The quick and easy way to open a Coconut

We all love the mighty Coconut, how it looks, how it tastes, and its many health-promoting benefits but getting the tasty Coconut meat out of the shell can prove very tricky and a step too far for most people.

Here, Peter Tate demonstrates the quick and easy way to open a Coconut that won’t take a minute and won’t leave you feeling like you’ve just attempted the impossible.

Peter makes it look so simple but there is definitely a knack to this technique, you have to hold the knife loosely in your hand while you bash the outer shell with the back edge of the blade. I say there’s a knack to it because you’re only trying to loosen the shell from the nut, not break the whole thing open, so vibration is the key to getting the Coconut open.

You’ll know when you hit the nut with just the right amount of force as the nut makes a hollow sound when the shell comes away from the Coconut meat. Some younger nuts are very difficult to open, even with this method so try to pick a larger nut with plenty of water inside that looks a little older and doesn’t have any funny-looking white deposits on the three holes at the top of the nut.

I never drink the milk from a Coconut before I have attempted to remove the shell

One thing I will say about coconut is that I never drink coconut milk until after I have broken open the nut. You never really know what is going on inside the nut and probably 25% of the Coconuts we buy here in the UK are past their best, these aren’t official figures this is what we have discovered over years of buying and juicing Coconuts. If you’re going to include these fantastic nuts in your diet (and I wholeheartedly recommend that you do) You should be prepared for a certain level of waste.

Take care with your lovely Coconuts!

I never drink milk from a coconut before attempting to remove the shell, if the outer meat is bad there can be all kinds of nastiness lurking inside and you don’t want that getting into your drink.

You also need to take a look inside the nut once the shell has been removed, if the inside of the meat has a slimy look to it and the milk has a slightly fermented alcohol smell to it then it’s best if you don’t drink it the milk as it’s probably past it’s best.

Wade recently created an article that contains the latest news on all the health-related benefits of adding coconut to your diet, read about it here and learn how it can benefit you in your search for RA wellness.