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Help with opening coconut!

I had a hard time opening a coconut last time and want to use a better trick. I have a young coconut with the brown part removed. I was able to make a hole and drain out the water, but could not split it open very well. I use a chef’s knife to get in and then twisted until it split (about 20 minutes and possibly dangerous). Is there a great tool people use?

Comments

  • I use a hammer after the water is drained out

  • I wack mine 4 times with a BIG KNIFE around the top to make a square and then use the knife to pop it off. Youtube.com has some great instructionals!

  • I have gotten pretty good at this… Here’s my method: I hold the coco between my feet, then hammer a phillip’s head screwdriver into the holes (all three) and drain the water. Then I hold it with one hance and whack it repeatedly with the hammer. After it splits in half, I keep whacking until it is in smaller pieces, then pop out the meat. If it is fresh off the tree, and the husk needs to be removed, a machete works great (you can get one for under $10 at a hardware store) or, less dangerous than a chef’s knife, but just as difficult, use the claw end of the hammer. Hold the coco down and whack with the claw, then rip out. You only have to remove about half of the husk before you can crack the rest open and pry out the meat. Hope that helps. PS- If you are new to machetes, ask someone to teach you how to use it. A two minute tutorial goes a long way towards saving precious thumbs. ;)

  • All you need to do is hold the coconut in one hand, find the dark vertical line, use a large knife, and smack a few times horizontally across the dark line with the knife blade UP. It always cracks right open for me…good luck with your next one!

  • lzhptlzhpt Raw Newbie

    Oh I just had a good lesson in this from Jenya, a raw food chef and coach. The top pointed part of the young coconut grows in concentric circles so you make one hack into the top by turning the coconut on it’s side, right the coconut and just pull the knife toward you as you turn the coconut, following the concentric circles. The top comes off, you drain out the water and the rest just breaks apart with a little help. You need a sharp knife for this. I bet you can find it on youtube. I used to poke the holes with my stainless straw and get the water out then I’d send the kids upstairs to throw it out the window onto the driveway. It was great fun. There’s just something about opening that coconut that requires huge drama!

  • I watched a video on you tube for a young Thai coconut and then tried it a few minutes ago. It is purple inside and there was a crack on the bottom. I am so sad!

  • Here’s a link to rawguru that gives both pics and a video demonstration of how to open a young coconut. It changed my coconut world! http://www.rawguru.com/html/openyoungcoconut.html

  • i use a butchers cleaver. i cut the outside soft part of the top off hack a hole in it, drain the milk, with one big hard whack i cut the coconut in half. you will need a sharp, big, heavy, cleaver for this.

  • SueSue Raw Newbie

    Hi, I haven’t posted in a while, but over the last year and a half that I’ve been been opening young coconuts I’ve become quite proficient at opening them. Lay the coconut sideways on a cutting board. Take a sharp cleaver and…make sure you put one hand behind your back (very important!!) Line up the cleaver just above where it starts to taper, lift and give it a quick blow. If you hit it right, press down on the cleaver until you have an opening. Make sure you have a container nearby. Drain the water. Then continue to cut the top off. Then take an ice cream scooper and scoop all the meat out. Hope this helps.

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