This week in our neighborhood co-op my mom came home with a coconut. Yup. Full on coconut. So of course I started googling to figure out how to crack it open. After some research, I decided to share with you how it went for me. It was much easier than anticipated, but also fun. I felt like I was in Hawaii. For about 2 seconds.
To make the whole process go a bit smoother, the first step is to bake the coconut for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. This starts the process of separating the flesh from the outside shell.
After it is done baking, put it on a sturdy cutting board and get out a hammer and a screw driver. Find the 3 circles. Of the three circles, 2 have a ridge which is called the eyebrow (circled in red) and one doesn’t, called the nose (blue). You want to drill a hole completely through the nose of the coconut and then drill a hole through one of the other circles.
From there, grab a cup and empty the coconut water. This is not milk…you have to make milk from the water.
After that, hold the coconut in your hand with the 3 holes on one side and the other end on the other side. Then with your hammer, hammer down the center as you turn the coconut in your hand. It will start to separate the shell from the inside.
At this point I just went hammer crazy and the whole thing started cracking to open up to the coconut meat.
From here you can find other ways to use your coconut, such as shredding it, blending it, making milk or oil, or pretty much anything. I have a recipe for you on Wednesday!
~Have you ever cracked and used a coconut?
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