Are you ready to learn how
to open a coconut? Then let's get crackin'! You don't need much to start. A towel,
hammer, large nail, and of coarse the coconut we are going to
open. |
If you examine your coconut
you will see 2-3 dark indentations on one end. These are
the weakest points. We will be utilizing these guys to drain
the coconut's juice before pulverizing this puppy.
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Take the hammer and drive the nail
through each of the holes. I usually do all of them. Depending
on the type of coconut you have this could take a few swings.
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Place the coconut over a container
and give it some time for the juice to drain. If nothing is
coming out you can drive the nail through the other side of
the coconut to allow air to enter the top
while the liquid drains from the bottom. If your nail bends
try using a slimmer one (or even a drill), the hole doesn't
need to be big.
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Take the drained coconut and
place it in the center of a towel that is large enough to be
wrapped completely around it.
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Wrap the coconut up in such
a way that all of the loose ends are secured underneath
of the coconut so that when it breaks open no pieces will go
flying.
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Time for some fun! Grab your
hammer and bash away! I wouldn't recommend doing this on your
counter, you will need to hit it rather hard. Do it on the
floor, or better yet on brick or concrete. Some coconuts have
grooves partially cut along the sides to make opening easier.
If you have one of these, instead of wrapping up the coconut
you can use the opposite end of the hammer and whack it around
the groove until it splits in two.
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Once it's cracked open you
can hit it a few more times to try and break up the larger
pieces
some more. This will make separating the meat from the shell easier.
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Here's your prize, yummy coconut
meat. Mmmmmm... Using a small knife, pry the meat away from
the shell, be very careful not to cut yourself! Better put
on some music, this could take a while.
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The thin layer of shell that
will cling to most of the coconut meat shards can be cut or
scraped away with a sharp knife. Again, be careful. This will
take a while to do so don't try and rush.
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Whew, all done! Go ahead and rinse
off your pure-white coconut meat and marvel at its delicious
glow. Mmmmmmm. Your storage options include:
Refrigerator
(2-7 days)
Freezer (1-3 months)
Shredded/Grated and dehydrated
(6-12 months)
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I hope you found some value in
this instructional guide. If you know of some other methods /
tools / tricks on how to open a coconut, please send them my
way and I'll add them to the site. I can be reached here:
Thank you everyone who has taken the time to email me about this site, I've been given lots of great feedback and ideas and will update the site soon. In the meatime, here's how the Polynesian's crack coconuts. |
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