Author Topic: Easy Coconut Milk Method  (Read 6678 times)

FruitFanatic

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 22
    • Sauteurs, Grenada
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Fanatic
Easy Coconut Milk Method
« on: June 03, 2014, 03:22:08 PM »
Making fresh coconut milk doesn't have to be dangerous or tedious. The secret to getting the husk off the coconut meat is to bake the coconut in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The heat will cause the meat to expand which will crack the shell. When the meat shrinks it will come off the shell easily. No special coconut tools, no power tools!

From there you simply blend up the coconut water and meat with a cup or two of water. Then strain through a nut milk bag. Only takes 15 minutes worth of work once you take the coconut out of the oven.

http://fruitfanatic.net/fresh-coconut-milk/
Peace Corps Volunteer living in Grenada.. check out my fruit blog ---> www.fruitfanatic.net

jcaldeira

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 998
    • Planet Earth
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2014, 04:31:50 PM »
Interesting method.

Here in Fiji we simply crack the husked coconut in half by whacking it against a rock.  Strike it along the nut's equator (eyes at the poll) and the shell usually breaks neatly in half.  Then the meat is shredded with a coconut shredder, kneaded with water and strained.  The coconut milk is creamier if the meat is kneaded by hand before straining.  The kneading releases oil from the meat.



The only time heat is used here to harvest meat is when the meat (copra) will be sold for commercial processing.
Applying laws and rules equally to all is a cornerstone of a civilized society.

mangaba

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 217
    • Brazil,Pernambuco,Recife
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2014, 10:16:09 PM »
While extracting coconut milk from grated coconut I use warm water (not so hot to warp the plastic blender jar!). The juice extracts more oil from the husk (residue of the grated coconut). You can store this coconut  milk for quite some time in the freezer without it turning rancid.
                                                 mangaba

thao

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 707
    • WI zone 5b
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2014, 10:23:48 PM »
How much would you guys say you can make/extract(coconut milk) from a single good/average size nut(1-1.5 lb)?

I knew it was easy, but have never attempted to make my own, going to start making my own soon and no more buying already process can stuff ;D

mangaba

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 217
    • Brazil,Pernambuco,Recife
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2014, 07:24:48 PM »
It all depends how thick a juice you want. Normally of that size coconut, the first blending yields  about 500ml thick juice.  I add some more warm water and blend to get a second wash. You can either mix the two washes, or keep them separate for different purposes. A thick juice is good for fish or chicken curry.In the northeast of Brazil we make couscous out of yellow cornmeal steamed in a basket over boiling water. After it sets, transfer to shallow serving bowl and pour the thin coconut milk over it.
Can send you detailed recipe.
                                                       mangaba

thao

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 707
    • WI zone 5b
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #5 on: June 04, 2014, 08:22:11 PM »
It all depends how thick a juice you want. Normally of that size coconut, the first blending yields  about 500ml thick juice.  I add some more warm water and blend to get a second wash. You can either mix the two washes, or keep them separate for different purposes. A thick juice is good for fish or chicken curry.In the northeast of Brazil we make couscous out of yellow cornmeal steamed in a basket over boiling water. After it sets, transfer to shallow serving bowl and pour the thin coconut milk over it.
Can send you detailed recipe.
                                                       mangaba
Thanks for the advice and info, no need to send the recipe sheet, I got the idea. I'm pretty good at going by words. Every since I went to culinary school and learned the basics, I can pretty much just wing a recipe by looks/taste or words with out much instructions. Then again, I already knew most of the basics of cooking even before going to cooking school and only learn some new word terminology and techniques  :)

