Rancid coconut oil smells like the most godawful thing ever.

[Karala]

Just sayin'.
Yesterday I was browsing through the thread about the new oil shampoo and thinking mmh, maybe I need to try that !
And then someone aks after how much time will coconut oil go bad and I'm like, I've had mine for quite a long time, haven't I ?
Off I go to my bathroom cabinet to check on my coconut oil jar ;
YUCK YUCK YUCK !

I'm so glad I checked and didn't end up applying this stuff on my hair without smelling it first.
Oil shampoo experiment will have to wait some, lol.

Bottom line : do check your coconut oil from time to time. It can and will go bad. shudder:

[LocustSpawning]

Yeah, mine went bad in no time! It smells REALLY horrible. I have to throw most of it away :(

[baaaad_kitty]

Yes. I cannot agree more. Lots of oils, when they go bad, smell really awful. The smell of coconut oil whether rancid or not, in my opinion should never be on hair. It smells too much like food! LOL

[Laurenji]

I use mine every day, so hopefully I'll notice when it goes bad. That does sound pretty nasty though.

[littlenvy]

I haven't had my oil go bad on me yet ... but I did have coconut milk go rancid ... while it was ON MY HEAD!! :rolleyes:
So I do know the awful AWFUL smell . :poot:

[MClass]

how long does it take to go bad generally?

[aenflex]

I keep mine in the fridge, and scoop it out with a fesh Q-tip every time. I get smaller bottles though, I think maybe 6oz size, so I never have them for more than a couple months :)
But I have seen a bottle of Avocado oil get mouldy in my bathroom, even being used regularly, in a short amount of time. It was gross!

[Anje]

I usually keep small amounts of oils in travel bottles/jars in the bathroom, and store the rest in a cooler, dryer place. (Keeps me from keeping the kitchen supply in the bathroom, too!)

Then there's Parachute oil... I haven't had it go rancid on me (or at least, it didn't smell horrifying), but the smokey coconut smell takes on a very bacon-like scent sometimes.

[MClass]

I keep mine in the fridge, and scoop it out with a fesh Q-tip every time. I get smaller bottles though, I think maybe 6oz size, so I never have them for more than a couple months :)
But I have seen a bottle of Avocado oil get mouldy in my bathroom, even being used regularly, in a short amount of time. It was gross!

my container says not to put it in the fridge (I have extra virgin organic swanson's)... does anyone elses say this and is there a valid reason?

[spidermom]

I have a small, wide-mouth jar that I keep coconut oil in upstairs, the rest of the jar I keep in the refrigerator. When my small jar is empty, I sit the big jar in some hot water to melt some down, refill the small jar, and it never goes bad on me.

[SimplyViki]

my container says not to put it in the fridge (I have extra virgin organic swanson's)... does anyone elses say this and is there a valid reason?
Hmm. I can only think of two reasons.

First, that could just be to avoid the rock-solid state of coconut oil. Not a serious problem if you scoop it out with a spoon or something.

Or it could be that when it's cold, humidity from the air will stick to the coconut oil when you open it (gosh, I can't remember the proper term for that... condensation?) and make it mold or go rancid faster.

[erika_d]

I just went and put a small amount of my coconut oil in a small tin and the rest covered and sealed in the fridge. Thanks for the tip!

[nytquill]

I keep mine in the fridge, I have a 450g jar (I'd guess about 12oz just eyeballing? maybe more) that I bought around a year ago. It's still good. I just scrape/scoop out what I need or when I'm measuring for oil shampoo I put the jar in the microwave (it's a glass jar, just take the metal lid off) to melt some of it so I can pour it into a measuring spoon.

I would guess that the bathroom is about the worst place to keep food type products since it regularly gets very hot and humid. Same reason that it's not the best place to keep vitamins, important medications, etc. In fact for this reason I keep both my antiperspirant and my wooden hairsticks in the bedroom too - figure the humidity can't be good for either.

[Anje]

my container says not to put it in the fridge (I have extra virgin organic swanson's)... does anyone elses say this and is there a valid reason?
I think Viki's right -- it's probably because you'll get condensation in the jar. Repeatedly removing it from the cold and opening the jar will let quite a lot of moisture from the room condense in there.

I'd say the better route would be to refrigerate your stock, but take out enough to last you for a few weeks at a time. When you need more, take it out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature before opening. Scoop out your supply for the coming weeks, close, and return to the fridge. Then you won't introduce more moisture than necessary.