Popcorn oil question

[Mike Blakesley]

We've recently switched concessions suppliers. Up to now we've used LouAna coconut oil but the new place does not stock that brand - they have SunGlo. It's still coconut oil, still comes in a bag-in-box, etc. It seems like the same product.

When I put it into our popcorn machine, last night, and came in today to find that it hasn't liquified yet. What could be causing that?? I checked the warmer and it's working fine. The LouAna stuff will usually melt in a couple hours.

The only anomaly I can find about the SunGlo is that it says on it that it's "Certified Kosher." Does that mean it lacks some ingredient that makes it easier to melt? Is this stuff ever going to melt? (The LouAna usually takes a few hours, but this has been on the machine for about 20 hours at this point. Maybe I'm just too impatient.

[Randy Stankey]

The melting point of coconut oil is supposed to be approx. 78ºF but the melting point of hydrogenated coconut oil is between 97ºF and 104ºF depending on whether it is partially hydrogenated or more hydrogenated.

Can you bump up the thermostat on your oil warmer to see if that makes a difference?

[Martin McCaffery]

We get Sun Glo, also. If we forget to leave the warmer on, we resort to a space heater. Does take a couple of hours to liquify enough to use, depending if the oil is in the upper or lower tray. Then there is the problem of solidified oil in the tubes. I have contemplated getting one of those electric pipe wrappers for the popcorn machine.

[Mike Blakesley]

Do you have a source for the electric pipe wrappers you speak of? We're constantly (in the winter) having to set up a space heater behind our machine to unfreeze the lines. I have written to Cretors a couple of times over the years using the ever-popular "contact us" form but they never respond.

This box of oil is mostly melted today. I guess I went off a little early, so crisis averted. Maybe it's always taken that long and I just never noticed before.

[Frank Cox]

He probably means an electric pipe heating cable of the type you use in the winter to keep your water line from freezing if you live in a mobile home.

Like this:

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Since you live in a state that gets cold in the winter, you can probably find one at your local hardware store.

[Mike Blakesley]

I wonder if there'd be any concern with fire hazard with something like that. Plus I looked at a bunch of those online and the shortest one I could find was 6 feet long. The lines on our popper are 2 feet long at best, what's the best way to deal with the remaining length of the heater? Is it ok to just have it coiled up somewhere? I'm guessing it would need the water pipe to keep it from getting too hot, or maybe I'm overthinking it?

[Frank Cox]

Most of those things have a marker every foot or so where you can cut it off. Don't leave the extra in a coil.

Check the one you buy before you buy it to be sure it's not one of the (relatively rare) ones that don't have those "cut here" marks.

They also have a thermostat control so you can set amount of heat you want out of it.

[Ed Gordon]

You could get something like this:

image.png
image.png
The cable is sold separately cut to order at $3 a foot

In thinking about it, I don't think a pipe warmer is going to work for your issue. These are intended to keep pipes from freezing, not for heating per se. It is designed to keep water above 32 degrees, not heat it up above 75 degrees. A space heater would work better.

[Mike Blakesley]

Gold Medal has a popcorn machine hose that has heaters on it. But, it looks like it has proprietary fittings on it to plug into their machines. I'm surprised Cretors doesn't have such a thing.

Space heater works fine, but it's a hassle to set up, gets in the way, and takes too long when the folks are piling up outside.

[Armand Daiguillon]

I say swap to a blend, I used coconut oil a while back ..... such a pain. The canola/coconut blends that are more popular now make things much simpler and there is no taste difference.

[Barry Floyd]

I keep a cheap electric space heater INSIDE the base of our popcorn machine for this exact reason. The Gold Medal Bag-In-The Box warmer keeps the oil in the box melted, but the tubes running from the box to the pump and then up to the machine will feeze solid if we don't have the heater in there.

[Mike Blakesley]

That’d be great except I don’t think there’s enough room in there. The popcorn storage talks up half the space and the oil warmer takes up the rest!

[Gordon McLeod]

When the oil came in pails we put a electric battery heater blanket around them

[Randy Stankey]

Sounds like a good use for Elon Musk's "Not a Flamethrower!"

[Jack Ondracek]

Same problem here... Cretors Bag In Box warmer with heated tubing... 1978 vintage "Giant" model, 4-ft open cabinet. During the colder months, the oil will solidify in the delivery tube. Even the tube heaters aren't enough when it's been cold in the building. I also use a space heater to get things going, but not an internal model. Haven't thought it through, but with all the oil in there, my sense of paranoia has me just comfortable enough to put a heater outside the machine, facing the B in B pump. Half an hour usually loosens things up enough to get through the night OK.

... and I thought it was just me.

When I bought the place, the machine had a pail warmer, with the pump and heat timer on the top cover. It was a PITA to fill back up each night, but my recollection is we didn't have the temperature-related delivery problems we have with B in B.