Cutting a pineapple may seem intimidating, but it’s easy if you choose a ripe one and use a good knife. Cut off the top and bottom, then follow the eyes to remove the skin in sections.
It can be difficult to know where to begin when cutting a pineapple, simply because they are such an intimidating piece of fruit. With their rather unique shape, incredibly tough leaves, and sharp outer layer, it looks like it could be dangerous to cut into a pineapple. In truth, they’re quite simple to cut, as long as you break them right.
First, it’s important to choose a good pineapple. It will be more difficult, and much less satisfying, to cut an underripe pineapple. You want a pineapple to have golden-brown skin, which is nice and firm. You want to avoid a pineapple whose skin is still green, as it won’t be ripe. A ripe pineapple will also give off a strong pineapple scent, while an unripe pineapple will be much more closed off.
Once you have your fruit, you will want a good knife to cut a pineapple with. There are different opinions about which knives work best, but generally you want a knife long enough to work the whole pineapple, sharp enough to cut it easily enough, and preferably a little flexible, so the curve of the pineapple can be followed. Many people find a serrated bread knife to be the best knife to cut a pineapple with, as it meets all of the above criteria, and the serrations can help get through the rougher parts.
The next step in cutting a pineapple is to cut off the tough top. You don’t want the stem, and some people cut it separately and then remove the top layer, while others just cut the top layer directly, which includes the stem. You’ll want to cut a pineapple about a half-inch to an inch from the stem, to make sure you get all the hard bits off. It’s easiest to cut a pineapple while it’s lying on its side and once you’ve removed the top, just twist it and cut off the bottom half inch as well.
After that, turn the pineapple upright again. It should lie flat on the plane you just created from where you cut the bottom. You will be able to see a series of small brown intrusions at the corners of the pineapple. These are sometimes called the eyes of him and are useful markers when you’re trying to cut a pineapple right. Start your cut just behind one of the eyes and reduce the length of the pineapple, turning the knife inward slightly to follow the outline of the pineapple.
That first cut will show a whole row of brown eyes down the length of the pineapple. You’ll rotate it slightly and cut a new 45 degree angle, following these newly revealed eyes. Repeat until you have cut through all the pineapple skin. Make as many cuts as you need to make smaller corners, this way you’ll keep as much fruit as possible. Trying to cut the skin into just a few slices will result in a large amount of clean fruit being discarded.
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