[uk.eurosport.yahoo.com]

This player, who I am a fan of, is known more for sweets. Hope this experience does not turn her off of raw foods.

loeve,

I wouldn't cry; I doubt she's into raw foods--it sounds like she tried to butcher a coconut rather than open it for eating : )

It's a little like when recycling got popular and there was a rash of recycling injuries reported in hospitals caused by people attempting to cut away the plastic rings from glass bottles. People need to be taught how to do things or have it done by someone who knows how.

loeve,

Ah, I think you have suggested my calling to me--as a sort of Nany McPhee to adults: "Oh, dear, are you about to give yourself a paper cut putting that twisty tie back on your bread bag? Here, let me help." : )

By the way, I happen to know a woman who was hit on the head with a coconut while on vacation, the story first told to me by her father in-law. The injury turned out to be devastating.

So how does one open a coconut? I keep looking --

[www.bukisa.com]

-- the butter knife cut and chip method works pretty well for me (without oven heating).

Oh, the open title to this thread should read 'loses', not 'looses'. I guess a battle could be loosed, but with a coconut? Ha!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2009 01:19PM by loeve.

loeve,

I was sure the old cartoon with someone being bopped on the head by a falling coconut was based on sad fact. And, see, it is. I can imagine that it could be concussing or even fatal to receive a blow to the head from a coconut.

Are you wondering how to open a mature coconut? IMO, the mature ones are fit only for cleaving in half to use as serving bowls for tropical drinks. This is best done by drilling an "equator" around the middle of the coconut with a dedicate drill bit, and then tapping at the perforations with a clean hammer to split the nut. As far as young coconuts go, this is the way to handle 'em:

[www.youtube.com]

The flesh can be grated with water squeezed out then used as a milk. Mature coconuts are very high in fat though. Is that why you say they are fit only for bowls?

OkunDeji,

Yes, and that they are the opposite of fresh. A young coconut is full of good nutrients, whereas a mature brown coconut is this close to being hand cream : )

could you imagine the damage of durian falling on your head? yikes !

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Jodie,

Apart from shark attack, perhaps durian-braining is the worst way to "go" . . .

> ...As far as young
> coconuts go, this is the way to handle 'em:
>
> [www.youtube.com]

comments--
tycoyoken (3 weeks ago) I can say this is the most stupid and dangerous way to open a coconut with such a sharpen knife...When I was 8, I can easily open the top of the coconut head within 6 secs, all you need to do is using an unsharpen knife edge to hit the top of the head 4-6 times that's all.

--Please don't take this youtube video seriously!

durian and coconut beaning. sigh, the things raw foodists think up. we are a loony bunch indeed.

i love using mature coconut meat, it's fun and tasty and good fat for the kids. put through the juicer it makes incredible coconut creme for desserts, blended and strained it makes coco milk like nut milk and the left overs can be dried and used in recipes. it's just like any other nut i think. sure, better fresh but i live in canada so... unless it's a sunflower or pumpkin seed all nuts have to travel far to come to me.

i wish Tamukha that i had known your trick when i was trying to make bowls and other things out of coconut. will have to try that drilling trick. though i am thinking of eliminating tropical foods from our diet, hmm. maybe i'll chalk this up to an art project (for which i am willing to sacrifice much) and just stop buying pineapple, bananas, oranges, kiwi, nuts and avos. ok, maybe not avos .

ETA OMG Loeve, no kidding! dude was giving me a freaking heart attack! ack!
this guy was a bit better but the fellas in the market just whack that sucker once or twice and the top pops right off.
[www.youtube.com]

would you make a video for us? pretty please?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2009 01:00PM by coco.

loeve,

The procedure depicted in the video is valid and also standard; it's what most raw foodists use to open coconuts with nary a mishap. That was just the first vid showing it and seemed methodical enough to post, so that's the one I posted. Anyone who uses a dull knife to open a young coconut is asking to lose a finger. I've said it before and I'll say it again, a dull knife is a dangerous knife : )

Jodi,

I just remembered while reading your post how, a few months back, someone mentioned on the boards that imported young coconuts are all riddled with dangerous fungicides you cannot wash off. I haven't bought any since. If I ever found out that that was the case with the other tropical produce you mention, it would be the only thing to induce me to give them up entirely!

