How to Cut a Pineapple in a Few Easy Steps

Originating from the tropics, pineapples are exotic fruits that are luscious and sweet to taste. They are loaded with vitamins and minerals and taste absolutely divine. Though it has a bad reputation of making tongues burn, it still doesn’t stop the mass people from devouring this tropic fruit.

Even though these tropical fruits are now available in supermarkets already diced and packed, you do pay quite a price for it! So if you want to save that extra cost and taste something fresher and better, hop off to the fruit section and grab some pineapples!

However, the struggle really comes afterward – how do you get those precisely cut pieces found in the zip-lock bags? Well, to help you solve the problem, we have listed down some easy steps on how to cut a pineapple properly in order to achieve those fancy cuts from the zip-lock bags.

How to Cut a Pineapple Properly? – The Basic Wedges

• The very first step would include getting rid of the crown which is basically the leaves along with the stem.
• Now that the crown is gone, place your knife at a suitable distance from the bottom and cut it off.
• The next step would probably be removing the peel from the pineapple but most people at this point like to get rid of the core found in the center. To chip the core away, you can make use of modern gadgets like pineapple corer. After putting it into a standing position, align the corer with the core and push it down to the end while turning the corner. When you pull it out, the core will come out automatically. If the corer is missing from your kitchen tool set, wait until later to get rid of it.
• Thinly slice off the skin of the upright pineapple starting from top to bottom. Make sure you don’t slice away the flesh of the fruit; just enough to get rid of the skin.
• Now you will notice that the diagonally placed brown spots or ‘eyes’ are still on the pineapple. Using a paring or even normal knife make a long but shallow cut along the diagonal on either side of the eyes. This will free you from the lined spots in a long, thin strip without losing a ton of the flesh.
• The last step is to use your knife to divide the pineapple into quarters. Before you slice it, if you haven’t gotten rid of the core before, now is the time. Place it vertically and cut apart the core from the fruit flesh. Now you can slice them into wedges or even regular bite-size pieces!

How to Cut Pineapple Rings

Making pineapple rings is fairly easy. The steps are all similar except for the last one. However, it is best if you keep the core this time.

• After you’ve discarded the skin and gotten rid of the eyes, lay the pineapple on its side. In contrast to our previous steps, chop the pineapple column into disks.
• Get a hold of a circular cookie cutter mold with the size of the core. Take each disk and drive the mold in after aligning it with the core. The mold will cut off the core and can be easily pulled out once done. This will leave you with perfect pineapple rings without having to break a sweat! If you don’t have the right sized cookie cutter mold, you may also use a paring knife or even bottle caps!

How to Cut a Pineapple Fancy

Whether it’s for the holidays or any other special occasion, pineapples often go through massive transformations, most of which turn out to be very gorgeous. For those very occasions and to help you flaunt your culinary skills, we have made yet another list comprising of all the new fancy cuts that you can learn to decorate your platters.

1. The Pineapple Jack O’ Lantern

The days of classic pumpkin jack o’ lanterns are now officially over. It’s branched out and now we finally have pineapple jack o’ lantern. To create your own, follow the steps below:

• • Prep the pineapple by slicing off the crown along with a bit of the top. Most people would often choose green pineapples in this case, but if you do not wish to waste it, take a regular fresh pineapple. Keep the crown aside for later use.
  • Hollow out the pineapple from inside leaving half an inch on the side. It’s next to impossible to get the chunk out, so simply divide it into quarters using a sharp knife.
  • Take a spoon or a large scoop to scoop the flesh out. You may use the scraped flesh for some other purpose later on.
  • Take the pineapple with the peel still on it and carve out faces. Get creative while you do so and create amazing jack o’ lanterns ready for Halloween. Places tea lights enclosed in jars or flameless candles to get that signature creepy glow and place the crown on top!

2. The Classic Basket

• For the basket, without chopping off the top, divide the pineapple into two halves.
• Make cuts on either side of the core and one in the middle.
• Follow the curves of the fruit and carve out the insides of the pineapple. If it gets too difficult, make cuts lengthwise sectioning off smaller proportions to be gradually carved out. Scrape out any remaining flesh.
• Dice up the flesh previously carved out amongst other fruits and place them in the fruit basket made up of the firm peel of the fruit and you’d finally have your own fruit basket!

Having said all that, make good use of the pineapples you buy and try not to waste them. Hopefully, this tropical fruit will now rock your summer and give you a chance to make a variety of dishes like pineapple pizza or simple smoothies!

Sources:

1. What Makes a Good Pineapple? – HowStuffWorks
2. How to Cut a Pineapple – Healthy Nibbles