How do you open a coconut?

[swiddweas]

Hello.

I bought 9 organic young Thai coconuts (I had to buy the entire case :rolleyes: ) and now I am trying to figure out how to open them. I heard they were soft, but they aren't! The inner shell is just as hard as the older coconuts. So, did I waste my money? None of my knives cut it. I don't have a machete (isn't that just a large knife?) anyway, please if you can give me some advice, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you to those who have some ideas to help me.

Pattye

[SamuelWilson]

Pattye,

Whole young coconuts generally come with the husks trimmed down, so they sit flat with a pointed top. To open these coconuts, a cleaver is your best bet. You can use a chef's knife, but if you do, make sure it's an old one, inexpensive one! Lay the coconut on its side, securing it so that it won't roll. Try not to hold the fruit with your free hand wihle you make the first cut (in case you have particularly bad aim!). Holding the knife high, bring it down sharply near the top of the coconut. The knife should sink in about one-third of the way, breaking through the inner shell. Quickly set the coconut upright so as not to lose the water to the cutting board. If you didn't succeed in breaking the inner shell, rotate the shell and try the technique again. Drain the coconut of its water into a blender or bowl, then use the cleaver or knife to finish cutting off the top to get at the meat.

[swiddweas]

Thank you very much.

:D

Pattye

[Revvell]

http://living-foods.com/articles/youngcoconuts.html
http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/crackcoc.html
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/youngcoconuts.html
http://www.rawguru.com/openyoungcoconut.html
http://www.serenityspaces.org/coconut.asp

R.

[Dandelion Girl]

This site shows a video and pictures with instructions about opening a young coconut.

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

Sorry, I just noticed this was included in Revvell's post. I missed it the first time I read it. Guess I was still asleep.

[swiddweas]

R. and Dandelion, thank you! :D

I opened my coconut using the pic instructions you sent Dandelion and R, but the flesh won't scoop out, it's stuck. When i went to scrape it out, the shell came out with it. What does that mean?

PattyE

[exurb]

One thing I like to do first is feel around the bottom/flat end. If it is softish, then you can take a knife or something and chisel or hack through a little hole there. Then you can easily pour out the water into a jug or whatever, so the water is gone before you whack the thing on the cutting board with the water still in it.

[swiddweas]

Thank you Exhurb :D

Pattye

[dbennett]

take off the outer white husk. I just cut mine off with a regular chopping knife. Then you are left with the brown hard shell. I use a wooden mallet and hit it once or twice and it breaks open. If you want to get the water out first; before removing the husk take the heavy corner of a chopping knife and hit the top of the coconut several times moving in a circular motion around the top. You are basically trying to crack a small hole at the top. My knives are very heavy so they work well for this. Keep hitting the top until it starts to crack enough to pour the water out. Then, I hit it with the mallet to break the hard shell and get the meat out. Hope this helps. Alissa has a great example of this technique on her dvd.

[swiddweas]

Dbennet, thank you!

pattyE :D