the coconut is driving me nuts!

[kiropa]

i bought two coconuts this weekend. not young thai (i don't think). they have brown, hairy outsides. went to two stores & this was all i could find.

anyway, it took dh & i over an hour using many home-depot type tools to finally crack one open. it was NOT easy. i think the sledge hammer finally worked. no kidding.

now that i have it open, i CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME get the meat off the shell/rind.

please, please, please SHARE the magic. HOW do i do it?

i've tried (unsuccessfully) using a knife, a peeler, a zester. the concave nature makes it hard to peel.

i don't even care what i make anymore, i just want to beat this darn coconut, you know?

[Livingsunfoods]

Are you able to find thai coconuts? These are the young coconuts. They have the juice and soft flesh/meat inside that scoops out easily. The brown one you got is a mature coconut and is already hard inside.

[Nenyath]

Sorry for laughing but this was how I felt the first time too lol.

A hammer usually does the trick for me now, and then out on the terrace, it is a little hard work but it is doable. Once cracked open I slid a butter knife(blunt ended knife ad not to get hurt) between the meat and the shell and slowly wricles it free, you will have to do it more than one place. The better the coconut, the easier it comes off I have found!

When buying them, try and shake them and take the heaviest with the most water inside. Eventually you can scratsh a little on one of the eyes and smell, if it has a rancid smell, dont buy!

Good luck with you coconut!

Fly forever free..

[Solace]

You definatly want Young. If you cant find anyone local that has them ASK. A lot of times stores don't carry stuff its because no-one asks them to. Many stores will be more than happy to bring things in if they feel you will be buying them often. If you have never had a young thai coconut YOU MUST they are amazing ! AND easy to open.;) :D

[Tinacampy]

I had the same problem - and when we finally did get it open, the milk spilled everywhere.. and the meat was not sweet at all. Are the young ones the white ones w/out the brown hairy outside? Maybe that was the problem. I just broke down and bought some coconut juice (organic, but yes pasteurized) for my smoothies b/c I LOVE coconut. I guess it's better than buying a Bacardi Mixer, right? :)

[Lay-Lay]

Ok I have to drive one hour to get young coconuts so sometimes I settle for the brown ones when I run out.

Get a knife you are not fond of. There are three indents on the top of one the sharp ends of the coconut. Find the softest one, put the knife sharpe edge into the indent and wedge it in with a meat beater,hammer, whatever, hit the end of the knife with whatever until you get a hole big enough to pour the juice off, then take the coconut outside and bang throw it as hard as you can on a concrete slab. It breaks then take your knife and hammer, put the knife between the meat and the shell and hammer the end until the meat seperates from the shell.

[SchoolOfRAWk]

So we're ALL on the same page & because this used to confuse the bajeezus out of me . . .

YOUNG GREEN "THAI" COCONUTS

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o46/ertarox/youngthaicoconut.jpg

MATURE COCONUTS

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o46/ertarox/maturecoconut.jpg

[Lay-Lay]

Yummy, Give Me! :D

[SchoolOfRAWk]

I know, I can guzzle a case of those in no time! ;-)

[Lay-Lay]

oh me too, I think I would be content on an island of only coconuts to eat.

[SchoolOfRAWk]

How much do you get them for?

I get a case of 9 for $10 in Eugene. They are at least 3x that much in Chicago!

[StarFire]

Okay - I see Alissa with one in her book - I've seen other pics too. Now I get it - those are from Thailand. Here in Hawaii we just pick them green off the tree. We also like the more mature ones - but the best ones - one that is sprouting a brand new baby coconut tree. OH My!! those RAWk! the meat is soft and delicious!:D How to open a coconut - hammer and chisel - but gotta poke da holes first so you can get da milk out! Or - use a nice lava rock with a sharp edge - that will split open a coconut real quick! :D

[StarFire]

oh I forgot - Machete - probably the most commonly used tool to open a coconut is a machete. Personally - I'm too clutzy to do that - but even kids around here just grab a machete and wack the top off of the coconut and drink the juice. Not my grandbabies though! I make grandpa do it for them!

[Zella Juice]

i put the coconut in a plastic bag and beat it on the concrete. but yeah..thats too much of a hassle. baby thai ones are the best anyways.

[rawererin]

So we're ALL on the same page & because this used to confuse the bajeezus out of me . . .

YOUNG GREEN "THAI" COCONUTS

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o46/ertarox/youngthaicoconut.jpg

MATURE COCONUTS

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o46/ertarox/maturecoconut.jpg

omg that helped so much!

