Second Grind: Releasing the Oils

Second Grind: Releasing the Oils

After the shea nuts are crushed and roasted they are carried back to the grinder where magic happens.

One of the most amazing, mind-blowing parts of how shea butter is made.

Dry, mealy material goes into a grinder and comes out as an oily, viscous substance, nearly ready to release the magic of shea butter.

Crushing and roasting prepares the shea nut to release the oils that will turn into shea butter.  It is amazing to watch.

Before Baraka supplied a grinding mill this step was done by hand with a mortar and pestle.  It was long, hard work and, by its very nature, was not efficient in capturing all the shea oils from the nuts.

Related Topic: How Do You Whip Handmade Shea Butter?

After the second grind the women will knead water into it and get it ready for the hard work of whipping so the oils will coagulate.

#KnowAboutShea – a series of informational posts about shea butter and the women, families and communities that make it

These next lines give you more information about Baraka Shea Butter – read them if interested.

What we hope you take away from this post more than anything is that you impact women, families and communities when you buy shea butter and that it is important to know the source of your shea butter.

It is so easy to have ‘raw and unrefined’ shea butter that was industrially processed, chemically extracted and all the income and impact ripped from the women and given to the factory.

See more in this blog: UNREFINED AND RAW DOESN?T ALWAYS MEAN PURE

Baraka Shea Butter is handmade by women in northern Ghana using age-old traditions and techniques. It is core to traditional life and to their economic well-being.

You make a difference with every purchase from Baraka, or from people who make products with Baraka Shea Butter.

It has a direct impact on hard-working women and their families.

You can learn more, or order at https://barakasheabutter.com/