coconut meat...help?

[dreamrawalwz]

I got a coconut (not sure if it's young or not). Chizzeled holes in it to pour out the milk. Next I cracked it on the concrete step. Now my question is how to get the meat out!! It's been dried out a few days. My mom tried spooning it out and after an hour she only got 1/8 of the way through!! We're wondering how to get it out and if there's an easier way.

[jaurequi]

I just did this a couple days ago. I think using a spoon is not a good idea :). I used a knife and firmly "stabbed" it out. So, place the sharp tip of the knife between the nutmeat and the shell -- along the edge, in other words -- and stab it or press very firmly (carefully). It mostly broke away very easily; sometimes in large chunks, sometimes small. Then keep chipping away. It doesn't take very long really, just a little muscle; and you'll get better and faster at it the more you do it.

If this doesn't sound clear enough, think of when you used to bake a cake or cheesecake and the directions tell you to "run a knife along the perimeter of the cake" for easy removal. This is where you begin your chipping -- along the edges of the nutmeat.

Did that make sense?

Best,

[raeannasun]

Is there any way you can get young coconuts? They taste so much better and the milk from a young coconut is so good for you! I buy mine from an international food market.

[dhammala]

Yeah, if you are chipping away at the meat it is for sure a mature coconut. The young ones have minimal meat inside, maybe 1/4cup total, and the milk is more like water.. The meat is very gelatinous and just peels right out.

My health food store sells them for $1.99 each.. Asian markets are about half that price. They are white and funny shapped.. more like a cone head than a coconut.. :)