Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Just curious... why does heavy cream mix readily with coffee but coconut oil does not?

flag	asked Jan 31 2011 at 18:37 Steve 468●4●10

Rob from ketocure.com · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-31 20:14:11Z UTC

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Just curious... why does heavy cream mix readily with coffee but coconut oil does not?

Because the fat in cream consists of microscopic globules inside membranes. These globules are manufactured by breast tissue when the milk is made. Nature designed milk this way so the fat will mix with the rest of the milk, which, like coffee and cream, is mostly water.

This sort of mixture is called an emulsion. Coconut oil isn't an emulsion. It's plain fat.

You can make coconut oil into an emulsion by adding egg yolk to it. That's how mayonnaise works.

edited Jan 31 2011 at 20:14

answered Jan 31 2011 at 19:24

Rob from ketocure.com
3,703●1●6●17

	Great answer; thanks Rob. Are there any other commonly available items that could be used to convert coconut oil to an emulsion that might work better -- taste wise -- with coffee? – Steve Jan 31 2011 at 21:39
	Liquid lecithin is an emulsifier, but I don't know how it would taste. – Helen Jan 31 2011 at 23:52
	How about coconut milk? It's water-based with dissolved fat, so it must contain an emulsifier. I just tried mixing equal amounts of coconut milk and coconut oil in hot water and they dissolved pretty well. There's a recipe for coffee creamer based on that idea in the following thread on Perfect Health Blog (search for "Szara"): perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=1346#comments Five natural foods are often used as emulsifiers: honey, mustard, yolks, butter, soybeans. You can buy refined soy lecithin (the active substance) cheaply but it's made from a legume with some nasty chemicals in it. – Rob from ketocure.com Feb 1 2011 at 0:07
	Very nice... I will give the recipe a try; thanks again Rob!! – Steve Feb 1 2011 at 3:04
	Thanks for the check mark, Steve. :) – Rob from ketocure.com Feb 15 2011 at 18:56

Mikey · Answer 2 · 2011-02-15 18:13:42Z UTC

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Most heavy creams have some emulsifiers in them to keep them creamy as well or else the shaking from transport would allow the fat to separate out and leaving you big chunks of butter floating around.

answered Feb 15 2011 at 18:13

Mikey
1,508●4●11

Good point. . – Rob from ketocure.com Feb 15 2011 at 18:57

Alan · Answer 3 · 2011-02-01 04:51:03Z UTC

I find if I put the coffee powder into the cup, then add some coconut cream then some coconut oil, stir it up a bit before adding the hot water is emulsifies better. Not completely but better. Of course this depends on the amount of oil you use. Another tip to be careful of when using coconut oil in coffee is that the oil on the surface will be considerably cooler than the liquid underneath.

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