In this post on heating and holding, Leman asks: When I make balms (non water) with shea butter it forms grainy bits after few days. Some people say when shea butter is melted it should be heated and held for 20mins at 70˚C temperature to prevent graininess and others say the faster you cool off the shea butter mixture by putting it into the freezer for few mins the less it will go grainy. And some say just to soften shea butter not melt. What's your experience with shea butter in anhydrous products?
In the same post, Kathy asks: If a butter, like shea or mango, is part of the oil phase, will heating it over 70 make the final product grainy? What does cause the grainy-ness?
Sometimes your mango or shea butters can get grainy (this can happen to cocoa butter, but not as often as the other butters). It isn't about to what temperature you heat your butters, it's about the fatty acid profile of the butter and how you cool it.
Let's look at the fatty acid profile of shea butter - 3 to 7% palmitic acid (C16), 35 to 45% stearic acid (C18), 40 to 55% oleic acid (C18:1), and 3 to 8% linoleic acid (C18:2). The palmitic and stearic acid have different melting and solidification points (the oleic and linoleic aren't solid fatty acids, so they aren't relevant for this situation). After melting, the palmitic and stearic acids will eventually turn solid again, but each does it at a different temperature. If they cool slowly, the fatty acids can crystallize into large clumps, which causes the graininess. If they cool quickly, they won't have time to crystallize and you'll have a smooth product.
If you are finding your mango or shea butter is always grainy no matter what you do, you can temper it the way you would temper chocolate. Melt your mango or shea butter completely (to a liquid), then pour into a mould or container of some kind and put it into the fridge or freezer to cool very quickly. Remove, store in a cool dark place, then use when you need it. This should eliminate the grains you're finding in your products. (The reasons you could be getting grains even when you've been cooling the product quickly could be due to the way you're storing it, the way your supplier is storing it, and possible melting and cooling while shipping from the supplier or from the manufacturer to the supplier.) This will increase the melting point of your mango or shea butter in future products, but it will eliminate the graininess so it's hooray time all around!
This is one of the reasons I suggest melting your butters slightly and to put your products into a fridge or freezer to cool: The less we melt the oils or the quicker we cool them, the less likely we are to see the grains!
AN IMPORTANT ASIDE: Lise and Robert - two very knowledgeable readers - have written the following in the comments (which is why it's a great idea to read them now and again!)
Lise: As for shea butter (I use refined), I've found slow heating over very low heat keeps the butter 'grain-free'. I've discussed butters many times with my suppliers and have always gotten the same answer - don't cool in the refrigerator!
Robert: The advice which we received from (perhaps the world's largest supplier of Shea butter) is similar to that posted by Lise Anderson: Heat to 70C to melt butters and oils and cool in a temperature controlled environment between 18C to 20C. There was no mention of rapid cooling.
I've had good success with rapid cooling in the fridge and/or freezer for both shea and mango butter when I'm tempering them or when I'm making a lotion bar, butter, or other anhydrous product, but if the suppliers are saying different, then follow their lead! If they are suggesting cooling at room temperature, then cool at room temperature (which is generally 18˚C to 20˚C). I didn't find this worked for me - I still had grainy shea butter - but anecdotes don't make data, and "working for me" is my opinion, not data. I will still continue to do what I've been doing, but if you find that it isn't working for you to put your products in the fridge or freezer, then try room temperature! Please let me know the results!
I'm not sure what this means for tempering your butters because the heating and cooling is an essential part of this process. I'm all ears!
When it comes to lotions, if your shea butter is going to get grainy, it'll get grainy. You're more likely to get graininess from unrefined butters than refined or ultra refined butters. (I use white, ultra-refined from Soapcraft and I've never had a graininess issue.) If you are worried about graininess, temper your butter as noted above, then use it in your products. Or switch to a more refined version of the butter. Or buy your butter from another supplier.
If you want to see the original post on this topic, click here. For more frequently asked questions, look to your left to the section called frequently asked questions. I'm always adding to that list, so check it often!
As an aside, people have asked me in the past about the swirl on top of my whipped butters. It's a normal whipped butter - like this recipe - that I put into a piping bag with an icing tip. The product at the top of this post was done with a 1M icing tip - my favourite - and the one just above was done with a tip with more spikes around the edges (can't remember the name, and can't find a picture! But it was one of hte smaller tips - the 1M is huge!)
Click here for a tutorial on how to use a 1M tip.
Join me for more formulating fun!
Sometimes your mango or shea butters can get grainy (this can happen to cocoa butter, but not as often as the other butters). It isn't about to what temperature you heat your butters, it's about the fatty acid profile of the butter and how you cool it.
Let's look at the fatty acid profile of shea butter - 3 to 7% palmitic acid (C16), 35 to 45% stearic acid (C18), 40 to 55% oleic acid (C18:1), and 3 to 8% linoleic acid (C18:2). The palmitic and stearic acid have different melting and solidification points (the oleic and linoleic aren't solid fatty acids, so they aren't relevant for this situation). After melting, the palmitic and stearic acids will eventually turn solid again, but each does it at a different temperature. If they cool slowly, the fatty acids can crystallize into large clumps, which causes the graininess. If they cool quickly, they won't have time to crystallize and you'll have a smooth product.
This is one of the reasons I suggest melting your butters slightly and to put your products into a fridge or freezer to cool: The less we melt the oils or the quicker we cool them, the less likely we are to see the grains!
AN IMPORTANT ASIDE: Lise and Robert - two very knowledgeable readers - have written the following in the comments (which is why it's a great idea to read them now and again!)
Lise: As for shea butter (I use refined), I've found slow heating over very low heat keeps the butter 'grain-free'. I've discussed butters many times with my suppliers and have always gotten the same answer - don't cool in the refrigerator!
Robert: The advice which we received from (perhaps the world's largest supplier of Shea butter) is similar to that posted by Lise Anderson: Heat to 70C to melt butters and oils and cool in a temperature controlled environment between 18C to 20C. There was no mention of rapid cooling.
I've had good success with rapid cooling in the fridge and/or freezer for both shea and mango butter when I'm tempering them or when I'm making a lotion bar, butter, or other anhydrous product, but if the suppliers are saying different, then follow their lead! If they are suggesting cooling at room temperature, then cool at room temperature (which is generally 18˚C to 20˚C). I didn't find this worked for me - I still had grainy shea butter - but anecdotes don't make data, and "working for me" is my opinion, not data. I will still continue to do what I've been doing, but if you find that it isn't working for you to put your products in the fridge or freezer, then try room temperature! Please let me know the results!
I'm not sure what this means for tempering your butters because the heating and cooling is an essential part of this process. I'm all ears!
If you want to see the original post on this topic, click here. For more frequently asked questions, look to your left to the section called frequently asked questions. I'm always adding to that list, so check it often!
Click here for a tutorial on how to use a 1M tip.
Join me for more formulating fun!
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