How Do You Whip Handmade Shea Butter?

Get Surprised by Traditional Whipped Shea

The women who live in the Shea Forest on the edge of the Sahara discovered how to make shea butter hundreds of years ago, some reports take it back over 2000 years.

The process involves getting the large seed/nut inside the shea fruit to release its oils and then turning those oils into shea butter. 

It all starts by collecting the delicious fruit that has fallen from the trees, picking it from the forest floor and carrying it home in large basins.

The nuts/seeds in the fruit are carefully prepared, par-boiling to sterilize it and then drying the hull so it can be cracked and the oil containing nuts removed and dried.

Traditionally the dried were pounded with a stone or in a mortar and pestle, but now most often they are done in a very coarse, motor driven grinder.

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After crushing, they are roasted to get the oils ready to release.  Traditionally this was done by putting the crushed nuts in a pot and putting it over a fire and stirring them.  In recent years this progressed to hand-cranked shea roasters and now, for Baraka, they are using new, eco-ergonomic shea nut roasters that can save up to 90% of the environmental impact.

Water is slowly kneaded into this mixture to get it to just the right consistency with one woman slowly adding the water and another kneading it into the paste.
	After getting the paste to just the right thickness, a technique that has been passed from mother to daughter down through centuries, it is time for the whipping to begin.
The paste made from kneading water into viscous material released after grinding the roasted shea nuts is whipped vigorously until the oils turn whitish, coagulate and separate from the water float to the top.
	The coagulated oils are scooped into a pot where they will be finished over a fire, removing the water, separating impurities and allowing the nut solids to settle to the bottom (these are then made into a traditional local soap).
Making hand-made shea butter using traditions and techniques passed down through generations is hard work. But, you would never know it. The women work in groups, laughing, singing and visiting as they make Baraka Shea Butter that is used by formulators and DIY’ers to make amazing products.