As part of the whole ketogenic diet, I use a lot (A LOT) of coconut milk. So I decided to start making my own, in part, because it’s slightly cheaper, but also, because I HATE the waste of opening up all those cans (or cartons!)
There are hundreds of recipes for how to make coconut milk out on the Interwebs. The reason I’m including mine is because A) I’ve done a lot of experimenting with types of coconut and ratios, and most of the recipes I’ve found don’t include that B) I found a way to prevent my homemade coconut milk from separating, and I want to share that as well, as I was only able to find that on a single site.
In terms of ratios, recipes tend to either use a 2:1 water to coconut ratio, or a 1:1 ratio. I’ve even seen some that are like 1.5:1.
It is my belief that it’s a matter of taste. Some people prefer a more runny/watery coconut milk, the kind you get from say a Trader Joe’s can of coconut milk. Other people (like me!) prefer a richer, creamer coconut milk, the kind you get from a can of Arroy D or Chaokao.
Whatever floats your boat.
I’ve also tried using both shredded coconut as well as coconut flakes. Again, I’ve found that the coconut flakes make a more watery coconut milk, while the shredded coconut makes a more creamy version.(SCIENCE!)
Therefore, I use a 1:1 ratio of shredded coconut to water. Your milage may vary, and you may decide that you prefer a different ration. Try it and see!
Now, as for costs: I can get shredded coconut from Fred Meyer’s for $3.99/pound. That’s 8 oz. I need 5.6 oz for my recipe, which makes about the same as a can of coconut milk, between 13-14 oz. The coconut milk I prefer costs $3.99 a can. So I’m not saving a lot of money, but I no longer have as much waste.
My recipe takes a few hours, but it’s only about 15 minutes (at most) of active work.
INGREDIENTS/TOOLS
2 C shredded coconut
2 C water
1 bowl large enough to hold said mixture (or possibly two.) Make sure that the final bowl has a large mouth.
Blender
INSTRUCTIONS
Pour 2 C of shredded coconut into a bowl.
Get the water in your sink as hot as it will go, then pour 2 C of hot water over the shredded coconut.
Stir, trying to get all the coconut covered with water.
Cover the bowl with a towel and let “steep” for a couple hours. (I’ve found that one hour isn’t long enough. Also, that three hours didn’t really make that much difference in terms of taste.)
Use whatever blender you have at hand to blend the steeped coconut and water. (I do not have a Vitamix. I do have a Nutra Ninja. It’s small, though, and I find the process works better if I only blend half of the steeped coconut at a time.)
BLEND WELL. This is really important. If you don’t blend well, you’re leaving a lot of the coconut goodness behind!
Pour the blended mixture into your nut bag. Be sure to tie off the end of the nut bag. (I forgot that once and ended up with coconut debris all over my counter.) Now, start squeezing. You want to wring as much of the moisture from the mixture as possible.
When you’re finished, you should have a bowl of yummy coconut milk!
As for the leftover dried coconut–I compost it. I know some people advise drying the remains in a dehydrator, then grinding it for coconut flour. I’m not ambitious enough to try that yet.
Now, how do you make sure that the coconut milk you’ve just made doesn’t form a top, hard crust that only heating will dissolve? (All ratios will produce this layer. It means you have full fat coconut milk on your hands.)
First, you need to let the coconut milk cool to room temperature, while it’s still sitting in the bowl. (It’s heated a little at this point in the process because of the blending you did.) I also whisk the coconut milk at this time. Generally, I set a timer for 30 minutes and walk away. Then I whisk it again when I come back.
Pour the coconut milk from the bowl into the container you’ll use for the fridge, then shake vigorously before you put it in the fridge.
Every 30 minutes for the next couple of hours, shake your coconut milk briefly while it’s cooling.
By the end of two hours, you can let it cool all the way down. And it will not longer separate!
Let me know if you try this, or have any tweaks!