Kitchen – All Things Pineapple

Photo by Fernando Andrade on Unsplash Cutting a pineapple can be intimidating, but we are here to teach you how to do it with the best tools. With our instructions, the right tool and a little practice, you'll be a pro in no time! Look at that thing up there. It is intimidating. It could put your eye out if you are not careful. Nobody wants that. But oh! That golden delicious fruit inside is calling your name. There are pineapple upside-down cakes to make and daiquiris to blend and smoothies to brighten up with that tart, sweet flavor, not to mention pineapple mojitos! Must Get That Fruit Inside! So how do you do it? You need the right tools and there are plenty of tools to choose from. The key is to take your time. Check out the step by step instructions and the tools below to help your pineapple cutting skills. Let's look at a few pictures to show you how it can be done simply. Step 1 - Remove The Top and Bottom Step 2 - Trim Away The Rough Skin Start with one slice off the side, then turn the pineapple slightly to trim away the next angled section. My first cut (below) was a bit wide. You can trim really narrow sections or wider sections. Don't worry about how much of the fruit that comes away with the skin, there will be plenty left! Step 3 - Slice For Pineapple Rings Slice the pineapple into rings at whatever thickness you like. Step 4 - Remove the Tough Core I used a biscuit cutter to remove the core. You can use a small paring knife as well. Find a size of biscuit or cookie cutter that best fits to the tough core that you want to remove. Step 5 - Round The Edges of Your Rings Here I used a larger biscuit cutter. Again, you can trim with the paring knife, or leave it was it was. If you are going to use the rings for baking, the edges will soften up and you wont' notice any angled edges. Step 6 - Cutting Into Spears If you choose to cut spears instead of rings, start by cutting the peeled pineapple into quarters. Then cut out the tough core. Then slice into smaller spears. Again, the spear sizes can be as wide or as narrow as you like, depending on what you are using them for. And you are done! Now you have a juicy pile of either rings or spears - and the spears can then be cut into smaller bite-sized chunks as needed. I used these round biscuit cutters - also good for biscuits! Some pineapples come with their own instructions, but I found this set of instructions to be a bit vague! Let us know what you think. If you'd like to try a specific pineapple tool, read on: The Ultra Modern Pineapple Corer You might be saying - "Hey Pineapple Queen, that thing looks like an alien eviscerating tool that you'd see on some Area 51 conspiracy theory video, what gives?!?" Well, you are almost right if you believe pineapples are sent to us from some other galaxy. I mean, they do kind of look like something an alien would design. So this tool is perfect. You simply cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple, then start spinning! (TBH I would advise actually reading the instructions!) Click here to buy the Oxo Corer or on the image itself. The Modern Corer + Old Fashioned Corer Set This one comes as a set with the spiral corer as well as the old fashioned "just push down as hard as you can to slice the pieces off and hope the plastic doesn't break while you are doing it!" corer. (I swear, when I used something like that on an apples, the apples seem to be made of concrete! You have to get it *just right* on the skin to break through!) But this one is more safe - the segmented corer tool requires you to have sliced off the top and bottom of the pineapple already, so breaking into the skin is not an issue! Click here to buy the set or click on the image. Four Piece Pineapple Corer Set With this set you get the heavy duty, giant handled corer, plus a silicone pad or plate and a little spoon. Commenters have wondered what the little spoon was for and it's not clear to me either! But hey, a little silicon spoon rest is always hand in the kitchen. Click here to buy or click on the image. Stand back! I've got a weapon! This is more like a pineapple cutting accessory, another tool in your pineapple cutting arsenal! Once you have sliced off the majority of the pineapple rind, this tool takes the little round poky pits on the outside of the pineapple and makes them disappear. This tool is great to create weird wacky shaped whole pineapple to then cut into easily edible bites. It's a different style of getting at the pineapple "meat" but you will get there! Click here to buy or click the image itself. A Good Old Fashioned Knife The one thing all those tools don't tell you is - you still need a regular old knife to cut the top and bottom off the pineapple before you even begin the coring. This is important, though of course most people have a knife on hand in their kitchens. Plus maybe you don't want to spend money on a tool that does only one thing - cut a pineapple. Maybe you have some excellent knives and just want to get cutting. I hear you. I see you! It's a pretty straight forward thing to do once you see it done once. So here's a link to a four minute youtube video by an average person cutting a pineapple. Does the fruit come out in a perfect spiral? No. But how often do you really need your pineapple in perfect spirals? Ummm, probably never! Click here or on the image to buy the knife set.