We do this drying process by spreading the coconut flesh evenly on the report, and turning it periodically so that the drying can be evenly distributed and the coconut does not experience sun cracking. The drying process carried out in high temperature areas usually only requires a smaller drying area than in low temperature areas. The advantages of drying using sunlight include: the equipment used is quite simple (it only takes open land), the drying cost is cheap, and the color of the copra produced is whiter when compared to copra which is dried using artificial heat. But apart from the advantages, there are also disadvantages, namely drying by drying is very dependent on natural conditions and the local climate, the drying area must be wide, and the drying time is also longer. We need to pay attention to the copra that is dried in the sun, we must really take care so that it doesn't get hit by rain or dew. So, when it rains or at night/morning, we have to cover the copra area tightly using plastic or tarpaulin.
Copra Processing with the Drying Method
1. The first step we have to do is peel the coconut using a coconut husk peeler.
2. After that, the coconut that we peeled earlier we split into two parts using a machete or other tool. We take out the coconut water in the coconut, if we want we can drink it ourselves too.
3. This third step is the main process, namely drying. We do this split coconut drying when the sun is hot and we do it all day, usually the optimal time to do the drying is between 8 am to 4 pm. We do this drying using a cement floor or on dry ground. During drying, we should observe the drying temperature by measuring the air temperature using a thermometer every hour.
4. If we have done drying, the next step is to remove the meat from the coconut shell, using a coconut meat remover tool. The release of this coconut meat only takes about 30 seconds for each split coconut.
5. Then we reduce the size of the coconut meat again by cutting it into 4-6 parts from each piece of coconut meat.
6. This last step is re-drying. The second drying process is more or less the same way as before, it can be done using a cement floor or tarpaulin. If the weather is hot again, the drying process can last for 2 full days, but if the weather is cloudy it can take up to 3-5 days, depending on the conditions. The drying is complete when the surface of the coconut flesh looks blackish brown and looks like oil is emitting on the broken side of the coconut flesh.
