BUCKHORN CLIFFSA preparedness field manual

Food · Supply

Coconut Oil

Why coconut oil keeps 5 years where other oils keep one, refined against virgin, how to store it, how to tell it has turned, and the jobs it does in the kitchen, the first aid kit and the shop.

5 YRSOLID UNDER 76°FMULTI-USEWorks without power

Quick facts

  • Real shelf life5 years sealed; years opened if kept clean
  • Label date says2 years
  • Best storageSealed jar, cool, dark; a clean dry spoon
  • Watch for
    • A sour or soapy smell
    • yellowing
    • mold spots

Where this sits on the food shopping list

Coconut oil is about 90 percent saturated fat, and saturated fat does not oxidize the way the oils in a bottle of vegetable oil do, which is why a jar keeps 5 years in a cool cupboard against 1 to 2 for everything else on the oil shelf. It's solid below about 76°F and liquid above, and it's the same oil either way. In a food store it is the fat that will still be good in year four, and it does a list of jobs outside the kitchen.

Which to buy

Refined coconut oil for cooking, which has no coconut flavor, a higher smoke point, and keeps as long; virgin or unrefined for the coconut taste and for skin, with a lower smoke point. Both keep 5 years. Buy in glass jars or the large food-service pails, and keep the pail sealed and decant to a jar. Fractionated (liquid) coconut oil is for the skin and the first aid kit and keeps indefinitely.

How long it really lasts

By how it is kept

FormLabel saysReal, stored well
Refined or virgin coconut oil, sealed2 years5 years cool and dark
Opened, clean dry spoon, cupboardYears; it does not need the fridge
Fractionated (liquid) coconut oilIndefinite
Melted and resolidified, any number of timesNo effect on keeping
The Preparedness Food Shopping List (PDF), a one page printable PDF

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Get the one-page food shopping list

What to store, how much of it for one person for one month, and how long it keeps. One page with checkboxes, built from the Survival Foods field guide. Print it, multiply by your people and months, and take it to the store.

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How to store it

A sealed jar in a cool, dark cupboard; it will go solid in winter and liquid in summer and neither matters. Once opened, a clean, dry spoon every time, because water and crumbs in the jar are the only way it spoils. It does not need the fridge, where it goes rock hard. The sealed pail in the coolest room is a five-year store that takes no Mylar and no absorber.

How to tell it has turned

Good coconut oil is white when solid and water-clear when liquid, and smells of coconut (virgin) or nothing (refined). It has turned when it goes yellow, smells sour, soapy or bitter, or shows dark or green spots, which are mold from a dirty spoon. A sealed jar found at year six that is white and smells clean is fine.

Keep it

Oil that has melted and resolidified, grainy texture, a sealed jar years past its date that is white and clean smelling.

Discard on sight

Yellowing, a sour or soapy smell, or mold spots.

How much, and how to use it

A tablespoon is 120 calories of the fat the beans and rice lack; it fries, bakes (one for one for butter or shortening) and goes into oatmeal and coffee. Outside the kitchen: a skin and lip salve, the base of the tallow-and-beeswax style balms, a hair and beard conditioner, a cast iron seasoning, a leather dressing, a lubricant for a squeaky hinge, and a wick fuel in a pinch. The cooking oil page has the rest of the fat plan.

When the power goes out

Nothing changes. A jar of coconut oil in a hot house turns to liquid and is the same oil; in a cold one it is solid and is scooped. It's the fat to reach for in month four.

Shelf-life figures are from the Survival Foods field guide; fridge, freezer and pantry times are from the USDA cold and pantry storage charts. Run the look, smell, taste check before eating anything past its date.

Questions this answers

Tap a question for the short answer.

How long does coconut oil last?

Five years sealed in a cool, dark cupboard, against a label of 2 years, and years opened if the spoon stays clean and dry. Fractionated coconut oil keeps indefinitely.

How do I store coconut oil long term?

Keep coconut oil stored cool. Stored that way its real shelf life is 5 years, well beyond the 2 years on the label. Check it by smell now and then, since rancidity is the way it fails.

How do I tell if coconut oil has gone bad?

Yellowing, a sour, soapy or bitter smell, or dark or green mold spots. White and clean smelling is fine, however old.

How do I store coconut oil?

A sealed jar or pail in a cool, dark cupboard, not the fridge; a clean dry spoon once opened. Melting and resolidifying with the seasons does not hurt it.

Keep going

Read nextCooking OilHow long each cooking oil keeps and why some last longer, the signs of rancid oil, how to store oil for years, how much fat a food store needs, and the solid fats that outlast the bottles.Food · Supply

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