Make coconut milk at home and save 64%. Greener too!

[Cook for Good]

I was really surprised to see how easy it is to make homemade coconut milk from dried coconut. You don't need a fancy high-speed blender. You can make it from organic coconut with a quick soak and a whirl, saving 64% over boxed coconut drink. See details here:
http://www.cookforgood.com/blog/2012/10/3/homemade-coconut-milk-vs-coconut-dream-coconut-drink-smackdo.html

Kicking myself for buying all those boxes and letting some spoil before I could use it! Now I make just as much as I need.
... Linda

[kkbmustang]

That's really smart. My family drinks primarily soy milk. I wonder how hard it would be to make that or if it would even be cost efficient. Right now I can get what we need for a week for less than $4 at the store.

[mustachecat]

Whoa. Amazing tip!

[Cook for Good]

Thanks! It looks like soy milk is easy to make too with no special equipment besides a blender.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Homemade-Soy-Milk/

[Sylly]

Is this similar at all, and can substitute for to those canned coconut milk used primarily for cooking?

I think this is a great idea, but I'm not a fan of the coconut flavor for daily milk replacement (i use almond milk for this), so I don't use the drinking coconut milk kind. I do however, use the thick stuff (creamier, higher fat content) for cooking and ice cream.

[kolorado]

Oh cool, thanks!I made regularly my own organic almond, rice and oat milk before moving to CO where it is much cheaper(and more convenient!) to buy almond milk at the store. Plus, I finally got a few more family members drinking it over regular milk. They are still in the Gateway stage. ;)
Here they sell unsweetened coconut milk and almond milk in the cold milk section for $2-3 for 8 cups so the savings wouldn't be terribly great but the upgrade to organic would be nice.
Anyone who is trying to make milks at home should have a nut milk bag to strain their product for drinking. I have a tutorial on my blog to make one for cheap: http://latelyreconstructed.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/nut-milk-bag-tutorial/
Also remember to save the bulk "waste" for use in baking. For instance, I use my almond "waste" to encrust pork before roasting. My family loves it!

[Matt K]

Being a happy milk drinker, I don't use milk replacements. I was hoping this recipe would be for proper "coconut milk", not hte milk replacements.

I may try this anyways, only with less water, when I next need proper coconut milk. All the fat content should help mellow the fire of a good Thai curry...

Where does one get good dried coconut? I've only ever seen the (expensive) dried coconut shavings in the baking isle at my grocery store.

[Cook for Good]

Is this similar at all, and can substitute for to those canned coconut milk used primarily for cooking?

I think this is a great idea, but I'm not a fan of the coconut flavor for daily milk replacement (i use almond milk for this), so I don't use the drinking coconut milk kind. I do however, use the thick stuff (creamier, higher fat content) for cooking and ice cream.

It's more like the coconut drink. I use it to make a chocolate-avocado sorbet (amazing!). It would be a little thin for Thai sauces, for example, but you could just less water to get a richer taste.

[Cook for Good]

... Where does one get good dried coconut? I've only ever seen the (expensive) dried coconut shavings in the baking isle at my grocery store.

I got mine at Whole Foods. I bet Trader Joe's has it too.

[Sylly]

I use it to make a chocolate-avocado sorbet (amazing!).

Oh, that does sound amazing! Avocado ice cream is so far one of my few dairy-free ice cream successes (the others being coffee and tea). To add chocolate to that.. oo.

[kkbmustang]

@Cook for Good - Thanks for the link! It sounds like this would be cost effective and looks pretty simple.  We have a blender, so no problem there. I'd just have to buy the cheese cloth.

[TomTX]

So, to match the 8 cup (half gallon) of coconut milk I can buy for $3 premade at my local grocery store, this recipe requires 2 cups of dried coconut, plus blending time, plus washing the blender and rinsing out the cheesecloth. I'm not seeing that much savings. I guess re-using the leftover solids is a marginal win.

[2ndTimer]

I was delighted to find this as we move into the holiday baking season.  Someone will surely have a good sale on coconut and I will buy some and try making my own coconut milk.  If it works well, I will buy five pounds of coconut and put it in the freezer.

[Beardog]

Dry coconut can be found at Indian grocery stores if there are any in your vicinity.

[mrsggrowsveg]

I make homemade coconut milk for my curry recipe.  I have found that there is a technique that makes true coconut milk different from the watery drinking coconut milk.  I use dried coconut and about 2X as much hot water.  I add both to my blender and blend on and off for at least 10 minutes.  I let it rest between blending sessions and then blend again.  If you do this long enough, you get a thick coconut milk.  There is even the coconut cream on top.  It is amazing.  I like to make coconut macaroons with the leftover coconut.

[2ndTimer]

I make homemade coconut milk for my curry recipe.  I have found that there is a technique that makes true coconut milk different from the watery drinking coconut milk.  I use dried coconut and about 2X as much hot water.  I add both to my blender and blend on and off for at least 10 minutes.  I let it rest between blending sessions and then blend again.  If you do this long enough, you get a thick coconut milk.  There is even the coconut cream on top.  It is amazing.  I like to make coconut macaroons with the leftover coconut.

Thank you.  I will try this. 

[Scandium]

So, to match the 8 cup (half gallon) of coconut milk I can buy for $3 premade at my local grocery store, this recipe requires 2 cups of dried coconut, plus blending time, plus washing the blender and rinsing out the cheesecloth. I'm not seeing that much savings. I guess re-using the leftover solids is a marginal win.

Yeah I didn't understand their math. Premade is $3.39 for 4 cups? I buy coconut milk in a half gallon for $4, or often $3 on sale. That's 50 cent/cup or less o still a but more than 30/cup, but not as dramatic as it's made out to be.

[Dulcimina]

So, to match the 8 cup (half gallon) of coconut milk I can buy for $3 premade at my local grocery store, this recipe requires 2 cups of dried coconut, plus blending time, plus washing the blender and rinsing out the cheesecloth. I'm not seeing that much savings. I guess re-using the leftover solids is a marginal win.

Yeah I didn't understand their math. Premade is $3.39 for 4 cups? I buy coconut milk in a half gallon for $4, or often $3 on sale. That's 50 cent/cup or less o still a but more than 30/cup, but not as dramatic as it's made out to be.

It's more dramatic when you compare per calorie rather than per cup.  From the table, the homemade stuff is up to 137 calories per cup and the Coconut Dream is 80 calories per cup (Actually Coconut Dream is 60 cal/cup http://www.tastethedream.com/products/product/5228/772.php). 

So you could dilute the homemade stuff to two cups and compare 22 cup yield to 8 cups of premade. It would probably look and feel thin if you diluted it, because you'd be missing the carrageenan and gums that make the premade thick and rich, not to mention the sugar that makes it tasty.