We’ve all been there at some point… standing in the store wondering how to tell which pineapple is ready to eat.
Even if you’re confident, next you may scratch your head pondering the best way to cut this wonderfully crazy-looking tropical fruit, with its tough outer skin and spiky crown.
Well, guess no more because the team at La Dona Fruit has created a series of handy guides about how to select, prepare and store our flagship fruits, starting with pineapples!
Selection
When you’re in the supermarket or at a farmers’ market, first you want to look for a pineapple that feels heavy for its size. If it’s heavy, it should be more ripe and full of juice.
The pineapple should also have no soft spots or dark circles. However, a ripe pineapple will yield slightly to pressure but it should not feel hard to the touch.
Then, here comes the real secret… If you turn the pineapple upside down, at its base it should smell sweet, like pineapple juice! This is because as a pineapple ripens, the sugar rises from the bottom of the fruit. However, you don’t want your pineapple to smell pungent or vinegary or it will be overripe.
In general, a ripe pineapple will have a consistently golden-yellow colour from the bottom all the way to the top. This means the sugar is distributed evenly throughout the pineapple, ensuring that all of your pineapple is sweet. The leaves of the crown, meanwhile, should look a healthy green.
Selecting a ripe pineapple means recognising a balance of factors to ensure an optimum eating experience. This is precisely why La Dona Fruit harvests its pineapples at the peak of their maturity, and quickly sends them to the market by air for maximum product quality.
Preparation
When it comes to preparing your pineapple, there are all sorts of wacky gadgets out there to cut the fruit. In reality, however, a pineapple isn’t difficult to cut. Once you’ve got your pineapple home, you just need a sharp knife and a sturdy chopping board.
Cut off the crown and the bottom end to give two flat surfaces. Stand the pineapple upright on the chopping board. Then, slice off the tough outer skin of the pineapple, cutting from the top to the bottom. Next cut the flesh from the pineapple on four sides, being careful to avoiding cutting into the core of the fruit, which is hard. Then chop or slice the flesh into chunks or strips, as you please.
For pineapple rings, repeat the first three steps. Then turn the pineapple on its side and lay it on its side on the chopping board. Next slice the pineapple from the left to the right of the fruit. Then, using a small round cutter, or pairing knife, carefully cut out the circular core from each slice.
Storage
Pineapples do go off quickly but if you want to save some pineapple for later, you can. Simply cover it, and pop it in the fridge to enjoy over the next two to three days! Delicious!
Pineapples are amazingly healthy and extremely versatile, and we want everyone to enjoy a positive eating experience with this incredible fruit.
We hope this guide helps you to achieve just that!
– The La Dona Family