How to Empty a Coconut: 9 Steps

2024 Author: Samantha Chapman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 09:13

An empty coconut can house a hermit crab, or it can be used as a birdhouse. It can also be used as a decoration for a party, or, by knocking one half against the other, to create a noise similar to that of horses' hooves! You can even use it as a bowl or mug!

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Extract the Liquid from the Coconut

Step 1. Find the eyes of the nut

Much like a bowling ball, the coconut has three "eyes". They are small marks on the shell, two of which are very close and the third slightly more displaced. This is precisely the weakest eye, on which you have to act to extract the liquid.

• Sometimes it may be necessary to remove some of the filaments of the shell in order to reach the eyes. You can do this with your hands, or with the help of a small knife. The area around the eyes must be clean.

  

Step 2. Make a hole in the eye with a knife, screwdriver or drill bit

If the knife is small enough you may be able to reach the liquid directly, otherwise use a screwdriver or the tip of a drill to widen the opening.

• You may need to hammer in the screwdriver. A few taps should be enough.

  

• If you hear a hissing sound as you penetrate the coconut pulp, this is a good sign; it means that the coconut is losing pressure. If you don't hear this noise (or if you notice that air is coming out of the inside instead of the other way around), the nut may have gone bad.

  

Step 3. Pour the liquid into a bowl or cup

Coconut water is great, drink it! But make sure it hasn't gone bad before mixing it with more coconut water; you would ruin everything. Here's how to tell if it can be drunk:

• It must be transparent enough, almost like water

  

• There should be no lumps

  

• It shouldn't be sticky

  

Part 2 of 3: Cut it in half

Step 1. Locate the midline of the coconut

Each coconut has a natural "center point", indicated by a thin line, a kind of equator. This is where it is easiest to break. Identify this line before proceeding with the break.

• To handle the coconut properly, hold it with your non-dominant hand. The eyes should be facing downward.

  

Step 2. Hit the coconut along the line using a large knife or kitchen cleaver

Do not use a sharp blade! You could get hurt, and you could crush the nut into many small pieces. Use the dull side of a heavy knife blade to break the nut in half.

• A cleaver would be the best choice, the back of the blade is in fact curved and fits perfectly into the coconut shell. Always remember that the three eyes must be pointing downwards.

  

Step 3. Rotate the coconut approximately ninety degrees each time you hit it

Keep twisting the coconut and hitting it with the knife along the line, until you hear the cracking noise. As it begins to break apart, use less and less force to split it into two halves.

• With some coconuts it only takes a few hits, with others it may take longer. Don't worry, some are simply more resilient than others.

  

• Keep twisting the nut until the crack has spread all the way around, at which point it should split halfway.

  

Part 3 of 3: Empty it

Step 1. Remove the pulp from the shell

Take a spoon and place it between the pulp and the shell. The pulp should come apart in pieces. You may not be able to pull it all off; in this case follow the next step.

• Is the spoon not working? Some nuts are more resistant than others. In this case, take a small knife and make incisions in the pulp, as if you were peeling an orange.

  

• Before you discard the pulp, consider storing it. It's delicious, especially when cold or chopped in a smoothie!

  

Step 2. Place the coconut halves in a baking dish and bake at 150 ° C for 1-2 hours

The time may vary based on the size of the walnut and the thickness of the pulp. Eventually the pulp should shrink a little, and you should be able to peel it off the shell quite easily.

• The inhabitants of the Micronesian islands leave the coconuts in the sun for a few days to separate the pulp from the shell.

  

Step 3. Place the shells upside down in a well-ventilated area

Leave them like this for a few days (up to a week) so that they dry completely. By doing so they will be perfect to be used as cups or to create small works of art.

• While they dry they can also be used as decoration! And if there is some pulp left, it too will dry out and peel off.

  

Advice

• You can attach a grater to a workbench by making two holes in the handle of a chisel and, keeping the same distance, on the workbench. One of the holes must be near the head of the chisel, the other at the bottom of the handle. Use hex screws of at least 0.5 cm in diameter, pass them through the chisel (also inserting a washer) and then into the holes on the workbench; then fix everything with bolts.
• To build a coconut grater, take a concrete chisel about 5cm wide and round the corners with a file. Attach the chisel to a vise, and using a hacksaw make roughly 3mm cuts along the cutting edge. The teeth thus created should be very similar in size to the tines of a fork. They don't need to be very deep, half a centimeter is enough.
• You can also use a hacksaw to cut a coconut. However, it is not easy, and it can be dangerous; the hacksaw in fact tends to slip due to the curvature of the nut. Work on small areas, little by little. Do not try to cut the coconut in half right away, instead try to make incisions in the shell until you reach the pulp, along the entire circumference.
• When grating the coconut, be careful! Start from the outer edge of one of the two halves and, using the appropriate grater, move inwards. Continue to rotate the nut so that you always change the point you are acting on, and collect the chopped pulp in a bowl. Remember to always move from top to bottom, and from outside to inside.