I got to say watching the Food Network channel and watching different cooking videos of different cuisine from around the world on YouTube also really helps too. And can't forget Google and other search engines online ;D :P

mangaba

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 217
    • Brazil,Pernambuco,Recife
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2014, 08:20:28 PM »
What you wrote is interesting. I was brought up with coconuts and coconut oil. Was born in Goa on the west coast of India.  Here in northeast of Brazil we also get a lot of coconuts and their by products. You can buy in the supermarket counter,  thick coconut milk in 200 and 500ml bottles. Many times instead of going of the whole process of making coconut milk I buy a 200ml bottle to make fish curry. What I find is that many times I find the curry with a soapy taste. So bad that I throw it in the sink. This does not happen if I use fresh coconut.   Any explanation ????  I also suspect that some bottlers baptise the coconut milk with corn flour.
             You should try if you have a chance  a well germinated coconut. It tastes like cotton candy without sugar added !
                                                           mangaba

thao

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 707
    • WI zone 5b
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2014, 12:29:52 AM »
The soapy taste might have came off from the can's metal? Often time, I find many can food have this coppery/irony/lead taste to them. So, if using fresh coconut milk, I would suspect eliminates the soapy taste that you often get from the can stuff. I've never tasted that soapy taste you describe you had before. I only make Thai Curry, which is loaded with lots of spices and chilies, so you can't taste any soapy taste either when using can coconut milk.

Here they market two different products of coconut liquid, coconut cream is thicker, richer, creamier tasting and has more oil content, coconut milk is thinner, more liquidy/watery and less creamy/rich tasting.

I really don't know if they use corn flour/starch to thicken the coconut milk, but it's possible.

Would love to try a fully germinated coconut, but only way is if I was in South Florida or other tropical places that coconut can grow well. At regular stores, we can usually find either brown husk mature nuts with water or young nut with water and young flesh, no germinated nuts to purchase.

mangaba

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 217
    • Brazil,Pernambuco,Recife
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2014, 08:00:19 AM »
Thao
      A friend of mine who likes to cook with  ready made  coconut milk told me that the soapy taste could be corrected by adding  a pinch of soda bicarbonate. He said that this soapy taste could be that the coconut milk was extracted from a too mature coconut.
      In this region where I live there are no big cooconut processing factories nor small scale units. Tender coconuts fetch a better price (for water) than ripe ones sold per kg. Big companies  (like Gessy Lever) buy ripe coconuts to make soap.
                                                                            mangaba 

thao

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 707
    • WI zone 5b
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2014, 08:17:01 PM »
Didn't know that the soapy taste might have come from mature coconut and coconut was used to make soap, interesting.

From the sea

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 690
    • Big Island Hawaii
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2014, 06:46:36 AM »
coco nut oil makes a real smooth white soap

i use a cold press juicer to make coconut cream, i also dry the meat in a dehydrator and run it through a oil press  coconut oil is great for all kinds of stuff.

BrettBorders

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 224
  • tropical fruit is a taste of paradise
    • Lake Worth, FL, USA
    • View Profile
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2014, 11:41:48 AM »
Making fresh coconut milk doesn't have to be dangerous or tedious. The secret to getting the husk off the coconut meat is to bake the coconut in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The heat will cause the meat to expand which will crack the shell. When the meat shrinks it will come off the shell easily. No special coconut tools, no power tools!

I use this method. It's great.   But I strongly suggest poking a hole in two of the "eyes" of the coconut with a screwdriver (one is always easy to pierce) and draining the liquid before baking the coconut. I bake the drained, husked coconuts for approximately 20 mins at approx 400.  Then crack, easily get the meat out, and peel the brown skin off with a potato peeler.

The taste of fresh coconut milk and coconut cream (produced by letting fresh coconut milk sit in the fridge... the cream rises to the top.. where it can be spponed or siphoned off) is complex, luscious and incomparable to its canned relative.

FruitFanatic

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 22
    • Sauteurs, Grenada
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Fanatic
Re: Easy Coconut Milk Method
« Reply #12 on: August 30, 2014, 08:08:35 PM »
Glad it worked out! An ice pick might work better than a screw driver, though, I have never felt like I needed to drain the coconut before putting it in the oven. The coconut flesh expands so much that no liquid leaks out despite the flesh cracking. It is possible that some liquid may evaporate, so I understand if you want to drain it first in order to get every last drop!
Peace Corps Volunteer living in Grenada.. check out my fruit blog ---> www.fruitfanatic.net