I have noticed that for many coconut whipped cream recipes, you are supposed to put the can in the fridge overnight to separate the fat and the liquid. Can anyone explain the food science behind why this separation happens?
Coconut Milk – Why Does Coconut Milk Separate When Placed in the Fridge?
coconutmilkwhipped-cream
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Best Answer
Coconut milk is made of different components, like water, fat, minerals and protein. All those components have a different mass and when let sit in the fridge for some time, the components with higher mass (protein) tend to sink to the bottom as they are pulled by gravity and the components with lower mass float to the top (water, fat).
The same happens with regular cow milk, which is the reason cow milk is being homogenized to prevent the fat from floating to the top. The reason is that apparently people don't like it when fat floats on top of their milk.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogenization_(chemistry) for reference: