How To Open A Coconut At Home, Cut And Peel It, How To Store This Fruit Correctly + Video

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 22:26

What if a coconut appears in the house?

It doesn't matter why a coconut appeared in your home - whether it is a gift of fate or your own whim, but you have to do something with it. Despite the rather harsh appearance, opening a nut is not such a difficult business if you know which side to approach it.

Content

• 1 How to crack a coconut

  • 1.1 Preparing inventory
  • 1.2 Drain the juice
  • 1.3 Breaking a nut with bare hands

• 2 How to open a coconut with a knife

  • 2.1 Opening through the hole

    2.1.1 Video: cutting with a knife through a hole

  • 2.2 Stabbing the rib of a coconut

    2.2.1 Video: how to split the shell into two equal halves

• 3 How to open a green "drinking" coconut
• 4 Safety precautions when opening a nut
• 5 Cleaning the tough skin and removing the pulp

• 6 We will not throw away the shell

  6.1 Photo gallery: decor and household items from coconut shell

• 7 Terms and methods of storing coconut

How to crack a coconut

Of course, this nut is exotic and not familiar to everyone. But this does not mean that we will not be able to cope with it.

The fruit of a coconut tree is more correctly called a drupe rather than a nut.

To cut a coconut "like a nut", we must stock up on the necessary tools and follow a certain sequence of actions.

Preparing inventory

We will need:

• a hammer;
• a nail or screwdriver;
• a large knife or hatchet for meat;
• glass;
• towel.

Do not be intimidated by the abundance of the listed items. Some of them are interchangeable and indicated in case another item is not at hand. Which tool you use depends on how you open the nut.

Drain the juice

There are three dark spots on one of the "poles" of the nut. It will be easier to make a hole in these places.

Coconut water is often mistakenly referred to as "milk". Actually, coconut water (juice) and coconut milk are two different things. Water is what is inside the nut, and the so-called coconut milk is obtained from crushed pulp with the addition of water.

You need to choose the softest spot and make a hole in it with a nail or a screwdriver

1. Place the coconut on a towel to prevent it from slipping on the table.
2. Place a nail on one of the marks and hit it with a hammer. Calculate the power of the blow! If you overdo it, you will end up with a hammered nail, not a hole.
3. Punch two holes to help the coconut water flow out more easily and tilt the nut over the glass.

Do not count on a full glass of juice, there is not much of it in a ripe (brown) nut.

We break the nut with our bare hands

It is difficult to imagine a Papuan walking under the palm trees with a set of carpenters. Coconuts have been eaten since time immemorial, which means that there are some "primitive" ways to bring sweet pulp to the world.

The easiest way to open a nut, if you have nothing but your own hands, is to hit it hard on a hard surface. For example, on a concrete wall. The right hook will have the desired effect if you aim: hold the nut so that the blow hits the most convex part of the nut's equator. As a rule, one decent blow is enough for a crack to appear. The disadvantage of this method is that if the gap is too small, you cannot just break the nut into two halves with your hands and you will have to repeat the maneuver. And if you are so strong that you just smash the coconut against the wall, then you will not be able to enjoy the coconut juice - it will leak out.

How to open a coconut with a knife

If there is at least a knife, then this greatly simplifies the matter. It is desirable that it be a solid tool that inspires respect, for example, a chopper knife, hunting knife or "chef's knife". You can use it to cut a coconut in at least two ways.

Opening through the hole

If you have already made two holes in the shell and drained the juice, feel free to start cutting using the existing holes.

1. We insert a knife into one of the holes with a tip.
2. We hit the handle several times. You can do this with a hammer, or you can just use your fist.

This method guarantees that the nut will crack, but does not guarantee the symmetry of the resulting parts.

Video: cutting with a knife through a hole

Stabbed in the rib of a coconut

In this way, "full" nuts are opened, with juice inside. The first step is to assess the "exterior" of the knife and determine which is heavier, the blade or the handle. The sharpness does not matter, because we will tap the nut, not cut. If the blade is heavier, use the blunt side. If the handle is heavier, then take the knife by the blade.

