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Save money and cut your own pineapple!
Cutting a pineapple
Preparing your own pineapple
Cutting and preparing a pineapple
preparing a pineapple
- 1 pineapple, whole
Save money and cut your own pineapple
- You will want to rinse your pineapple off before cutting, since we really don't know where it has been.
- Cut the top off as seen in the first photo and throw it out. Then flip the pineapple over and cut the bottom off. Throw that out also.
- Then slice off the sides. I like to slice just enough to get off the rough outer edges and save as much pineapple for eating as possible without leaving any of the "eyes" which can be quite chewy.
- Once the sides are off look at the center of the pineapple and you should be able to make out a circular inner ring. This center is very fibrous and you want to cut right up to it but not include it in your cut. Just slice around the whole pineapple leaving the fibrous center. Throw out the fibrous center and chop to desired cube size. Please refer to the photos before attempting your first pineapple. It will give you confidence to do it yourself.
Picking and preparing a whole pineapple
I used to buy my pineapple whole with the center and outside already cut until my daughter came home for a visit and asked why I did it that way. She told me to buy them whole and do it myself. It's less expensive and then you don't have the guilt of what to do with the plastic container when you get home. So I did buy a whole one and discovered it was easy to carve, and, I gott to pick out my own pineapple. Also it's a great view and scent when it ripens in my kitchen!
I suspect your next question is how do I pick the right one? Good question. I did some research and was told that you wanted the "eyes" to be all brown with little or no green and if you pull up on one of the top leaves it should slide right out when ready to be cut. Frankly, I found out all these tips to be complete bunk! I totally rely on my sense of smell. If the pineapple smells faintly of pineapple I know I have a few days to let it sit around the kitchen. If I want to buy more time you can pop it in the refridgerator and that will give you two or three more days. If I want it for the evening meal I am going to sniff it and if it smells strongly of pineapple. that's the winner. Also check the bottom to make sure it's not on its way to decomposing. It's a fine line but you will get the hang of it. If for some odd reason I have any leftover or it's just not up to my sweet standard I will just freeze what I have left over and make weekend smoothies with it. This is the same course of action I take with any fruit sliding past its prime. Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, well you get the picture. I try not to throw anything away!
