How to cut a pineapple

Pineapples are great for snacking and baking and their sweet, fresh flavour is hard to beat. Due to their thick skin and spiky leaves, there’s a knack to prepping this exotic fruit at home. With our easy step-by-step guide, you can learn how to cut and peel a pineapple in no time. 

Use your senses to pick a perfectly ripe pineapple. First smell the outside – it should smell sweet without any hint of sourness or grassiness. The skin and leaves should have some shine to them and the pineapple should feel firm but not hard. 

Pineapples are a natural source of manganese, to help with cell protection and vitamin C for boosting immune system function. One large slice or an 80g serving of fresh pineapple counts towards your 5-a-day. 

You can eat freshly prepared pineapple as a snack or use it to bring sweetness to curries or salads. Add it to cakes and puds for some extra sticky goodness. 

You’ll need:

  • A serrated knife 
  • A chopping board 
  • A corer or small cookie cutter
  1. Lay the pineapple on one side and use your hand to secure it in place. Top and tail the pineapple using a serrated knife in a sawing action.
  2. Stand the pineapple up on one end and use the same sawing action to cut off the skin from top to bottom. Repeat all the way around the pineapple until all the skin has been removed.
  3. To make long slices, quarter the pineapple lengthways, cut out the core and slice.
  4. To make pineapple rings, turn the peeled pineapple onto its side and cut it into 2cm slices. Use a corer or a small cookie cutter to remove the tough core of the pineapple. Place over the core, push down firmly, then give it a twist to remove.
  5. To make pineapple chunks, cut the pineapple into rings, then cut across vertically and horizontally to create perfect pineapple chunks.

Recipes to try:

 

 

 

 


Tags:

Fruit, How to