Well I have two coconut eating experiments - one good, one bad.
The good first...we researched how to drain and then open our coconut. Being rather impatient, and not very good with directions - I poked the holes with a screwdriver and banged on it with a mallet. This worked to get out some clear liquid. The kids were surprised to find out that the liquid was clear. They both had a taste and decided it tasted ok. They were more interested in getting the whole coconut opened up. I tried a variety of methods and finally resorted to hurling the coconut onto our concrete driveway. It split open into many little pieces - which the kids enjoyed eating. Not as tasty as the shredded coconut you can buy in a bag - but the novelty of eating something fresh and in it's natural state, wins out.
I had a hard time figuring out how to shred the coconut - which ended up being ok, since I didn't really have any idea what I'd do with a bunch of freshly shredded coconut.
The coconut remains, remained in the fridge for a few days and then I pitched it, much to the chagrin of my dd.
So we bought another one. Being too lazy to go outside to the garage and fetch the mallet and screwdriver, I attempted to improvise with inadequate kitchen utensils. I did manage to easily poke out one of the eyes (no not of my children but the coconut) - which seemed a bit odd. I used a nail and the basement hammer. After safely "sterilizing" the nail (well ran it under hot water and a bit of dish soap anyway) - I hammered it (easily) into the eye. Then I did the same with the other two eyes.
It did not appear that the holes were large enough to drain the coconut - so I tried poking in the sharp end of a vegetable peeler and hammering on that...then a cocktail fork - to no avail. Thankfully my dh then arrived home and took over. I noticed the coconut liquid smelled kind of "funny" - rancid or fermented. I took a taste - tasted like it smelled.
Dh took it to the basement and cracked open the husk and it looked very odd. Instead of being a nice white cracked in to - it was kind of dirty and speckled and instead of the meat adhering to the husk part it kind of came apart like a hardboiled egg...and looked like one. Nasty smell. Felt kind of soft. He broke it open and I feared it would be crawling with maggots or something else...the inside just didn't look normal - it wasn't hard and deep white like our other coconut and the smell was bad.
I've read that rancid coconuts smell HORRIBLE - well this was not to that point - though after throwing it all in the laundry room trash can - we decided to take it outdoors to the trash. The laundry room smelled of coconut for awhile.
I've read that coconuts can stay fresh for a few months, and since we only had this one for a short time I'm kind of surprised (though who knows how long it sat in the store).
Pictures below of the "bad" coconut.
The good first...we researched how to drain and then open our coconut. Being rather impatient, and not very good with directions - I poked the holes with a screwdriver and banged on it with a mallet. This worked to get out some clear liquid. The kids were surprised to find out that the liquid was clear. They both had a taste and decided it tasted ok. They were more interested in getting the whole coconut opened up. I tried a variety of methods and finally resorted to hurling the coconut onto our concrete driveway. It split open into many little pieces - which the kids enjoyed eating. Not as tasty as the shredded coconut you can buy in a bag - but the novelty of eating something fresh and in it's natural state, wins out.
I had a hard time figuring out how to shred the coconut - which ended up being ok, since I didn't really have any idea what I'd do with a bunch of freshly shredded coconut.
The coconut remains, remained in the fridge for a few days and then I pitched it, much to the chagrin of my dd.
So we bought another one. Being too lazy to go outside to the garage and fetch the mallet and screwdriver, I attempted to improvise with inadequate kitchen utensils. I did manage to easily poke out one of the eyes (no not of my children but the coconut) - which seemed a bit odd. I used a nail and the basement hammer. After safely "sterilizing" the nail (well ran it under hot water and a bit of dish soap anyway) - I hammered it (easily) into the eye. Then I did the same with the other two eyes.
It did not appear that the holes were large enough to drain the coconut - so I tried poking in the sharp end of a vegetable peeler and hammering on that...then a cocktail fork - to no avail. Thankfully my dh then arrived home and took over. I noticed the coconut liquid smelled kind of "funny" - rancid or fermented. I took a taste - tasted like it smelled.
Dh took it to the basement and cracked open the husk and it looked very odd. Instead of being a nice white cracked in to - it was kind of dirty and speckled and instead of the meat adhering to the husk part it kind of came apart like a hardboiled egg...and looked like one. Nasty smell. Felt kind of soft. He broke it open and I feared it would be crawling with maggots or something else...the inside just didn't look normal - it wasn't hard and deep white like our other coconut and the smell was bad.
I've read that rancid coconuts smell HORRIBLE - well this was not to that point - though after throwing it all in the laundry room trash can - we decided to take it outdoors to the trash. The laundry room smelled of coconut for awhile.
I've read that coconuts can stay fresh for a few months, and since we only had this one for a short time I'm kind of surprised (though who knows how long it sat in the store).
Pictures below of the "bad" coconut.
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