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Read MoreCoconut 101
I was working on updating a classic American recipe for my Paleo Magazine column this weekend and realized I had no idea how to properly prepare a fresh coconut. After a little research and some tinkering in my test kitchen, this what I came up with. If you’ve never eaten fresh coconut, you really owe it to yourself to give a go!
Preheat oven to 400F.
Place the coconut on a kitchen towel for traction. Pierce the three “eye” holes on top of the coconut by gently tapping a clean screwdriver with a hammer. This is much easier than it seems.
Drain the water from the coconut and put it in the oven, directly on the oven rack, for 10 minutes.
Remove the coconut from the oven, wrap it in a kitchen towel, place it in the sink, and smack it with a hammer to crack the shell. The white coconut meat should easily pop out of the thick husk. You might need to bash the pieces a few times to break them into smaller, more manageable pieces; wrap the pieces in the towel every time.
Now, you can either remove the thin brown skin with a vegetable peeler or just leave it on. I left mine on because I’m mostly lazy, and it didn’t affect the taste or texture.
Now you can either shred the coconut in a food processor or with a box grater, or make “chips” with a mandoline slicer (so later you can make these Caramelized Coconut Chips). Store the shredded/chipped coconut in a covered container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
Get toasty: If you want to toast the shredded coconut, preheat the oven to 350F, spread the coconut in a single layer on a baking sheet, and toast for 5-8 minutes. Keep an eye on it! It can go from blah to burnt in a blink.
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Hello Melissa,
Thanks for the steps. I have wrestled with getting the coconut out of the shell many times.
Question: What temperature do you bake the coconut at while in the oven for ten minutes?
Thanks!
Michelle
Sorry! I forgot to include that key step! It’s 400F for the oven.
Thanks for the tips! I assume the oven should be on when you put it in there after draining the water… what temp?
Sorry! I forgot to include that key step! It’s 400F for the oven.
This is very helpful. Thank you! One question… when you place the coconut halves in the oven for 10 minutes, is the oven warm or cold?
Sorry! I forgot to include that key step! It’s 400F for the oven.
How long can you store the roasted coconut?
It doesn’t go ‘bad’ but it TOASTED coconut will only stay crisp at room temp for about a day. Untoasted coconut can be stored for a week or so in the fridge.
I meant to ask you about canned coconut milk for ages now. A number of recipes use a couple of tablespoons which leaves me with fair bit left over.
Do you pop it in the freezer, do you throw it in some standard recipe? What do you do?
PS When I open a coconut I just whack it with the back of a big kitchen knife until it cracks (sharp edge towards me, dull edge for bashing). Coconut in one hand, knife in the other.
Sometimes I freeze it; sometimes I use it as an excuse to make something else with coconut milk in it 😉
It doesn’t last long in the fridge once it’s opened, so freezer is a good idea.
This is awesome! I can’t wait to cut a full coconut!
Thanks for this post, it seems much easier than how my dad used to do it when I was a kid!
My friend Angela grew up on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and ate coconuts regularly at home. She told me that the brown skin around the white flesh is an important part of the fruit. As part of a “whole foods” diet it should never be discarded. Coconut oil is plentiful in the skin. But I find it difficult to whack the coconut with a hammer as hard as she does in order to open the shell, so I’m going to try your pre-heating method and see if it makes the job easier. Thanks for the tip!
What can you do with the coconut water?
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/coconut-water-recipes/
Thanks! Word to the wise: I wouldn’t recommend poking the holes, getting impatient and leaving the coconut to drain over a one-cup measuring cup. You’ll probably end up with a full measuring cup and quite a bit of coconut water on your counter. Who knew?