Recipes

How to Crack a Coconut

elliebleu

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The safe way.

Cracking a coconut is easier than you might think. All you do is soak a husked coconut in water. Then, using the back of a large cleaver, forcefully tap on the horizontal lines of the shell. It breaks within seconds. However, the technique is a little unsafe.

So if you’re not stranded on an island and have a oven at your disposal, there’s another simple trick. Bake the coconut. Here’s how:

 

Step 1 coconut-1

Soak the coconut for about 10 minutes in water.

Step 2

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Find the three eyes of the coconut. With a paring knife, dig into them. You’ll notice that one is softer than the rest. Once you have a hole, drain the coconut water into a glass.

Step 3

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Bake the coconut in the oven for 15 minutes at 375 degrees F. Meanwhile, enjoy your fresh coconut water.

Step 4

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With oven mitts, remove the coconut from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. I used a kitchen sharpening steel, but any mallet will do. Find the 3 horizontal lines on the shell and hit them. (These are white coconuts so the raised lines are a little harder to see.)

Step 5

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Once the coconut is cracked, rinse the inside with fresh water. You can use the shells as fruit bowls or fill them with gelato for a special treat.

Step 6

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Score the coconut meat with a paring knife and it should come right out.

It’s that simple. Enjoy!

Published by elliebleu

I'm the writer, recipe developer, creative director and food photographer for elliebleu.com.

24 thoughts on “How to Crack a Coconut”

  3. The last time I even attempted to crack open a coconut, I found myself sitting outside on the concrete alternating between whacking it with a hammer and attempting to carve it like a jack o’latern.

    Your method looks much easier. I may have to give it a try one day. 🙂

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    1. I baked one longer to find that out. As long as you keep it under the 15 min range the coconut still taste fresh. 5 minutes more and I started noticing a difference with the texture, not taste. Hope this helps 🙂

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    1. Hi Sherrie. I was taught how to crack coconuts by a Fijian. There they do it with a long knife. Instead of giving my mom a heart attack when she saw the post, I figured out how to crack one after baking it. 🙂

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