how to/recipes

How to Cut a Pineapple

Posted March 29, 2016 by Stephanie
how to cut a pineapple - www.iamafoodblog.com

how to cut a pineapple - www.iamafoodblog.com

Today I’m going to be in Hawaii! It seems fitting that I should post something Hawaii related and lucky for me, I shot this pineapple before I left. I’m hoping Hawaii is everything I dream and more.

how to cut a pineapple - www.iamafoodblog.com

I’m definitely going to be eating my weight in pineapples. Everyone cuts their pineapples differently, but this is how my mom does it and how I do it too, when I’m not being lazy. I love the way the spiral cuts look so it’s worth the extra bit of effort because it looks so fancy.

how to cut a pineapple - www.iamafoodblog.com

But, before I teach you how to cut a pineapple, I need to teach you how to choose one. I don’t know where I learned this from (probably Mike) but the best way to find out if a pineapple is going to be sweet is to smell their butts. You know, the bottom part of the pineapple, opposite their towering green crown. Give it a good sniff (hee hee!) and if it smells sweet and pineapple-y, you’ve got a good one. You’ll be surprised at how many pineapples you smell that smell like nothing at all.

how to cut a pineapple - www.iamafoodblog.com

After you select your perfect pineapple, it’s just a quick lopping off of the top and bottom, then standing it up and slicing along the sides to take the skin off, following along the natural curve of the pineapple. Then, take a look at the eyes on the pineapple. Generally, the line up in a diagonal. Cut a little v-shape trench along the diagonal, taking out the eyes.

how to cut a pineapple - www.iamafoodblog.com

Alternatively, if you don’t mind the eyes or want to trim off a little bit of extra pineapple, you could try to slice the eyes out while you’re peeling, but when you do this you’re taking off quite a bit of fruit. It just so happens that the sweetest fruit is nearest to the skin, so I wouldn’t really recommend it.

how to cut a pineapple - www.iamafoodblog.com

Once you’re done spiral cutting the pineapple, stand it up on it’s end again and cut it into quarters. Or, keep it on it’s side and slice lengthwise into quarters. Trim out the tough core and slice or dice as you please!

How to Cut a Pineapple
yields: 1 cut pineapple

Take a sharp knife and lay your pineapple down on a cutting board. Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Stand the pineapple up and using a sharp knife, cut off the skin, following alongside the natural curve of the pineapple.

Lay the pineapple on it’s side and take a look at the eyes. They should line up on a diagonal. Cut a v-shape trench along the diagonal, taking out the eyes. After one row, switch to the next until all of the eyes are cut out and you have a pineapple with a spiral shaped outside.

Quarter the pineapple, lengthwise and then cut out the tough core. Cut into chunks or slices as you please!

12 Comments

  1. Thank you for making my life about 5000000 times easier! Cutting pineapples has always been a babe of my existence so this tip will save my fruit-cutting career!

  2. Libby says:

    One summer in college I worked in the kitchen of a very popular golf course in our area. It was my job to cut the pineapples. DOZENS! Every day! I am so, so good at cutting a pineapple! It’s my favorite party trick. Well, after I swore off pineapple chopping for a few years. Hahaha!

  3. Gemma says:

    I’m always so intimidated by pineapples. Next time I see them on sale, I’ll be brave and give cutting them myself a try! Thanks for sharing!

  4. I’ve been cutting SO many pineapples at work! They’re so sticky and tough to get through but so worth it when you get to have a sweet pineapple chunk :)

  5. Mindy says:

    Where did you get this trick? It’s so pretty!

  6. Rudy says:

    Thanks for sharing.

    I’ve always wondered whenever I see peeled pineapples displayed in groceries and they have this diagonal thing. I thought it was just a design.

    Now I know why, I’ll try peeling and slicing one this weekend.

  7. Ah!
    I knew there would be a trick! I either have a pineapple full of the “eyes” or one that’s had it’s eyes gauged out in the worst possible manner. Your method is much prettier.
    Thanks for sharing
    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways

  8. A.T. says:

    we are so into Friday night pi~a coladas at my house right now–thanks for the tip!

  9. Ohh so THAT’S how you choose a pineapple…I usually get lucky with slapping watermelons but for some reason I just don’t have the same luck with pineapples. Great tip :)

  10. eric tow says:

    nice I really like pineapples a lot. they are definitely a favorite of mine. I’ll recommend this to the people in my book club

  11. Kathleen says:

    Love, love, love all your photos! I’m going on a trip at the end of this summer, and want to have a good camera to take with me. What camera do you use?

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      hi, i use a nikon d810 :) it’s kinda big for travel tho!

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