Walt,

>Is there an easy to get coconut meat out of the shell??

I depends on the coconut.  With the typical commercial variety I used to
buy, I had to take them out on the sidewalk and whack them with a hammer.
 Then some of the pieces would go flying around the yard, until someone
in the M2M suggested that I put the coconut in a paper bag first.  Using
this method helped with the schrapnel effect.  Then, with the shell still
clinging tightly to the hard flesh, I would try to insert a screwdriver
and pry out chunks of meat.  Very time-consuming.

Then on a visit to Denver in July, I bought an organic coconut.  This one
had softer than the usual flesh, and, after still cracking it open with a
hammer, I found that the shell came off the meat easily by hand, with
almost no effort at all!

And I'll leave the description of how to open a really fresh coconut to
someone who's had the experience.  I think the bottom line is that most
of the coconuts we find in the staores are old and stale, and a lot
harder to open than they should be.

Bob Avery ([log in to unmask])