Good Knife Recommendation please - To open Young Coconuts

[Mookie]

I have fallen in love with coconut water.
I have 6 young coconuts in the fridge with holes punched in them and all of the water in me! They are sooooo refreshing! I actually feel energized from drinking the coconut water....

Anyway, now I need to open them up and use the gel inside. My first attempt was a -- well kinda a disaster -- I had brown coconut stuff all in it - 'cause I hit it with a hammer! (bad idea)

Now I have read how to open them easier- but I know I need a really good knife .... any recommendations??

I plan to eat/drink 2 or three of these a day.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Mook I would recommend a very large knife, and use the bottom corner to open it up.

What I use is a Santoku knife. I first slice off the top of it laying the coco on its side, then I stand up the coco and whack it using the inner corner of the knife. You have to wack it really hard. Sometimes if I can't pry it open I will take the tip of a sturdy paring knife and wiggle it in enough to pry it.

Here's a great instructional video (look toward the bottom of the page)

http://www.rawguru.com/html/openyoungcoconut.html

[James]

I bought a big, cheap cleaver at Target and a rubber mallet. That's what I use. I position the cleaver on the coconut where I want to crack it open, then whack it several times with the rubber mallet. Tried everything else, but found this combination to be the safest. I want to keep all my fingers! ;)

[rawpriestess]

Sharon, thanks for the great link.


YEP, I use a cleaver and a hammer, but a rubber mallet might work better.

[JinxieKat]

I do it a bit different myself. I take a sturdy knife with a longer tip, like a paring knife, then insert the tip into the hole that you poked in the top of the coconut. I then turn the knife so that it is almost horizontal. Then I press the knife forward and it automaticly goes in a circle and will pop off a hole big enough for you to put a spoon in to scrape out the coconut meat. If your knife is a cheaper knife or has a very thin point doing this may snap the tip off of the knife.. however once that thin tip is snapped off it makes a great coconut knife :)

Jinx