Help!!! Coconut Issues

[kimmerlee]

Anyone know a comparable substitute for young thai coconuts or coconuts in general. I'm at my wits end right now. I bought a dozen ingredients to make raw samosas as to nick my Indian food craving and I'm having the worst luck with coconuts. First of all I can't find the young thai coconuts, so I bought the other kind from Whole Foods. Went thru heck and back trying to open it and it was rotten inside. It smelled like rotten cheese and it was very moldy. Then I got a few more from Kroger and THEY were rotten. I can't believe it!!! I don't want to buy anymore coconuts. Or does anyone know a way to determine if a coconut is good or not? This seems to be very common or at least in my neck of the woods it is.

[Chom Poo]

That happens to me, too. I've settled on buying coconut flakes. I'll just have to try a real coconut the next time I go to back to the islands.

[EZ rider]

I am lucky to have a good oriental market in my neighborhood with a first rate produce department. They really take pride in having fresh produce available. I get my young coconuts there by the case for $8.99 (9 per case). I have bought lots and lots of cases there and in all those coconuts I have only found 1 bad coconut. I recommend looking for a good oriental market.

[Rubyred]

Do you have any Asian markets in your area? I know I'm asking the obvious. I'm fortunate I have many near me. Still, I buy several because they will last a while if refrigerated. They are also very easy to crack open and always full of juice. The juice is unlike anything I've experienced before - incredible! It's worth the trouble to try and locate a place that sells them if that's possible.

I never had much luck with the dark brown ones either. They are hard as heck to open and the coconut is so hard I can't use it for anything. And what a mess they make!

[luckitri]

I quit buying them for the same reason. In my area it seems that all the stores that carry them use the same supplier so even though we are a huge metropolitan area, going from store to store made no difference.

I have learned that if the white part has any discoloration in pink grey or brownish whatsoever - they are always bad.

If there is any crack in the husk - even miniscule - it will be bad.

Cost me alot of money to learn this!

And even with these precautions sometimes they are still bad.

I really enjoyed them when I first started raw. It is clear to me that something with the storing and shipping has changed in the last year and returning them to the store does not empower them to make the feedback to create change.

[walnutty]

Aren't you in AZ? I buy mine at Whole Foods and have never gotten a bad one. I drink 4-6 of them a week. I shop at the Tempe store.

Hope you start having better luck!

[luckitri]

Hi Walnutty! I think that Tempe is the heart of raw foodist country for Arizona outside of Sedona. Prolly why you get good ones? I am in the west valley and no longer have a car so we have Sprouts - not Whole Foods and the Henrys that is supposed to be part of Whole Foods has closed. I have tried several oriental markets in my area and they cannot be counted on either. Even when I go on the day that they arrive - I still get bad ones. Interesting.