CA,
Quote from: Cory Ander on January 09, 2011, 11:36 AM
Ray, until I'm satisfied that I know precisely what it is, I will continue to ask the question (for reasons I've previously stated) 
Is that OK? 
Yes it is OK but it has been discussed to death, and despite your own research and other members explanations, you still feel the need to question it.
Desiccated coconut and coconut flour are branded very different, at least they are here in the UK.
You may well believe that they are one of the same thing, and that may be the case but if a member stipulates coconut flour in a recipe, then that is what we should be looking for on the packets, not desiccated coconut, not coconut milk powder and not coconut cream.
The science behind it is irrelevant, UNLESS, you are looking for an alternative because you can't get hold of coconut flour.
In the UK, coconut flour is sold in massive sacks, making it more probable to be an ingredient more likely to be used in the restaurant trade, where as desiccated and coconut milk powder are sold in relatively smaller pack sizes, more conducive to the home cook.
Here are two descriptions, one for each desiccated and coconut flour;
Desiccated coconutDesiccated coconut is coconut meat which has been shredded or flaked and then dried to remove as much moisture as possible. There are a number of different styles of desiccated coconut used around the world, and availability of this coconut product varies, depending on the region where one is shopping. If desiccated coconut is not available, regular dried coconut can be used as a replacement, although dried content tends to have a higher moisture content, despite the ?dried? in the name.Coconut FlourCoconut flour is actually made from the leftovers of coconut milk! In some of the test studies using coconut flour I was amused to see it called coconut ?residue?. But it is a by-product of coconut milk manufacturing that has been ground into flour. It?s also not really a ?whole food?. Whole wheat flour is a whole food, coconut flour is a by-product, or the leftovers of coconut milk production. That doesn?t make it bad, just something to think about.Now I'm confident that you will still believe that they are both one of the same thing but, if the above two descriptions are accurate (bearing in mind, the info has come off the net) then one is made from the coconut meat, and the other is a by-product from the processing of the milk.
Does that satisfy your understanding of the two products?
Ray
