Guide to opening a coconut

On my first trip to India I remember being impressed with the ease that street sellers would open young coconuts after a customer had promised to make a purchase. They would nimbly take their machete and chip off the sides and then pierce the top and hand the coconut to the customer to drink the water. I also remember not being overly impressed by the tangy warm liquid inside the coconut. That was many years before I discovered just how useful coconut water was.

I don’t recommend opening a coconut as street hawkers in India. It can be dangerous to hold a coconut and swing a machete at an object in your hand. The dangers are obvious. Here is an alternative method to opening a coconut.

Opening a coconut that is young and green

If you buy a green coconut that does not have a husk you will just want to extract the coconut juice. There will be little meat since it is the water that becomes the meat over time.

First take a hammer, a nail and a towel. Fold the towel and put it on a hard and solid surface such as a concrete floor.

Next investigate the coconut and try and identify the top. The coconut should be slightly oval and have a tapered top and a fatter bottom. Place the fatter end on the folded towel so it sits up. Then take the hammer and nail and drive a couple of holes into the top of the coconut. You can then drink the coconut water straight from the coconut water or you can pour the coconut liquid out into a glass.

The advantage of pouring the coconut water into another receptacle is that you can then put the water in the fridge to chill. Many people prefer the taste of chilled coconut water to coconut water served at room temperature.

In cities you can often buy coconuts from markets where the coconut has already been shaved and the top is apparent. It is just a matter of puncturing a hole in the top either by chopping the top off or by using the hammer and nail method. The shaved coconut sits by itself so the towel is not necessary. This method of opening a coconut is demonstrated in the second video below.

Opening a coconut with a husk

Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat so there is more than one way to open a coconut. Thais use a piece of wood with a spike sticking out. Once they have pierced the top of the coconut and drained off the coconut milk they will hit the coconut against the spike. When the spike sticks in the coconut they will pull to rip the coconut apart. It requires skill and strength to use this method for opening coconuts.

Here is an easier way to opening a coconut in a husk. First examine the coconut carefully. You should find 2 or 3 dark patches on the end of the coconut. These are weaker points. Place the coconut on a folded towel on a hard surface and use a hammer and a nail to drive a couple of holes through the black indentations that were identified before. The coconut can then be drained of coconut milk.

Next place the coconut on its side and wrap the towel around the coconut. Then simply give the coconut a few strong hits with the hammer to crack it open. Opening a coconut couldn’t be easier!

Once the coconut is open, take a sharp knife and carefully scrape out the coconut meat. Some people use a knife that is bent that can be slid down the side of the coconut between the husk and the meat and use the knife to ‘peel’ the meat away from the inside of the husk. However, you choose to do it be careful not to cut yourself. Blood and coconut meat is not appetizing.

You will often find that part of the brown skin of the coconut will stick to the pieces of coconut you have scrapped out of the shell. To remove this thin layer of skin, use a potato peeler.

The scrapped out coconut meat is now ready for eating, adding to a smoothie or using in cooking.

Alternatively, you can add warm water to the coconut meat and then squeeze it through muslin or cheese cloth to extract the coconut milk and oil. See the first video below for more details of this process.

Keeping coconut after opening a coconut

After opening a coconut you have the option to store the meat instead of using it immediately. Coconut meat can be kept in the fridge for up to a week. In the freezer coconut meat stays fine for 3 months. You can dry the meat in the sun or an oven and shred it and it will last for 6 to 12 months in a cool place. Coconut milk and coconut oil contains antioxidants that stops it going off and so can be kept for a long time in a cool and shaded place.

Video for opening an older coconut and removing the meat

This woman shows how to open a coconut, remove the meat and extract the coconut milk.

Video for opening a young coconut

This man always has his top off, no doubt to add sex appeal to his youtube efforts and improve paypal donations. You have to ignore the pseudo-mystical drivel that he speaks. He can, however, open a coconut.