1. Find a natural break line roughly in the middle of the nut. As you remember, this is where the shells crack the fastest.
2. Act accurately and carefully: with one hand, hold the nut in weight and constantly turn it around its axis, and with the other hand knock on this line with the blunt side of the knife.
3. As soon as a crack appears, slide a knife blade into it and slightly push the shell apart.
4. Pour the juice into a glass.
5. Now unseal the nut using your knife more forcefully.

Video: how to split the shell into two equal halves

How to open a green "drinking" coconut

Green fruits are unripe nuts that have not yet matured. In terms of the density of the peel, they are somewhat reminiscent of a pumpkin, which means that you can easily handle a green nut with a kitchen knife. Just cut off one of the poles of the coconut like a cap and enjoy!

Green coconut juice reduces appetite, normalizes digestion, blood glucose levels, thyroid function and metabolism

Coconut water is low in calories, good thirst quencher, helps to get rid of bladder infections and restores physical strength after intense exertion.

Safety precautions when opening a nut

While coconut is easy to handle, be careful with sharp, stabbing, cutting objects. When wielding a hammer, try to protect your fingers. By the way, if of all the ways to open a coconut, you just decided to hit it with a hammer wherever you have to, then put it in a plastic bag before that, so as not to look for pieces scattered throughout the kitchen.

Peeling the tough skin and extracting the pulp

The extraction of the pulp will go faster if you take into account the following rule: the more shells, the easier it is to do this. Therefore, if you do not use any "life hacks", then the most difficult thing will be to pick out the copra from those very perfect hemispheres, which were discussed above.

Insert the knife blade between the shell and the edible part and separate the piece

The most primitive way to extract the pulp is as follows: insert the blade of a knife between the shell and the edible part, and, swinging the knife, separate the piece. Then another one. And further. The main thing is not to rush anywhere.

This meditation activity is not suitable for everyone. Things will go much faster if you use the following method:

1. Cook the whole nut in the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.
2. Before "cutting" the nut, lightly tap its entire surface: the pulp will separate from the shell already inside the nut.

3. Peel the flesh from the thin brown skin in the same way as potatoes, with a knife or vegetable peeler.

   

   Peeler easily separates the coconut skin from the pulp

We will not throw away the shell

If carving a coconut is so impressive that you want to keep these exciting moments in your memory, make a souvenir from the shell. Most often, the halves of nuts are used as a salt shaker, candlestick, plate for buttons, keys and other little things. If the shell is rather deep, then by turning it upside down, you will get an excellent eco-house for your hamster. Small and unsightly shards serve as drainage for indoor flowers.

Photo gallery: decor and household items from coconut shell

Candlesticks made of coconut halves will decorate any holiday

The coconut shell feeder is very environmentally friendly

Egg-shaped box - almost Faberge

Cacti in a coconut planter feel at home

Terms and methods of storing coconut

One nut is usually eaten right there, so the question of how to store it is not even raised. It's another matter when, for some reason, these coconuts are, as they say, “heaps”. Whole nuts are kept cool for up to three weeks. But if you do not work in the very store where you were tempted to buy coconuts, then you cannot know how long they have already lain on the shelf before you were tempted by them.

Important! When buying a coconut, shake it near your ear: you will hear a tangible splash of juice. If this sound is not there, there is a high probability of running into a stale, drying out fruit.

Store opened coconut in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, provided that it remains in the shell. It is not recommended to store coconut juice. Microbes multiply quickly in a sweetish liquid, so it would be wiser to drink it right away.

But the pulp can be saved in several ways:

• pour boiled water over the pulp so that it does not dry out. The lifespan of "soaked coconut" in the refrigerator is 2-3 days;
• Place the peeled coconut pulp in the freezer. In this form, she can wait for her fate for several months;
• chop and dry the coconut, transfer to a bag and use the shavings throughout the year. Store in a dry place.

Not everyone can pick a nut from this height

Interesting: in the south of Thailand, coconuts are harvested using trained monkeys. The animal climbs up, picks nuts, and when it comes down, it gets a treat from the worker.

The sweetness and aroma of fresh walnut is much brighter than processed walnut. Buy the "symbol of heavenly life" just before eating and enjoy the fullest taste.