Becky Leppard wrote:

>I also bought some Spectrum coconut oil in the food section of a health food
>store and when I got home realized the label said-- for body care!  Does
anyone
>know if it is OK to eat this.

Yes. They state that so they don't have to go through the hassles of FDA
food regulations and inspections.

I would think something made for the skin will have a lower melting point.
My coconut oil doesn't get liquid until about 80 degrees. With it 70
degrees in my kitchen it is now quite solid, and would be unusable on skin.

>. How much do you pay for the coconut oil at the
>Indian Grocer?  I paid $4.24 at the HFS for 14 oz.

Depends on the grocer. Cheaper in the bigger ones. What I have right now is
$3.49 for 500ml (bought from a Pakistani grocer in Brooklyn). At a larger
store in Jackson Heights (a 50 minute bike ride away) I paid $2.79 for 16
oz. At the stores on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan they were from $4 to $5
for 16 oz.

Since what one wants is a high melting point, I would think the best
natural choice is rendered suet. I now have a pot of rendered bison suet in
my refrigerator. It doesn't even melt at 104 degrees, which is the
temperature of my house hot water. In two weeks I will get some pig suet. I
will render that. It should have a better flavor than the bison suet. The
bison suet is from animals all grass fed with no chemicals. The pigs
haven't been given chemicals, but they are fed pig feed.

Rendering seems like a lot of work, but isn't so bad once one gets the hang
of it. Here are pictures of my rendering suet. Commentary is along with
each picture.

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=118126&a=13654303

Don.