(making) Coconut Milk

[rischott]

Hello All! I am new to this board, but I have enjoyed viewing all of the past discussions. It has helped me out so much.
Was just wondering what everyone thought about coconut milk? It is raw and is quite dense in fat. When mixed together with kiwis, bananas, strawberries, and honey, it is so delicious.
Is it a 'positive' fat?
Thanks,
-Rich-

[Corinne]

Welcome Buddhabrotha!
I was just adressing that question in the loosing weight section. I don't know! I just tasted the first fresh coconut ("milk" and "meat") in my life yesterday. The milk or better water is not thick and is almost clear when you get it straight out of the nut. The meat however is very fatty and tastes delicious. I never liked shredded coconut, no wonder! Maybe you can make the milk by combining the "meat" and the water in a blender...
I'm always skeptical of anything already prepared in a can or bottle, even if it's from the health food store!
Anybody more insights?

[RRM]

Yes, any fat processed is less healthy.
The good thing is:
All fats present in natural raw foods are 100% healthy. There is no such thing as that saturated fats are bad and non-saturated fats are not.
What is bad, are those fats that have been chemically altered, due to food-processing for example.
Raw coconut is perfect.
Dont overdo it in the beginning though, because coconut is extremely high in selenium. (your body may need time to adjust the absorption rate)

[Brian]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the liquid in the centre of the coconut is called coconut water, not coconut milk.

Coconut milk is obtained by compressing the meat and the liquid that drips out of that (thick and delicious) is called coconut milk.

Unfortunately I don't know of any easy way to extract the milk from the meat by hand... and of course commercial coconut milk will have been heat treated...

[Corinne]

Brian wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the liquid in the centre of the coconut is called coconut water, not coconut milk.

Thanks Brian, I believe you're right... I didn't know coconut water was officially the name for it: not many people drink or speak of coconut water, hense my "milk" in quotation. People are obviously speaking about this combined/compressed (meat and water) you mentioned...and unfortunately as you said we don't know how to really get it/make it raw.
I bought some extra virgin, cold pressed 100% pure coconut oil the other day (finally found some). It's hard (gets liquid when in your hand) and comes in a glass jar. I'm putting it on my skin but I also tasted it and it's really delicious!

[rischott]

Thank you all for your insight. .

[huntress]

I live in the tropics where coconuts are abundant. Young coconut water taste better and have more nutrients than the old ones. The old ones may occasionally have some bubbles (gas) in it. The old coconut shells have brown husk while the young ones are cream colored. Try getting the young coconuts, the flesh/pulp is soft and jelly-like while the old ones are thick and solid.

Coconut milk is produced from old coconut flesh/pulp. The thick and hard flesh on the inside is grated and then boiled to extract the liquid, hence, coconut milk.

I wonder where did the water inside the coconut came from? Anybody knows?

[Brian]

So I was talking to a friend the other day and he explained to me how to make coconut milk at home.
The basic idea is to get shredded coconut, have it absorb a bunch of water, and then expel that water that will contain coconut flavour, oil, etc.

1) Get a mature coconut (brown on the outside).

2) Open the coconut (strike it firmly, once, with the back of a solid knife; BE CAREFUL but firm).

3) Keep or discard the coconut water, your choice.

4) Extract the meat of the coconut. There are two ways to do this.

a) Use a tool you can buy at the store, or some other method you come up with (a bottlecap attached to a stick, for example) to scrape the meat so it comes out basically as shredded coconut.

b) Take the outer shell off and then get all the brown bits off the coconut meat. Then toss it in the blender with some water and blend it until it is shredded.

5) Soak the coconut meat in water for a while (Say an hour? I'm not exactly sure.). You can use fresh water for this and also add the coconut water, if you want.

6) Take the coconut meat out of the water and put it in some cloth (like cheesecloth). Squeeze and compress the coconut in the cloth and the coconut milk will drip out.

Enjoy!

[overkees]

I would like to share with you how to make coconut milk, totally raw with a slow juicer:

I've really struggled with opening coconuts in the begin. Until I watched this video, this way always gets me out the whole half of the coconut after cutting out the cone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7lCfzEy ... re=related

Now you want it raw, so grate it by hand with a zest grater after you cut the peel of with a potato peel as in the picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeler

Then follow the steps in this video but instead of the blender, add the grated coconut which has been soaked for a while in warm water (and it's own coconut water) in your slow juice machine. There will come out completely dry pulp (!) and coconut milk. Now grab the cheesecloth and complete the last steps of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h6PJpA4 ... re=related

It takes a while, but the reward is great!

[Oscar]

Look like a good way to get the coconut meat out for sure. Guess the next time I'll use this method.

[fred]

Thank you for the explanation.
I did the whole procedure except that I didn't soak the grated coconut in warm water. I got almost nothing from my oscar slow juicer!
In this video, the guy doesn't soak the grated coconut but simply blend it and it seems to work fine : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIrbcaSq ... ure=relmfu
What is the problem with blending coconut as long as there is no heat involved ?
I would like to make coconut creme (no water added) but I am not sure it is possible with the slow juicer. Or maybe by this way : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHfm_Rhb ... ure=relmfu

Thank's!

I would like to share with you how to make coconut milk, totally raw with a slow juicer:

I've really struggled with opening coconuts in the begin. Until I watched this video, this way always gets me out the whole half of the coconut after cutting out the cone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7lCfzEy ... re=related

Now you want it raw, so grate it by hand with a zest grater after you cut the peel of with a potato peel as in the picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeler

Then follow the steps in this video but instead of the blender, add the grated coconut which has been soaked for a while in warm water (and it's own coconut water) in your slow juice machine. There will come out completely dry pulp (!) and coconut milk. Now grab the cheesecloth and complete the last steps of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h6PJpA4 ... re=related

It takes a while, but the reward is great!

[overkees]

There is no way to make coconut cream without water. You will just get coconut oil. The thing with the cream is that you add a little water and via the enzymes the fatty cream dissolves in the water. The less water the creamier it gets. Also if you wait for a while when you put it in the fridge the water and the cream will seperate, so you can take the cream of with a spoon. If you shake it it forms an emulsion again.

The problem when blending is that you will introduce some heat and it can't be considered raw anymore. The enzymes will break and some of the protein gets damaged. Of course, blending at a slow speed will be better and grating a coconut by hand is a hell of a job. So I use the blender method most of the time. But I have done it completely manual as well. (After grating soaking in hot water and no slow juicer but straight in the cheesecloth, works fine aswell, although you can't get all the cream out)

Watchout with the slow juicer, if you put too much coconut meat in it at once, you could jam your machine. After 2 coconuts it was very hard to open the machine cause it was sucked to a vacuum by the high pressure of the coco meat.

[fred]

I used to do coconut cream with another juicer (green star), and it worked well without adding any water. (But the grated coconut had to be warmed in water).
Does blending introduce more heat than soaking in warm water ?

[RRM]

Does blending introduce more heat than soaking in warm water ?

In total? No, not at all.
But that is not the issue.
The issue is whether protein gets damaged / new compounds form.
Blending causes heat very much locally; some molecules get damaged, whereas most molecules dont.
So much so (locally) that there is not even an increase in the overall temperature.
So, yes, the blending causes more 'heat-damage' than soaking in warm water, whereas the latter introduces way more heat.

[fred]

Thank you RRM.