DIY | Palm Kernel Oil

0

Hiiii fam!!! How are y’all doing? Soo in this township that i am serving my fatherland, the network has been terrible. I haven’t been able to upload any posts. I had to be up to do midnight sub on another network in order to do so. Please bear with me ehn. Thanks! Happy Valentine’s Day/ Ash Wednesday too. Show love to all today people. Keep it up even afterwards too.

Today, i’ll be making a post on making Palm Kernel Oil yourself. Recently, i noticed that a particular hair products brand i love, African Naturalistas, had palm kernel oil as part of their oils for sale and i was curious as to how it was made and if i could try it out myself. I had previously tried out making carrot and coconut oils and i’ve realised that i love making products that i can use on my hair. I find the process of making products relaxing (minus the stress of the whole process o!) and exciting. So i went online (God bless Google!) and compared processes on how to make palm kernel oil and i went ahead to make some.

First off, it was the most stressful oil i have had to make. It took a while to achieve my results but i was glad i didn’t back out. The only part that wanted to make me cry was how much palm kernels i have wasted in my life! As a confirm Warri princess, banga soup made from palm kernels (accompanied with starch, of course!) is a feature in our kitchen lots of times and i just throw them away afterwards. Whoever said “Knowledge is Power” knew what he was talking about. Anyways, let’s get on with the tutorial.

Items needed
• Palm kernels
• Pot
• Mortar/ Ladle / Grinding stone (Optional)
• Spoon
• Gas cooker/ Stove
• Ceramic / Stainless Steel bowl
• Container for the oil

Directions
• Put the palm kernels in a pot. Add enough water and boil until soft. Sieve the hot water away.
• If using a mortar, pour into the mortar and use the pestle to pound the flesh off. If you can use a ladle or grinding stone or your hands to remove the flesh, do so. The juice from the flesh can be extracted to make banga soup.
• Separate the palm kernel from the flesh and spread to dry in the sun for a couple of days.

• Separate the seed from the shell using a stone. (Be careful in doing so as the shells fly everywhere at annoying speeds. The very first one hit my finger and it was very painful.)

• Place the seeds in the pot and light the gas cooker/stove and control to medium heat. Stir until the spoon turns oily. (I used a small stainless bowl because my kernels were very small).

• Reduce the fire to low heat and cover the pot. After a few minutes, check the seeds. The oil would be gathered beneath it. Move the seeds to a side and scoop the oil to a ceramic or stainless bowl. Put the lid back on and let the oil gather again.

• Once you notice that no more oil is under the kernels, turn off the stove/ gas cooker. Allow the oil gathered to cool the transfer to a container.

The oil smells really lovely. It was really smoky though so i recommend that this be done in a well ventilated area. Lucky for me, my current house has an open court so i made this there instead of the kitchen. I really had fun making this. You may also get a lighter shade of oil.

It’s nearly mango season so I’m already looking up how to make mango butter.. Sounds yummy, yeah? Lol! I’ll keep you updated on that. Do take care.. Ta-ra!