Mountain Rose Herbs is a wonderfully superior source of organic unrefined and refined coconut oil, and at the best price around! At $41 per gallon, it is significantly cheaper than even Azure Standard (which is around $34 for 1/2 gallon). If you are interested in hearing more about this excellent oil and its multiple uses, check out these posts.
Natural Body Products on A Budget
Many Health Benefits of Coconut Oil – this is a post by Stephanie’s mom-in-law!
I have greatly been enjoying the use of this product! Lately, I started using it in replacement of lotion. A little dab will do you! But it is wonderful for the skin and hair. I apply it directly to my hair as a conditioner of sorts after getting out of the shower. In eating, I use it to stir-fry, grease my pans (as it is a more solid substance), throw it in smoothies, use it in replacement of oil or butter at times in my baking (usually half and half) and whatever else I can think of! Today I made pancakes and applied it liberally on the pan (more than usual) to prevent sticking…it added a wonderful flavor. Aaron loved it! Normally, you can hardly taste a difference, that is why it works so well!
I love coconut oil but wondering should I be refrigerating it.. it has been so warn here it is turning to liquid during the day and hardens at night .Will that hurt it
Coconut oil will naturally melt at temperatures over 76 degrees. It will not hurt it at all, but if you prefer to keep it firm, then you can certainly refrigerate it.
I get my coconut oil from here: http://www.soaperschoice.com. This is the price for a gallon: Coconut Oil, Extra Virgin, QAI Certified Organic($3.90 per pound) 7 Pound Bottle $27.30
Hello, I am so glad that I found your site! Thank you for posting so many great tips! It’s great to see someone else that is passionate about green living!! I am waayyy late on this subject; so, I hope you see this reply.
I love coconut oil, too! Mountain Rose Herbs has a phenomenal reputation … I’ll have to give them a try. So far, my favorite organic unrefined VCO is Tropical Traditions Gold Label (not available in stores) … I save money by buying it from their ebay store instead of their site. Now and Spectrum brands are best in stores … but, they don’t compare to Tropical Traditions.
- Hair/Skin: My hair & skin love it. I use it alone (a tiny bit when styling) or mixed into organic, unrefined African shea butter. It’s excellent for eye makeup removal, nails and cuticles. On 90+ hhhhhot days, I make sure to use it all over as an additional form of deodorant. It does have a scent … that’s not strong or long-lasting.
- Food: Love it for stir-fry, sweet-breads, brownies & cookies … a wonderful faint coconut flavor … just make sure it’s liquid when you measure it. I agree … it’s great for cooking pancakes (my cast iron griddle loves it). That faint coconut flavor is heavenly … top with sliced bananas or (my daughter’s favorite … chocolate chips), chopped pecans or a bit of flaxseed meal & syrup… yum!
What a blessing your website is! I just wanted to add another use for coconut oil…basic baby care. We find it invaluable when changing stinky diapers! We put a little bit of VCO on whatever we’re using to wipe our babies’ bottoms (washcloth, baby wipes, etc.) and anything that wanted to stick to their skin comes right off! And the pleasant coconut aroma helps combat nature’s odors.
Because of the anti-yeast, anti-fungus, anti-viral qualities, we’ve never experienced diaper rash either! Conversely, it works beautifully to wipe sticky foods off the babies after they’ve practiced self-feeding. We are pretty gung-ho about VCO now that we’ve found it. Now we need to figure out Azure… Blessings to you and your precious family!!
Hi Lindsay,
I just got my first gallon of virgin cold-pressed coconut oil from MRH! I’m so pleased. First order of duty was deodorant; I was almost out. I also made some for my mom to try since she’s switched to natural/aluminum-free deodorant, which in my opinion (at least for me) is not as effective as your fabulous recipe!
Do you leave the CO in the plastic container it comes in (besides the amount you’ve mentioned you bring to the bathroom for cooking)?
Also, how do you grease your pans with it? Do you warm a bit first and then use a brush or what? I did see that Spectrum just came out with a new coconut oil spray – but it’s expeller pressed and has some soy in it…I’d rather use up my huge gallon since I’ll likely be moving in 1.5-2 years.
Thanks!
I actually usually buy a five gallon bucket and split with friends, so I store mine in a glass gallon jar. I use my hands to spread it around when greasing pans. I have also used the paper that butter is wrapped in for greasing and it is very effective. I don’t mess with melting it at all because it melts when it comes in contact with your skin. Enjoy!
I am a new fan of coconut oil too. There is also expeller pressed CO which does not have a coconut taste at all. This is good to use on things like potatoes which you don’t want adopting a sweet flavor. I don’t like the taste of coconut very much, but have found that CO is different in that it is mild and has a gentle sweet fragrace that is nothing like imitation coconut scent or flavors.
I use my coconut oil on my body right after a shower, on my face and feet every night, as a massage oil, and as Tia does. *blush* There are a few minutes where it’s possible to leave oily marks or footprints, but then it soaks right in to my skin leaving it soft and healthy. It is anti-fungal and anti-bacterial so it fights rashes and infections.
I am trying to cook and bake with it more. My mother has tried replacing butters and oils with coconut and makes her whole grain pancakes with CO. It has a very low melt rate which needs to be considered in recipes, but it’s so good for you, it’s worth experimenting with.
Palm shortening is worth looking into as well as a healthy alternative to regular shortening. It actually fights cholesterol.
Hi, I just came acroos this website while surfing. You have choc full of information here. I just wanted to say my tidbit on coconut oil. I’m of indian origin and my parents come from the state which is choc full of coconut trees called “kerala”. Pure unrefined coconut oil should have a distinctive smell and taste to it. If it doesn’t then it might be commercially expressed oil which uses chemical solvents. We’ve used it for pretty much everything as others have described here on this webiste. It is used on babies as a massage oil just before giving them a bath. I’m so glad a found out about the mountain herbs website. We usually buy coconut oil form indian stores. But it isn’t organic and it isnt cold pressed. My mom and I both will placing our orders soon.
Thanks Lindsay! I just ordered some coconut oil today. I’m excited to put it to ALL these uses.
Sorry you’ve got a sick one to care for, missed you at church…
No Tami, it doesn’t. Good quality CO does not have any taste or smell to it.
I hiope I can say this…my husband and I use it as a lubricant. Better than anything on the market! many uses for CO.
When using the coconut oil in cooking/baking, does it taste like coconut? My husband and I really dislike coconut and can’t even choke it down. If it doesn’t have a bad flavor, this would be something worth looking into.
I just discovered your blog in the last week and have really enjoyed reading your archives. I am especially interested in the homemade cleaners/body products.
Tami, I have found that it does not affect the taste of my cooking, unless I use a significant amount (1-2 Tbls is fine), as I mentioned in my post.
Tami: One thing I’ve done is used better fats to replace in PART. So, if you are baking something and it takes 6 TB of oil and I’m worried that using olive oil in my cookies will make them taste funny, I’ve used half oil and half butter (or say, half coconut oil and half olive oil). Each oil has their own unique properties and nutrition so I figure this is a good way to get the best of both worlds.
In baking, you can also replace all or part of the “shortening” with applesauce or mashed bananas.
You can also replace part of the oil in baking with canned pumpkin. I made some brownies that way the other day and they were delicious!