Teach Soap

Trying at the moment to warm up the 20L of palm oil so I can mix it and decant into 2L containers. However ...
Checking the label (which merely says "vegetable oil") the "serving size" is given as 14g with a breakdown of:
1. saturated 14.3%
2. polyunsaturated 35.7%
3. monounsaturated 50%

Now, I have no reason to doubt it is palm, because I bought it as such, and it is completely solid at room temp (about 15C) but the ratios for the above saturated / unsaturated don't match any oils I checked

So I was wondering if any of you have some palm and it states on the label the proportions of saturate/polyunsaturate/monounsaturated, what does it say?

I have come to the conclusion that the label is wrong. I spent all afternoon with the sink full of hot water melting it. Amazing the thick layer of stearic acid flakes at the bottom. Finally I discovered I can just fit the entire 20L container inside the 1.3KW microwave oven. It takes 20 minutes on full power to completely liquify it.

LOL I just can't imagine trying to nuke all that palm. Good for you checking to be sure it's really palm. Was it in a bucket? I've seen warmers for 5 gallon buckets that look like you are wrapping the bucket in an electric blanket. It takes awhile but you wrap it around the bucket and plug it in. Voila! melted oil. Can't afford to try it out myself just yet but sounds like it would make life easier. I just put a 5 gallon bucket of coconut oil on top of the pellet stove. It got warm enough to slowly melt all the oil but I ran out of smaller containers.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

I must admit I had underestimated the physical difficulty of dealing with that amount at once. OK, my coconut is 92 deg. and of course it is really solid at this time of year, but it doesn't really bother me 'cos I can just carve a chunk out with the big knife, bung it in a pot, and melt it.

But of course all the palm had to be melted at once, and it is like 76 degrees or around that. So my method of using the sink wasn't terribly successful

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the container is a huge rectangular-shaped thing, and almost exactly fitted in the microwave if I first removed the glass plate and rotator. So after that I got it out and rolled it around a lot and then two of us decanted it into smaller containers.
Well, I am getting it from a manufacturer of shortening and other oil products, so I should be grateful it is not in 200 litre containers...

And here I was fretting over the 7 pound bottle that arrived yesterday... That was easily dealt with, thankfully.

I put a 5 gallon bucket of palm in my hot water canner to use it as a double boiler. That worked very well but a larger container wouldn't have fit.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

So, here is another newbie type question. Today I melted down the 7 pound bottle I got from Soapers Choice by setting it into a stock pot full of water on the warm on the stove top. I tipped the bottle frequently to mix it well and decanted it into quart canning jars. The palm oil never got completely clear when melted, there were always little "floaties" in it that didn't go away. I was hesitant to raise the heat too high.

While they were cooling, I again tipped the bottles several times to try to ensure that everything stayed incorporated rather than settling back out. Even when the glass was room temp again the oil was still liquid (my house is set at 65, so it isn't warm), a thick liquid, but definitely not solid. I finally put everything back into the basement storage room which is unheated and hovers around 45 degrees in the winter. I know it has completely cooled because it has been in there for at least 4 hours, but the oil is still squishy - like crisco squishy.

Please tell me i didn't mess this up - previously I had only purchased palm oil in 1 pound bottles and used the entire lot, so I didn't really think too much about it.

Palm oil does take a while before it sets up as a solid. Give it 2-3 days, then check again. Those floaties could be stearic acid as those needs a higher temp to melt and didn't get mixed in completely.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

A quick google search shows that stearic acid needs to get to just under 160F to melt. Off to make another water bath!