Dried coconut flakes can be used in many ways in the kitchen: for baking or cooking, for refining desserts or sauces. They are simply self-dried and so incomparably tastier than those bought in stores.

Open the coconut

Opening a coconut is not easy for the inexperienced. Drill out one of the three germination holes to remove the coconut water. You can drink it fresh, use it for cooking or baking. One of the germ holes is slightly softer than the other two and easier to drill out. You can then saw the coconut or open it with a few well-aimed hammer blows.

Prepare the coconut meat for drying

The coconut meat can be removed relatively easily from the hard shell with a kitchen knife. On the outside, a dark skin still adheres to the flesh. Although this is edible, it may limit later use. Therefore, you should remove this skin as a precaution with a vegetable peeler. Then coarsely grate the coconut meat with a kitchen grater.

The drying process

Spread the fresh grated coconut in a layer that is not too thick on a baking tray lined with baking paper and put the tray in your oven. Do not close the oven door completely, but leave an opening for excess moisture to escape. You can achieve this, for example, by sticking a wooden spoon in the door opening.

Now dehydrate the desiccated coconut at 57 °C for about eight hours. In this way you only remove the water from the rasp, they will be nice and dry but remain light. Turn the coconut flakes from time to time so that they really all dry and no moisture remains, otherwise there is a risk of mold forming.

The alternative to dehydrating is drying at 120°C for 10 to 15 minutes. At this temperature, the grater may brown slightly, and the taste will also change slightly. However, this is not necessarily a disadvantage, because sometimes the roasted taste is also desirable.

The essentials in brief:

  • process the coconut as fresh as possible
  • complete the drying process as quickly as possible - risk of mold!
  • Store the dried rasps in airtight packaging in a cool, dry place

tips and tricks

Coconut meat is susceptible to mold growth, so make sure it dries quickly.

UE

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