The VCO experiment PART 2

In my previous post, I (with some help, hehe) embarked on the most noble quest of creating my own all-in-one super baby product. You may access steps 1 - 5 here.

What I didn't mention was that I set aside a smaller container with milk from the same batch. After the 40 hours I mentioned in the last post, I put the smaller container in the refrigerator and left the bigger batch sitting in maternal lola's china cabinet in case the oil decided to settle some more.

This morning, when I went to check on the control batch - the top curd was hard as soap. I removed the stuff and set it aside, wondering if it could still be useful in some way. Meanwhile, the bottom was pure oil.

I put some on my skin, worried that maybe it looked too watery. But it was glorious. It's a light oil, lighter than what you'd get from the heat-based process (which I learned to do in high school), and it smelled like vanilla. I was expecting this part to be an exaggeration on most websites but it's true! It does not smell one bit like someone's grandmother the way refined coconut oil does. :D

One of the things coconut milk is great for is lice removal. In the provincial grade school where I spent half of elementary, it was more embarrassing to show up with your head smelling like lana (coconut oil) than if your head was covered with the tiny terrors. Disgusting, but true.

After the control batch turned out successful, I decided the bigger batch was probably done feeling left out of the action, so I put it in the refrigerator. I wondered if the extra time had caused the stuff to go bad, like maternal lola kept saying it would. My mother obviously has no faith in me. So boys and girls, this is the continuation of the cold compressed virgin coconut oil tutorial:

STEP 6: Refrigerate jar to get curd to harden

STEP 7: Spoon the curd out like a boss.

STEP 8: Take an anticlimactic photo of the end result.

Maybe I'll take a better photo in the morning when I have better light.

For the sake of the true true, I have to admit that it does smell a bit like lana after all. Sorry. The vanilla scent was something that happened after I washed the oil off my skin. I didn't wash it off this time. I guess I'll have to get over traumatic childhood memories before I can convince myself that the coco smell ain't a harbinger of bullying and doom. If you have a cheaper solution to therapy (like maybe a way to make the VCO not smell like coconuts?) please don't hesitate to share it in the comment box below. :D

P.S. I got a little surprise. When I went back for the control batch's curd (to use the same container for the bigger batch's curd) I found that the stuff had melted and some clear oil had risen to the surface. I'm still waiting for the rest of the curd to melt and see if I may have more oil to add to this sad amount (so I guess the experiment isn't over!). I'll come back and edit this post in the morning if I'm lucky. ^__^