A part of me died inside going raw because it meant no more Thai curries. Well, canned coconut milk is disgusting, anyway, but young coconuts? Awesome for water but NOT for thick sauce.

So I've been researching, and it's time to get SERIOUS. I don't have the cash for an electric mature coconut shredder, or the time for a traditional Thai coconut straddling shredder... so I found something like a compromise on eBay for cheap:

[www.ebay.ca]

Does anyone think this would be feasible? It's super easy to crack a coconut in two perfect halves, and it's very easy to throw old coconut flesh into the Blendtec to get an awesome coconut milk.

It's NOT SO EASY AT ALL to get the flesh out of the coconut and into the blender, however.

Has anyone used one of these? Could this be a feasible solution?

I'm so happy to be making coconut milk with old coconut again (you can even let it separate and make coconut CREAM!)... and... ahhh... FRESH CURRY PASTE WITH ALL FRESH HERBS!! XD

But the labor is brutal. My boyfriend is just getting SO tired of doing the dirty work with coconuts for me. :O

Why canned coconut milk is disgusting? Is it because of cans (lots of nasties leached?) Would it be better if you buy the milk in something like tetrapaks? Or is it because it's heated before being packed (is it?)

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

Your boyfriend will likely still have to participate in this, phantom; the device looks like it needs three hands, at least, to operate--two to force the coconut half against the blade, and one to crank the driver.

There's the fact that it's heated (probably to extremely high temperatures, as per industrial standards), canned (cans are no good)... and it's like mac-n-cheese sauce. Real coconut doesn't make milk like that and it sits entirely differently in my stomach. I always feel sick if I do eat the canned stuff. I've had some of those "raw cakes that sneak it in" and it's always resulted in a bad tummy ache after.

Maybe I should save up for an electric one... :\ Bad news for my boyfriend.

I have to confess I've never eaten a real coconut in my life. I've seen them being sold in supermarkets, but they are brown, hairy and the fact that they never seem to be organic puts me off buying them to try.

I use organic raw coconut oil, its cold pressed. And I also drink organic coconut water, but it is flash-pasteurised I'm sure. Oh and dried coconut flakes, no idea if they are cooked or not. Wish we had more coconuts here in UK, so many nice recipes include them and they supposed to be so good for you.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

Chat, the hairy ones are just older. Not spoiled but "mature." The meat is oily, like the shredded coconut that comes in a package. I believe an Omega 8006 can make coconut oil from mature coconuts. I don't worry about organic when it comes to coconuts. That shell is very tough. Some people talk about the young coconut (pointy white Thai) being dipped in formaldehyde but I have heard that contradicted and again, I don't personally worry about anything seeping into the shell.

Cheers BW, what you say about the thick shell makes sense, for this reason i too sometimes buy non-organic food which was grown locally. But im a bit reluctant with foods that come from god knows where in the world. And with coconuts since I've never even tried the thing, I wouldn't be able to tell if the one I bought is good or not!

I've googled it a bit and found this: Artisana Raw Coconut Butter [www.artisanafoods.com]


Would it be a good substitute to supermarket coconuts? I bet its more expensive but - it's basically a raw mature coconut minus the water, and you don't have the trouble opening and getting the flesh out, and it's organic!

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

There is no comparison because it's a different product. Young coconut (not the hairy ones) have coconut water and a soft flesh (older flesh is a bit more solid). That product combines the oil and the flesh.

Yes that's what is in question here - the flesh of the older coconuts, not the flesh and the water of the young ones.

So is this Artisana butter a different product so far as mature coconuts are concerned? Or could one use it in the recipes which call for the flesh of such mature coconuts?

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

You could make a milk blending the butter with water, it's just $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

$18/jar or something ludicrous around here. Tasty, though. <3

www.upayanaturals.com has it in bulk, so you can save a bit of coin if you want to commit to eating lots of it.

For recipes that require something really fibrous, like mature coconut shavings, the butter wouldn't work. Otherwise, you can pretty much rock it. Mix it, melted, half/half with some maple syrup and make THE MOST DECADENT ICING EVER for dunking strawberries.

*Lightly $t34m!ng a mature coconut will make it very tender and easy to pry from the shell... More of the oil also comes out of the flesh that otherwise would not come out.

I'll have to save my pennies for the electric grater and get back to everyone with a "ONCE AND FOR ALL" result. >80

Mature coconuts make the best milk... With one coconut you can get four cans worth of milk.

How did primates deal with these blasted things?!

Oh that's great thanks phantom, I'll get some of this butter then and get cracking on some of those delicious recipes! I don't think I'll be using it very often or very much, so I'll afford the price for those occasions. Plus it's organic which is good. Happy now, the discovery of this butter is another excuse reason to buy the proper ice-cream maker!

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

You can buy coconuts from John Kohler and he sells a lot of tools to open them, make coconut noodles, etc. -

[www.youngcoconuts.com]

I believe it's he who says even if they're not organic, the formaldehyde doesn't penetrate the shell.

I've put the young coconut milk and flesh into the blender and it comes out pretty much like the coconut milk you buy in a can, but I haven't tried the mature ones yet.

Also, I've seen raw recipes where you take a package of the raw shredded coconut and process it, and it becomes coconut cream - but right now I can't find the recipe.

Here they add water to the shredded coconut --

[www.freecoconutrecipes.com]

[www.rawfoodsnewsmagazine.com]

Organic is not important in coconut, it has to be raw and fresh