[Elizabeth]

then take the coconut outside and bang throw it as hard as you can on a concrete slab.


LOL!!!! The picture i had in my mind as i was reading that.. You GO, Lay-Lay!!! :D

[kiropa]

then take your knife and hammer, put the knife between the meat and the shell and hammer the end until the meat seperates from the shell.

this worked! THANKYOU!!! i guess i'd just add 'put on protective gloves' first. i cut myself a few times, ugh!

But -- i made coconut fudge from the rawvolution book & it is delish!!!!!!

Where do you all get the young thai coconuts?

i live in a very metropolitan area & they do not carry them at the grocery store or farm.

i guess an asian grocery would, right?

anyway THANKS lay-lay!!!!

[greenfeline]

As far as getting the meat out of the mature coconut, you just have to keep breaking it. Break it into smaller pieces then dig in between the shell and the meat with a spoon and pry the shell off . You only need to get off the very hard brown shell. There will be a thin brown "skin" on it, but you can eat that.

[lytlsprout]

my friend uses his drill. he drills a hole in the top, puts it over a glass drills a hole in the bottom. all the juice comes out and then he smashes it this a hammer. i use my old meat cleaver. haha

[Rawzula]

No store in my area sells young coconuts, only the brown ones. Anyone know of places in NYC that sell them?

[Lay-Lay]

LOL!!!! The picture i had in my mind as i was reading that.. You GO, Lay-Lay!!! :D

LOL, thanks! I'm glad you got the picture. I have so much fun :D

[Lay-Lay]

this worked! THANKYOU!!! i guess i'd just add 'put on protective gloves' first. i cut myself a few times, ugh!

But -- i made coconut fudge from the rawvolution book & it is delish!!!!!!

Where do you all get the young thai coconuts?

i live in a very metropolitan area & they do not carry them at the grocery store or farm.

i guess an asian grocery would, right?

anyway THANKS lay-lay!!!!

I'm so happy that worked. Yeah I occasionally cut myself too :rolleyes:
I get my thai coconuts at the Dekalb Farmers Market.

[learningrawways]

I did a search on the web and found the best way to open the mature coconut is the same way as Tori333 explained. But first you must get the juice out by poking a hole through one of the "eyes" and then after that is done I would put it in 2 plastic garbage bags and whack against the cement--works every time. It also makes it easier to peel away the hard outer shell from the inside because it's in pieces. I used the inside meat in my smoothies for awhile, it makes them meatier and adds something to them.

[Naiad]

No store in my area sells young coconuts, only the brown ones. Anyone know of places in NYC that sell them?


Whole Foods does, although, it might be sporadic to find them there. Check out an asian market. I go to Hanyang in Flushing most of the time and also load up on kimchi, more exotic fruits and veggies and seaweeds :)

One of my biggest loves used to be a bowl of udon soup full of shrimp and vegetable tempura... I have to cover my eyes when I walk by those sections :eek:

[Doe]

Kiropa,

For future reference when picking a brown coconut always shake them. The one that sloshes the most is the freshest. If it doesn't slosh, it's probably not worth getting. To learn how to open one easily watch this video. The link was originally posted a while back by Ama. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-gJC2mcebs

* just watched video again and would add that the best way to get the brown inner skin off is to use a vegetable peeler.

[RowanC]

I posted this on an earlier string.

You might be interested to know that the "coconut water" inside those brown coconuts is nothing more than tapwater. If you look carefully at the "eyes" you'll find one which is waxed over. The produce people typically fill them to make them heavier and b/c people THINK they're getting coconut water.

I would not use it, personally.

I was told this very frankly by my produce manager at QFC.

So Doe, I strongly disagree with your statement that the one that sloshes is the freshest.
The one that sloshest has simply been filled fuller by the produce guy or the seller.

[Doe]

Rowan?!?!

It must depend on where a person lives. I have never seen a waxed over eye. I'm coming from 49 years experience with mature coconuts. However, I do live in FL where coconuts are grown about 6 hrs away. There is always a soft eye, that is natural. I poke an ice pick through the soft eye and drain the water before cracking it. It is natural coconut water, I have also had fresh mature coconuts that have never been in a store, and know that the ones here do not have water added in the stores. In more distant areas - who knows?

If one of the eyes is waxed over please do not buy the coconut - it has been tampered with. There could be anything has been added, including durgs, poison, bleach ... It would be the same as buying any sealed package that had been tampered with.

Wow, that's a new one, really an incentive to buy only local produce.

teri