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> durian and coconut beaning. sigh, the things raw
> foodists think up. we are a loony bunch indeed.
>
> i love using mature coconut meat, it's fun and
> tasty and good fat for the kids. put through the
> juicer it makes incredible coconut creme for
> desserts, blended and strained it makes coco milk
> like nut milk and the left overs can be dried and
> used in recipes. it's just like any other nut i
> think. sure, better fresh but i live in canada
> so... unless it's a sunflower or pumpkin seed all
> nuts have to travel far to come to me.
>
> i wish Tamukha that i had known your trick when i
> was trying to make bowls and other things out of
> coconut. will have to try that drilling trick.
> though i am thinking of eliminating tropical foods
> from our diet, hmm. maybe i'll chalk this up to an
> art project (for which i am willing to sacrifice
> much) and just stop buying pineapple, bananas,
> oranges, kiwi, nuts and avos. ok, maybe not avos
> .
>
> ETA OMG Loeve, no kidding! dude was giving me a
> freaking heart attack! ack!
> this guy was a bit better but the fellas in the
> market just whack that sucker once or twice and
> the top pops right off.
> [www.youtube.com]
> =related
>
> would you make a video for us? pretty please?

Haha, I'm the biggest loon.

I liked your video which was a little less scary and had funny comments like "what kind of coconut is that?", or "it looks like a little hut". Most all the coconut opening videos are scary and/or funny, maybe partly because young coconuts are new and strange in some markets.

Paul Nison posted this "coconut hunt" video a while back showing Dr. Fred Bisci opening a green coconut (at 2:40) in the wide open outdoors. He has some skill and respect for the follow-through of the blade and seems to keep his fingers (and toes!) well enough out of the path of the machete.

[www.youtube.com]

Draining the water first, as Paul Nison and Fred Bisci apparently did (by nail, screw driver, drill, auger?), opens up a variety of ways to then get at the meat hopefully without a bloody mess.

Hmmm, using gloves or even a towel to help protect fingers might help.

Sorry, am not set up with a camera.

Dinara Safina is back at full strength cruising at the Cincinnati Open, minus the bandage on her hand. Those Safins like to put on a show for the media, her brother Marat Safin slamming rackets, exclaiming "fart knocker" and then entertaining in his interviews. Dinara takes after her brother.

By the way, it's said Marat grew up on cabbage and bananas and is also known to slam bottles of barley grass juice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2009 05:59PM by loeve.

loeve,

Ah, they're Tatars--this explains everything. Those people are more into "earthy" foods, and would be more likely to try coconuts.

loeve, that was one funny video. both of them with the hillarious accents and all those coconuts and ackee! hee hee hee. the machete work is certainly intimidating but effective. scary opening those things up...

Machetes are intimidating but useful, personally using one often for clearing and mulching brush. This lady, Dinara Safina, just might like one.

[newsfromrussia.com]

I was googling for a tutorial on how to use a machete properly and what came up was zombie defense systems. One includes a machete with a saw back, a neat feature and a little overkill for zombies, IMO, but just what I need for yard work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2009 01:22AM by loeve.

loeve,

When using a machete for brush, remember to sweep from just left-of-center-up to right-down, away from the body, as though making a half U in the air. When using a machete for axing, don't lift high but let the blade's weight do the work; hacking away at things up to down with the full arm just tires one out. I don't rmember when I learned to use one--it was a long time a go--but I remember the method : )

Thanks, Tamukha, four knicks this summer on my left hand are testament that I don't know how to use a machete correctly. I'll take your tips to heart.