How to Open A Coconut doesn’t have to be complicated. I’ve got a simple way of showing you, how to do it starting with a corkscrew.
I was pretty excited when I saw that we got coconut in our basket this week. I also saw a lot of people giving theirs away simply because they didn’t know how to crack open their coconut.
Step 1: Look for the 3 eyes. (Kind of looks like a monkey face, don’t you think?)
Step 2: Take a corkscrew and press it in the eyes. If it doesn’t press easily just move it around. There is a soft spot in each eye that you want to hit. Just press the corkscrew in the eyes and twist. Then using your cork screw levers, pull them down. 
The holes will look like this: Repeat the process for another eye.
Step 3: Take a glass, and turn the coconut over and let the juice drain out. After your finished you may want to strain it to remove any particles found in the juice.
Step 4: Get a Cleaver, if you don’t have one you can use a hammer instead. If you look closely you can see a line in the coconut. Holding the coconut in your hand, using the back of the cleave hit it a few times. The center is hollow now that the juice is removed and will crack in just a few hits. 
Step 5: Once you see the first crack appear, follow the crack, and give it another hit where the softer crack line is.
Your coconut should open easily, give it a tug if needed.
Step 6: Continue to hit the coconut until you have the desired sized pieces.
Step 7: Now comes the hard part. Getting the coconut meat off the shell.
First, I tried taking the coconut and placing it in the microwave to remove. This was a fail! The coconut actually made a popping sound and smelled like popcorn. The coconut meat did come off easy, but the meat was cooked in a few places and the flavor changed.
Second, I tried placing the coconut in the freezer and let it sit for about 10 minutes. This totally worked. I used my pairing knife to cut a slit and then drove the knife tip under the coconut meat to pop it off.
The back of the coconut meat had some skin, I took my pairing knife and cut it off. (You don’t want to face the knife towards you when doing this. I did, for demonstration purposes) You can also use a peeler, which worked great too.
That’s it! You’re done. Now you can shred it, grind it, blend it, whatever you choose. Just be sure to store it in a ziploc container and refrigerate it should keep it for about 1-2 weeks.
If you loved this tutorial, be sure to check out our other food tips and comment below and let me know your thoughts on this post How to Open Up a Coconut?
I bought a coconut last summer because my daughter wanted to try a real one. You should have seen us in the backyard, attempting to open it with an axe, then a hammer, smashing it on the ground, then just giving up. Wish I had known about the corkscrew then! Thanks for the tip.