To crack the coconut, firmly rap the back of the knife around the middle of the coconut. Rotate and continue to hit the coconut until it cracks. You'll stop hearing the hollow sound from striking the coconut and immediately hear a soft thud instead. It may start leaking after that initial crack even though you aren't able to split it quite yet, continue hitting around until the brown shell is completely split.

Pull coconut apart, empty the liquid into a bowl. You can strain and drink it, but depending on the freshness of the coconut, it may not taste that great. Stick to young coconut water if you want good tasting coconut water.

Preheat the oven to 400F, and place coconuts on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until you see the whites pull from the sides of the brown shell. Remove from oven, let cool, then use a sturdy butter knife to pry the coconut meat from the shell.

Use a paring knife or vegetable peeler to scrape off the outside membrane until all you're left with is the white coconut meat.

You can peel into flakes or grate depending on what you want to do with the coconut.