Universal Coconut Knife

Hand made, heavy duty stainless steel blade with specialised kernel-removing wedge, and polished iron-bark handle.

The Universal Coconut Knife is used for de-husking, opening and extracting the kernel whole or in strips and comes with a blade cover

It has a stainless steel blade 150mm in length, overall length 300 mm, with an ironbark timber handle. Designed and hand made in Australia by CSIRO coconut specialist, Mike Foale. Mike Foale is the author of The Coconut Odyssey: the bounteous possibilities of the tree of life.

It is wise to wear a safety glove on the hand not holding the knife.

For dehusking: Insert the blade into the husk with its flat side parallel to the length of the fruit and make two incisions spaced as in the photo. Then lever up the husk as shown, and proceed around the fruit until all husk has been removed.

Opening a nut: The back of the knife has been ground to a blunt edge. Strike the “equator” of the nut (thinking of the eyes as the north pole!) an energetic blow, sufficient to make a crack to insert the sharp end of the blade. Hold the nut over a dish and lever it open with the inserted blade, thereby saving the water.

Cutting The meat out in strips: Insert the end of the blade into the kernel at an oblique angle as shown, making sure that it is in contact with the shell beneath the kernel. Maintain pressure on the knife as the nut is rolled by the other hand, ensuring that the width of the strip of kernel is not greater than about 15 mm. A wider strip will not separate from the shell.

Fresh strips can be eaten direct (the kernel contains one third oil) or frozen for later use (freezing softens the texture) or shredded in a mincer or blender. The brown skin can be scraped or peeled off if preferred. If patches of the brown skin remains attached to the shell, this is a sign that the nut has been invaded by bacteria and is too stale for use.