No, coconut water isn’t flammable.
My clients have begun to use coconut water in their cooking as well. And, since they are confused between the properties of coconut water and coconut oil, they want to know is coconut water flammable. Well, here is what you need to know about the subject…
In this post, I will break down why coconut water isn’t flammable as well as what to expect if you heat the drink. Let’s begin!
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Let’s get straight to the point – why can’t you set coconut water on fire?
Well, this has to do with boiling points and flash points of liquids. You will need to understand these concepts before you can appreciate why coconut water isn’t flammable.
For you to be able to start a fire with a liquid, the liquid must require a lower amount of energy to get over the activation energy barrier. As such, a liquid with a higher boiling point and consequently a lower vapor pressure are much harder to burn.
On a similar note, liquids that have higher boiling points will also automatically have a low or non-existent flash point. The flash point is the minimal temperature that a liquid gives off a vapor that is capable of catching fire.
Water has a boiling point of 100°C and doesn’t have a flash point. Now, the exact boiling point of coconut water isn’t known but it is expected to be around 120°C – well above that of water. Therefore, the flash point of coconut water is negligible as well.
Due to this, coconut water isn’t considered a flammable substance.
Now, you are probably most familiar with iced or room temperature coconut water. However, people are getting more and more creative with how they use this beverage. Thus, you may have recipes that call for heating coconut water.
Is this something that you should do?
Well, what you may not know is that a lot of commercially packaged coconut water has actually already been heated. This is often done to kill off any bacteria that may contaminate the drink. At the same time, plenty of companies are switching to a cold method of storage.
This is because when you heat coconut water, you are changing its physical properties. For one thing, this results in the coconut water tasting different – it may not be as tasty as the fresh option.
Furthermore, heating the coconut water can also deactivate or destroy certain nutrients. Thus, if you are drinking coconut water for tis reported health benefits, then heating the beverage would be a misstep.
If you are going to heat coconut water, I would suggest that you warm it up very slightly over a low flame. Don’t let the coconut water heat up for too long.
Of course, it is best not to heat it up at all.
It is best not to microwave coconut water. This is because microwaves use concentrated heat to warm up liquids within a shorter period of time. Therefore, even though you heat the coconut water only for a few minutes, it can end up changing the beverage quite a bit.
As mentioned, you may end up with odd tasting coconut water or may alter the chemical and physical composition of the drink completely. It is best no tot risk it and to gently heat the water on your stovetop, if you have to.
As you can see, coconut water isn’t flammable at all. This doesn’t automatically mean that it should be heated up, though. If you want to preserve the taste and health benefits of the coconut water, it is best to drink it cold and fresh.
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