How To Cut A Pineapple

The pineapple, named after its resemblance to a pine cone, is one of the more intimidating fruits to prepare. It may be easier to open a can of this tropical fruit but the reward of cutting your own is well worth the effort. Which is why, for Fit Bottomed Hack Week, we’re showing you how to cut a pineapple!

Kitchen Hack: How to Cut a Pineapple

Choose a firm, plump pineapple with crisp green leaves. The outer shell may either be green or light brown and is not indicative of the fruits maturity. Pineapples do not further ripen once they are harvested, so pick a fruit with a strong smell. Whole, uncut pineapple should be stored in the refrigerator.
Turn the fruit on its side. Use a sharp, sturdy knife to cut off the crown and the base of the pineapple.

Set the pineapple on end. Notice the prickly ‘eyes’ that run lengthwise beneath the skin of the fruit.

Firmly grasp the pineapple. Using the eyes as your guide, make one long vertical cut (from eye to eye) down the length of the fruit, removing the skin and most of the eye.

Cut close behind the eye so that you do not waste a lot of fruit. (Some bits may have to be removed with a paring knife.)

Continue to move around the pineapple and slice off the peel in strips until all the skin is removed.
At this point you have a couple of options. Cut the pineapple in quarters and simply remove the length of core that is attached to each quarter and then cut into desired spheres, chunks or slices.
Or, if you desire pineapple slices, again set the pineapple on its end and grip firmly. Insert a long serrated knife straight into the pineapple and cut around the core. (You may have to go at it from both ends if your knife is not long enough.) Then push out the core and cut into slices.

This go round, I cut my pineapple into quarters and then into thin slices to make a Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Check it out!

Did you know it takes two years for a pineapple plant to produce a single fruit? Like whoa! —Karen