Sunday, June 21, 2015

Toasted Coconut Butter with Cuisinart FP-12 Food Processor Part 2


In part 2 of making coconut butter with the Cuisinart FP-12 series food processor I show you the finished product along with making the 2nd batch. I also discuss tips on using mature coconuts that you can buy from the store to make this. I give you a peek at a grater tools you can use to shred the coconut right in the shell. I have more videos that demonstrate how to use this Odiris coconut grater in my other blog posts.

I started with fresh mature coconuts and shredded the coconut using the Odiris Coconut grater. This allows you to shred the coconut without having to remove the meat from the shell first. Then I toasted the coconut in the oven until it was golden brown. Then I put the dried coconut shreds into the Cuisinart food processor and blend until the coconut turns into a liquid. This can turn into a liquid because all of the oil in the dehydrated coconut flakes. If you use store bought shredded coconut make sure it is "Full fat", or you will not be able to make coconut butter from it. After the coconut shreds turn liquidy I open the food processor and srape down coconut flakes from the bottom and sides and run the Cuisinart a little long. I usually put a pinch of salt in at this time. I usually do not add any sweetener, but you can if you want to at this time. Note that if you add even a little honey it can get to thick and crystallized very quickly.  After you have blended until smooth the Finally the coconut butter is ready to pour into jars. I have more tips in part 1 of this video.

I have processed over 100 coconut with the Cuisinart FP-12 food processor. My wife and I also routinely use it for slicing and shredding veggies. I would highly recommend it for your kitchen.

Coconut Butter with Cuisinart FP-12 Food Processor Part 1

In part 1 of this video I show how to make coconut butter by blending up dried coconut shreds in the Cuisinart FP-12 12 cup food processor. I started with fresh mature coconuts and shredded the coconut using the Odiris Coconut grater. This allows you to shred the coconut without having to remove the meat from the shell first. Then I toasted the coconut in the oven until it was golden brown. Then I put the dried coconut shreds into the Cuisinart food processor and blend until the coconut turns into a liquid. This can turn into a liquid because all of the oil in the dehydrated coconut flakes. If you use store bought shredded coconut make sure it is "Full fat", or you will not be able to make coconut butter from it. After the coconut shreds turn liquidy I open the food processor and srape down coconut flakes from the bottom and sides and run the Cuisinart a little long. I usually put a pinch of salt in at this time. I usually do not add any sweetner, but you can if you want to at this time. Note that if you add even a little honey it can get to thick and crystallized very quickly.  After you have blended until smooth the Finally the coconut butter is ready to pour into jars.

In this video I am using the Cuisinart FP-12BK (Black). It also comes in white or chrome. This food processor has a very heavy duty motor and has no trouble with the tough task of blending toasted coconut into butter. You would need a very heavy duty blender to do this, like the Vita-mix series, or you may risk burning out your blender due to the tough material and long blend times.

I would highly recommend the Cuisinart FP-12 for making coconut butter as well as general food processing needs. I really like the two different sized chute opening for feeding in large and small vegetables. It also has a shredding blade as well as a slicing blade that you can adjust for the thickness of the slices you would like.

I have found that by just drying the shredded raw coconut, without getting it golden brown, that it can blend up even smoother. I dyhyrate the coconut in the oven overnight for this. I set the over around 120F and put a oven thermometer in there. If it is in the range from 120F to 150F you are good for about 8 hours without having to worry about it burning. When I toast it I use about 180F for several hours with lots of stirring toward the end to keep any spot from getting to brown.

The coconut butter is wonderful on toast or waffles. This makes it melt and release even more flavor. Enjoy!

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Coconut Milk with Omega J8004 Juicer & Mature Coconuts

Use the Omega J8004 Masticating Juicer to make coconut milk from freshly shredded coconut from mature brown coconuts. In this video I start with shredded coconut from four mature coconuts. To this I added three cups of warm to medium hot water. I have read that using hot water helps in the release of the fat from the coconut meat. Not to hot as you don't want to harm the beneficial biotics. I have since started using 1 cup water per coconut, as this is the perfect amount for using the milk to make ice cream. I mash the shredded coconut and water a little and let it sit for 1 or 2 minutes. Then I start feeding it into the Omega Juicer. Keep an eye on the container catching the milk, when it gets near full stop the juicer and pour the milk into your pitcher. Replace the container and keep juicing. In the video I forgot to put the strainer screen on the container that catches the juice. The Omega Juicer comes with this strainer screen that catches the small amount of pulp/fiber that may come out with the juice. Using this will make your coconut milk smoother.

I take the coconut fiber that is caught in the 2nd container and put on a baking pan in the over at about 200F for an hour or 2. Then I run it through the blender. This makes a nice flour to add to your pancakes or waffles or baked goods.

The Omega 8000 Series Masticating Juicers are slow speed, single gear type juicers that are the best type for juicing green leafy vegetables as they wring out almost all of the juice. They also excel at squeezing out all the good fat out of coconut meat. They are also great for juicing all kinds of fruits and vegetables, where the centrifugal types of fast spinning juicers are mainly good for soft fruits.

If you are going to use the milk to drink you will be adding more water after juicing as it is so thick. I usually use 3 coconuts to make 2 quarts of coconut milk. To keep the fat from separating I use some Guar Gum (Bob's Red Mill is good). I mix 1/8 teaspoon of Guar Gum in a cup with 1/4 cup or less of coconut sugar ( or regular sugar, Erythritol or your favorite powered sweetener). Mixing the Guar Gum with the powdered sweetener keeps the Guar Gum from immediately clumping up when adding it to the milk. I put the milk in a pitcher and stir the milk with an immersion blender and slowly add in the Guar Gum and sweetner mix. I also add 1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla extract. You can use a normal blender here. Then I add more water to bring it up to 2 quarts. The milk can separate a little bit overnight in the refrigerator. A little shaking or stirring with a spoon will mix it back up. Use this milk to make your cappuccinos also, it is awesome!  ( I think Starbucks stole me idea, as they are starting to offer it). Enjoy!