Making Coconut Oil - The Old Chamorro Way

For a Science Fair project we decided to see if we could make oil from coconuts in (more or less) the traditional way.

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Gathering coconuts in the back yard. Husking the nuts. This husker is steel. The old huskers were made of wood hardened in fire. Husking is hard work. After husking, the kernel is left. Grating coconut meat the old style way. This grater has a metal blade. In the old days they were made from sea shells.

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More hard work. Even Dad helped. The grated coconut meat is mixed with warm water. Squeeze it to remove the oil. Strain the coconut cream.

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Boil it to remove the water. It takes several hours. Getting there.... Keep stiring to keep it from burning. Finally! Pure oil in the left hand jar. Oil plus coconut sugar in the two glasses.

Photos by Mike Newman. Project by Chicha Newman, Saipan International School. Spring semester, 2001.

This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.

01oil.jpg	02oil.jpg	03oil.jpg	04oil.jpg	05oil.jpg
Gathering coconuts in the back yard.	Husking the nuts. This husker is steel. The old huskers were made of wood hardened in fire.	Husking is hard work.	After husking, the kernel is left.	Grating coconut meat the old style way. This grater has a metal blade. In the old days they were made from sea shells.
06oil.jpg	07oil.jpg	08oil.jpg	09oil.jpg	10oil.jpg
More hard work.	Even Dad helped.	The grated coconut meat is mixed with warm water.	Squeeze it to remove the oil.	Strain the coconut cream.
11oil.jpg	12oil.jpg	13oil.jpg	14oil.jpg	15oil.jpg
Boil it to remove the water.	It takes several hours.	Getting there....	Keep stiring to keep it from burning.	Finally! Pure oil in the left hand jar. Oil plus coconut sugar in the two glasses.