The craft of producing shea butter

  • By Frank Borsboom
27Jan
The craft of producing shea butter

Making the best shea butter is not simple, here is what it takes: 

No shea nut is the same. This means that not every nut gives the same amount of butter and not every nut gives good quality butter. The women know exactly which nuts to use. Making quality shea butter is not only about good nuts, it’s also managing the drying, pealing, boiling, storing, etc. The nut will be cooked and dried. When the nut is dry, a little shell has to be removed and the nut has to be dried in the sun again. When it’s completely dry, we store them in the warehouse.

This is the process of making traditional handcrafted shea butter:

  • Collecting the shea nuts
  • Depulping the nuts
  • Cooking the depulped nuts
  • Drying
  • Removing shell from the nuts
  • Drying the kernels
  • Storing the kernels until they go to process center
  • Washing the kernels to clean them after being stored and it makes it easier to separate the good and the bad (black) ones
  • Selecting the good kernels
  • Crushing the kernels
  • Roasting the crushed kernels to dehydrate them and concentrating the oil
  • Milling till it becomes a paste. During the milling the oil in the nut melts and makes the paste brown. 
  • Stirring and kneading in order to expand the past to break away the fat emulsion separate the fat (rising) 
  • Adding water to separate the fat. The butter will rise to the top of the water 
  • Skimming off the butter
  • Boiling the butter (to dehydrate, purify and clarify) for 1 hour and 20 minutes while stirring all the time. 
  • Let it rest
  • Skim off the dirt
  • Poor or scoop oil in 2nd pot but leave the cake on the bottom of the pot (the cake is bio fuel for the fire or food for pigs) 
  • Boiling the butter (to dehydrate, purify and clarify) for 45 minutes while stirring all the time 
  • Let it rest
  • Skim off the dirt
  • Poor or scoop oil through a filter in container, but leave the cake on the bottom of the pot (the cake is bio fuel for the fire or food for pigs) 
  • Cooling down
  • Packaging

A bit more complicated than you would expect, right?
It also is a reason for us to have respect for the product and the women producing it. A lot of attention and love went into the shea butter before it is ready to use for your skin.