To any rawists out there willing to give out some tips, I would greatly appreciate your help. Trying to go raw in Summit County, but not finding many resources locally. First question - are "young Thai coconuts" just regular coconuts like what are available at Vitamin Cottage, only without the husks? If they're not the same, then where do you buy them? Also, would a 4 shelf dehydrator be adequate, or do I really need all 9 shelves on the big ones? Finally, going to be in Denver soon...any good restaurant recommendations?

Thank you in advance!

Young coconuts ARE regular coconuts, they are just younger. When coconuts grown on trees, they grown as big green pods. As they mature, the pods grow away and you are left with the brown bowling ball type of coconut. Young coconuts are shipped with the green pod chopped off -- this is why young coconuts have that kind of pointy shape. If the coconut is like a brown bowling ball, it is mature. If it is white, cylindrical in shape, but with a pointy top, that is a young coconut. Once you hack into the young coconut, you will find that the bowling ball exists inside, under all of the white husk.

Dehydrators are great items to have but they are not required! They provide you with additional options. As for how big, it depends on how much time you have/how often you are going to dehydrate/how many people are you preparing for. If you live alone, a 4 tray is perfect. If you like to do all your preparation on one day or prepare for multiple people, go with the 9 tray.

As for restaurants in Denver, at this time we do not have any raw food restaurants. If you are looking for Veggie, I would suggest Watercourse Foods/City O City, or Govinda's.

Hope that helps!

-Scott