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Hi all,I'm posting this again only because I didn't receive a response to my original question posted below
http://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/353/shea-butter-and-cocoa-butter-crystallizationIn regards to crystallization of shea butter & possibly other butters in products, I've read that this can be avoided if the shea butter is heated at 175 F for 20 minutes. Can one of you wonderful experts verify if this is true? -
http://www.texasnaturalsupply.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=WHIPSHEABU you've been reading this haven't you?
http://sheabuttermarket.com/documents/KARLSHAMNS.pdf looks interesting and mentions tempering which is popular in the chocolate industry.
It doesn't, however, mention a temperature.
175F / 80C is a typical oil phase temperature when making an emulsion, and often will be held at that for an hour or more. At that temperature, even the high melting bits of the shea butter will melt up, so it will be 100% homogeneous.
In an emulsion there will be many other parts of the oil phase that may well interfere with crystallisation.
In my opinion, melting, then slow cooling with stirring may well prevent shea going solid or gritty, as any crystals will be small and unobtrusive but I want to find something a bit more reliable than my gut feeling before answering further
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