Coconut oil is often a solid at room temperature, depending on the climate and your environment. But for many of my recipes, melted coconut oil is required. So whats a quick and easy way to melt coconut oil with as minimal effort and washing up?
Many of my sweet recipes call for odourless coconut oil. I prefer to use this oil as it has antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties, contains antioxidants and is a source of medium-chain triglycerides, a type of saturated fat.
Unless you love the taste of coconut and are happy for it to come through in bakes, I highly recommend using odourless coconut oil.
The Saucepan Technique
One way of doing this is scooping the amount needed into a small saucepan, melting it over the hob, measuring out the exact amount needed for the recipe.
The Microwave Technique
If you have a microwave, you can pop the small amount into a ceramic bowl and heat at 5-10 sec intervals until melted, then measure it out afterwards.
The Easier Hack
A strategy that I use that makes it quick and simple:
- Ensure that your coconut oil is purchased in a glass jar or transferred to one.
- You’ll also need another container that’s a little larger than the coconut oil jar. I always use a ~500ml pyrex jug.
- You’ll need some warm-hot water. Create a ‘double boiler’ effect by immersing the water in the pyrex jug filled with hot (not boiling) water and it will melt the oil. (TIP: Be sure not to get the lid immersed so that there is no water that creeps into the jar!)
You often won’t need to melt the whole jar, just the amount you need. You can gauge this by eyeballing it and the more often you get used to using this trick the more you’ll know how much to melt. Then carefully pour the liquid from the jar into your measuring scoop and add to your recipe.
It should take 10-20 minutes or so – depending on how cool it is at room temperature.
Why do I love this hack?
No washing up of an extra saucepan and the strategy I use each time that takes around 5 minutes!
You won’t always need to melt coconut oil
Depending on where you are in the world and the current room temperature will depend whether you need to add this step to recipes. In the UK where I’m based, the summer months mean that any bakes I do, I never have to melt the coconut oil. Or if I do, I melt it once and it never solidifies again until Autumn.
What’s your favourite strategy for melting coconut oil? Let me know in the comments below.
