Milking Your Coconut

A few posts back, I promised to tell how to get milk from a coconut. Why would you want to bother with that? Well, there is the cost of canned. And there is the fact that many of us have reservations about cans and plastics containing BPA. Where coconut milk is concerned, I found source after source saying that Native Forest now uses all BPA-free cans. However, a less-gullible-than-I friend of mine brought up some questions about the validity of this statement, and that makes me not 100% certain.

If you would like to skip the possibility of BPA in your coconut milk, there are ways. One is by 'milking' the coconut you purchase from the grocery store. The process isn't difficult and this method comes from "Eat Fat, Lose Fat":

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Find the soft spot on the end of the coconut. Using an ice pick, poke two holes in this soft spot and let the coconut water drain out. Then, put the coconut in the oven until it cracks. A hammer will then make short work of splitting the coconut open. Use a good knife to separate the white coconut meat from the outer shell, then cut up the white meat into 1/4 in. pieces. Process in food processor until it breaks up. Add 1 C. water and continue processing until it appears fluffy.
Use a kitchen towel to line a strainer and pour the processed meat into the strainer, which should be over a glass bowl. Use a wooden spoon or your hands to press the coconut meat down against the strainer, getting as much juice as you can out of it.
Refrigerate and use within 2 days.
("Eat Fat, Lose Fat'' recommends 'milking' 2 at a time.)

Other ways to get your coconut milk without the cans are found in the links, (with videos), given below. And remember, as in house remodeling, educated DIY is the best way to get better quality for less coin.

Nutrition and Physical Degeneration Blog
Tropical Traditions- See Question 8 in Section 5

And if this is too much trouble but you're still troubled with possible BPA content and additives, check out this coconut milk, packaged in cardboard boxes and without additives.

Enjoy!