pressed or wrung through cloth. In Thai kitchens, the first, thick squeeze is called hua kati (coconut cream). A second squeeze with more water gives the thinner hang kati.
3. Separate the oil from the water. Coconut milk is an emulsion, meaning tiny droplets of fat are suspended in water. To get oil, that emulsion must be broken. Producers do this with one of the methods described below.
4. Filter and dry. The separated oil is filtered and any remaining moisture is removed. Leftover water would make the oil spoil faster.

Separating by heat

The oldest method is simply to cook coconut milk slowly in a wide pan. The water evaporates, the milk thickens, and the proteins clump into golden-brown curds while clear oil pools around them. The oil is then strained off. Oil made this way has a toasty, nutty coconut aroma. The longer and hotter the cooking, the darker and more roasted it tastes.

Separating by fermentation or chilling

Coconut milk left to stand separates over time. A cream layer rises, and natural fermentation helps release oil from it. Producers can also chill the cream so the fat solidifies, which makes it easier to lift away from the water and gently warm into oil. Both methods use little heat, so the oil keeps a fresh coconut smell.

Separating by centrifugation

Centrifugation separates coconut oil by spinning coconut milk or cream very fast in a machine called a centrifuge. Oil is lighter than water, so the spinning pushes the heavier water and solids outwards and leaves the oil to be drawn off. Because centrifugation needs no high heat, it produces a clear, mild virgin coconut oil with a clean, fresh coconut aroma.

Cold pressing dried fresh flesh

Some virgin coconut oil is made from fresh flesh that is dried quickly and gently, at low temperatures and without smoke, and then pressed straight away. Technically this sits between the two routes. It uses drying and pressing like copra production, but it starts from fresh, clean flesh and skips refining.

How does virgin coconut oil differ from refined coconut oil?

Virgin coconut oil is unrefined oil from fresh coconut flesh, extracted mechanically or by natural separation without high-heat refining. Refined coconut oil is usually made from copra and is refined, bleached and deodorized. Both oils are solid, white and opaque in a cool kitchen. They become clear liquids when the room is warm, because coconut oil melts at about 24 °C (75 °F). In a Thai kitchen in hot weather, a jar of coconut oil is usually liquid.

Feature	Virgin coconut oil	Refined (RBD) coconut oil	Coconut cream (hua kati)
Main source	Fresh coconut flesh	Usually copra	Fresh grated flesh, first squeeze
Typical extraction	Wet extraction, centrifugation, or cold pressing of gently dried flesh	Dry extraction by pressing, followed by refining	Squeezing only, with no separation into oil
Liquid appearance	Water-clear	Water-clear	Thick, white and creamy
Solid appearance (below about 24 °C)	Bright white, smooth	Bright white, smooth	A firm white layer that forms on top in the fridge
Aroma and flavour	Clearly coconut, sweet and fresh, or toasty if heat-separated	Neutral, little or no coconut smell	Rich, sweet coconut
Best uses	Desserts, gentle frying, dishes where coconut flavour is welcome	General frying and stir-frying where coconut flavour is not wanted	Curries, soups, desserts, sauces

Fresh coconut oil of either kind should smell clean. A sharp, sour or crayon-like smell means the oil has gone rancid.

How is coconut fat used in Thai cooking?

In Thai cooking, coconut fat usually arrives as coconut milk and cream rather than as bottled oil. Many classic dishes, however, rely on drawing the oil out of the cream right in the pan. That is a small, home version of wet extraction.

"Cracking" coconut cream for curry

To start a Thai green curry (kaeng khiao wan) or red curry, many cooks heat thick coconut cream in a wok and stir until it bubbles, thickens and "cracks". Cracking means the white cream separates, and shiny drops of clear oil appear on the surface. The curry paste, a fragrant mash of chillies, lemongrass, galangal, garlic and shrimp paste pounded in a stone mortar, is then fried in that coconut oil. Frying in the oil brings out the paste's aroma and gives the finished curry the glossy, reddish or greenish oil slick on top that Thai diners look for.

Tip: cracking works best with fresh coconut cream or with canned cream that contains no stabilizers. Some cartoned and canned products contain emulsifiers that stop the oil from separating. If your cream refuses to crack, add a spoonful of neutral oil to fry the paste instead.

Dishes that keep the coconut milk whole

Not every coconut dish separates the fat. In tom kha gai, a chicken soup with galangal and lime, the coconut milk is kept smooth and gently simmered so it stays creamy and pale. In mango with sticky rice (khao niao mamuang), sweet salted coconut cream is poured over the rice and fruit, and its richness comes from the intact emulsion.

Coconut oil in snacks and sweets

Coconut oil and coconut cream also appear in Thai sweets and street snacks. Khanom krok are small coconut-rice pancakes cooked in a cast-iron pan full of round, half-sphere hollows. The hollows are greased before the batter goes in, and the batter is rich with coconut milk, so the pancakes turn crisp and golden underneath and stay soft and custardy on top. In southern Thailand, where coconut palms are abundant, coconut oil has a long history as an everyday frying fat. Elsewhere, many modern Thai kitchens use neutral vegetable oils for stir-frying.

What can you substitute for coconut oil, and what are the limits?

The right substitute depends on whether the coconut oil is there for its fat or for its flavour.

• Instead of refined coconut oil: any neutral vegetable oil, such as sunflower, rapeseed or peanut oil, works for frying and stir-frying. The difference is small, because refined coconut oil adds almost no flavour. These oils stay liquid in the fridge, so they will not set a dessert the way coconut oil does.
• Instead of virgin coconut oil: a neutral oil will fry just as well but loses the coconut aroma. A spoonful of coconut cream added near the end of cooking can bring some of that flavour back.
• Coconut oil is not a substitute for coconut milk. Coconut milk adds body, sweetness and liquid as well as fat. Replacing it with oil would leave a curry thin and greasy instead of creamy.
• Butter is a poor match in Thai savoury dishes. Its dairy flavour clashes with fish sauce and lime, and it burns more easily than refined coconut oil when frying curry paste.

Can you extract coconut oil at home?

Yes. The simplest home method is the heat-separation version of wet extraction, and it needs only a coconut, a grater, cloth and a pan.

1. Crack a mature brown coconut, prise out the white flesh and grate it finely. A food processor works if you do not have a rabbit grater.
2. Mix the shreds with a small amount of warm water. Squeeze them hard through a clean cloth or fine sieve to collect thick coconut milk.
3. Pour the milk into a wide, heavy pan and cook it over low to medium heat, stirring often.
4. Keep cooking as the water evaporates. The milk thickens, then splits into golden curds floating in clear oil.
5. Take the pan off the heat when the curds are light golden. Brown curds give a stronger, roasted flavour, but burnt curds make the oil bitter.
6. Strain the oil through a fine cloth into a clean, dry jar. Let it cool, then close the jar.

One coconut gives only a small amount of oil, so this method is more a way to see and smell the process than an economical way to stock your pantry. The toasty, fragrant result shows clearly how much of a coconut's flavour lives in its fat.