PRODUCTION AND CONSERVATION OF FATS AND OILS. 21 
As copra contains a higher percentage of oil (63 to 70 per cent) 
than any of the other products usually pressed for oil in the United 
States, it has been found advantageous to press the raw material 
twice, although neither pressing is done cold or with the idea of pro- 
ducing a virgin oil. A number of our coconut oil mills press once in 
expellers, then regrind the cake, and, after heating, make a second 
pressing in hydraulics. Both the first- and second-pressing oils are 
refined. Refining processes similar to those used in the refining of 
other vegetable oils are employed to eliminate the free fatty acids. 
Owing to the fact that coconut oil contains glycerids of the lower 
fatty acids, which are more easily decomposed than those of seed 
oils, greater care is necessary in its refining to prevent an abnormally 
high loss due to the conversion of a large portion of the oil into soap. 
A number of plants separate the portion of the oil which melts at 
a lower temperature from that which is solid at a higher temperature, 
the liquid portion being sold as coconut olein for use as a cooking 
oil, while the stearin is used as a substitute for, or an adulterant of, 
cacao butter in the confectionery trade and in sweet fillings for cer- 
tain cookies or wafers and in vegetable margarines. The by-products 
from the refining of coconut oil, of course, are used largely in the 
manufacture of soaps, and the press cake from the oil mill is a valu- 
able stock and concentrated dairy feed. 
One of the most important uses of refined coconut oil is in 
the production of vegetable margarines, sometimes called u nut 
margarines." In making these butter substitutes approximately 50 
parts of coconut oil, 25 parts of peanut or other vegetable oil, and 25 
parts of ripened milk are mixed thoroughly by churning, and then 
quickly chilled. The cooling of the mixture must be done in such a 
way that the fat particles when collected and worked will yield a 
smooth butter-like product. This is usually accomplished by either 
spraying the batch into a large tank of cold water or running it from 
the churn in a thin sheet under an ice-water spray. After the batch 
has congealed into a mass of fine wax-like particles it usually is collected 
in large trucks and placed in a tempering room, where it is allowed to 
ripen and develop a buttery flavor. In a day or two, when properly 
ripened, it is taken to the workers, the requisite amount of salt added, 
and the excess of moisture squeezed out. It is then ready to be put 
in packages for the market. 
POSSIBLE ADDITIONS TO THE PRESENT SUPPLY. 
The same economies that have already been suggested with 
reference to other vegetable oils would effect some increase in the 
yield of coconut oil made in the American mills. Abroad, however, 
the copra cake is highly prized as a dairy feed, because of the belief 
that the coconut oil left in the cake resembles milk fat more than 
