How To Prepare Pineapple

The sweet, sunny taste of fresh pineapple is a healthy pick-me-up that supplies important vitamins and antioxidants while tasting positively fantastic. Whether you’re cutting whole pineapple slices, chopping it up for a sweet and sour dish, or cubing for a refreshing fruit salad or smoothie; the process is surprisingly quick, simple and straightforward. Best of all, you’ll need nothing more than a good, sharp chef’s knife or serrated knife to get the job done. Remember that when shopping for the “perfect” pineapple. You’ll want to select one which is firm to the touch, but not rock hard, and has a yellowish-orange rind.

How To Prepare Pineapple:

Step 1

Get rid of the spiky top. Place the pineapple on its side on a flat, stable cutting board, and grip the bottom with one hand. Place the blade of the knife about one inch below the spiky top, and slice all the way through. This is where the sharpness of your knife really comes into play; you shouldn’t have to exert too much pressure to get the knife to slice clean through, toughness of the rind notwithstanding. Spin the pineapple around and hack off the bottom in the same manner, cutting about one inch in from the end.

Step 2

Flip the pineapple up on one of its flat ends and begin slicing off the rind on the sides. To do this, place the blade on the top of the pineapple, about one half inch from the side, and shear downwards. You’ll be shearing off a little of the fruit along with the rind in the process. Rotate the pineapple, shearing off the sides in this manner until all the side rind is gone.

Step 3

This step will vary depending on how you intend to use the pineapple. If you want whole pineapple slices with the round core removed from the middle, you’ll need to put the pineapple back on its side and cut approximately one inch thick slices. From here, you can remove the cores from each slice by carving them out with the tip of your knife, or save time and effort by simply pressing down on the cores with a small round 2 inch diameter cookie cutter. Discard the cores.

If your intention is to cube the pineapple, you’ll want to keep the pineapple up on one flat end, place the knife blade on one side of the core and slice through the pineapple lengthwise. Rotate the pineapple and continue slicing off the sides of the pineapple around the core, until only the core remains standing. Discard the core. Lay the slabs of pineapple down on your cutting board, cut lengthwise into fat strips and then cut these strips crosswise into chunks of whatever size you prefer.