Without disparaging the multitudinous other instructionals out there, I wanted to give you my own info session on cutting up a pineapple. After a few years of growing them, and increasing my yield each year, I feel like I have learned things that I was never able to find out online.
Get everything ready: cutting board, good knife, bowl for fruit, bag or container for refuse.
Pineapples can be sharp, to lessen the chance of cutting your fingers, grab the top while moving your hand up from the base of the leaves.
Cut off the bottom.
Cut off the top. Note: Pineapple juice will seep into your skin and it will sting any cuts or scratches you have on your hands.
I cut strips off the sides on a curve to preserve as much fruit as possible.
Make sure you have cut off all the rough textured skin and spines.
I’m not making rings, so I cut in fourths.
And that makes it easier to cut out the core. The riper the pineapple, the less woody this center bit is.
Cut in peices.
To preserve and grow the top, first, cut off all the flesh from the base of the leaves.
Then peel a few rows of leaves off from the bottom to expose the base. You are looking for small dots that will form roots.
This one was really really ripe so the roots were already starting to form.
Now, your pineapple is ready to eat. If you want to freeze it, I suggest positioning your cut pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet. Set the whole baking sheet in the freezer until the fruit is frozen and then you can tip all the frozen fruit pieces in a bag.
If you are preparing and saving the top for planting, set the prepared top in a vase (without water) or somewhere it can dry out a little longer. After a few days stick it in the ground and water well for a week. This is all I’ve ever needed to do to keep multiplying the amount of plants I have.