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Pineapple Preservation Techniques?

post #1 of 12
8/21/08 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 
(new to the forum, this is my first *official* food-related question)

I recently began purchasing fresh whole pineapples from my local produce section, because they're so much less expensive than the freshly-cut pineapple in plastic containers (and I can't STAND canned fruit...I know, I'm weird).

The produce guy whom I spoke to recommended that I look for the softer, more orange-tinted (on the outside) whole pineapples if I want ones that are ready-to-eat upon slicing them at home.

So I bought two and brought them home with me.

I sliced up the entire pineapple into chunks, getting rid of the leaves and the outermost skin/husk/whatever-you-call-it. Then I placed the pineapple chunks in an air-tight tupperware and placed it in the refrigerator.

The next day, I checked on the pineapple chunks, and the lovely yellow fruit tidbits had turned largely brown. :mad:

What did I do wrong? Should I be immersing the pineapple chunks in some sort of water, juice, or marinade before chilling them? Should I be wrapping them up in plastic seran wrap?

Also, how accurate was the info that the grocer told me, about what the pineapples should look like on the outside before I purchase them? How can I tell if the pineapples, based on their shell/husk/skin, are too overripe to eat when I bring them home?
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post #2 of 12
8/22/08 at 5:49am
Pineapple is one of few fruits that does not ripen off the vine, it rots. Dont know what you did to turn them brown other then it took you to long to clean and cut up the fruit,or they were overripe to start.
I have tried freezing pineapple and it works pretty good. I cube it and toss in gran sugar then place in snap lid container and freeze. When I take it out ,it sometimes tast better then when I put it in. I grow my own, takes a long time and pick them when they are a medium golden color and they have a slight bit of give when I squeeze them. I put in fridge right away. The Pineapple is the flower of the plant that is actually in the Bromiliad family or some people call them air plants. We used to get them from Cuba, now its Chile, Dom Republic. Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
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post #3 of 12
8/22/08 at 11:43am
Just sounds like they oxidized. That's the nature of cut fruit.

If you used a non-stainless knife, that would probably contribute too.

You could put them in acidulated water or squeeze some lemon or lime over the cut pineapple. Give it a toss to coat all the pieces. That slows down oxidation quite a bit. I think it's the citric acid that does it.

Or just cut what you want off the pineapple then wrap the rest of the pineapple tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for the next time you want to cut some up.

Phil
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post #4 of 12
8/22/08 at 2:05pm
I don't think this is correct. As I recall from a recent trip to Hawaii the color has to do with sun exposure and not ripeness.

Refer back to the first sentence in the reply by Ed Buchanan.

I think what you ended up with is pineapples that were beginning to break down and once you cut them the oxidation process that phatch mentioned kicked into high gear.
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post #5 of 12
8/22/08 at 2:19pm
To check the ripeness of a pineapple, gently pull a leaf from the second row (counting from the middle). If it comes out with a slight tug, it's ready. It it feels overly loose, the pineapple is past its prime. It it's very tight, skip that fruit---it will never ripen.
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post #6 of 12
8/22/08 at 3:03pm
Have you tried using a food dehydrator? I suspect it would be challenging to dry but worth the trouble. Would Fruit Fresh (used in jam-making) help?
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post #7 of 12
8/22/08 at 3:20pm
Not sure what the authors qualifications are but this seemed liked a good article

A GUIDE TO CHOOSING A RIPE PINEAPPLE - New York Times

and here is another that mentions color http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/t...pineapples.asp
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post #8 of 12
8/24/08 at 5:55am
Why challenging, Mezz?

Pineapple is one of the fruits I dry quite often, and it's not more or less difficult than others.

All I do is peel it (removing all the eyes), quarter it, and core it. The quarters are then cut in pieces about a half inch thick and laid out on the dehydrator trays.

It's that simple.
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post #9 of 12
8/24/08 at 6:34am

Much that I've read over the past few years as well as conversations with some excellent produce people emphasis that that's not an accurate way to judge a pineapple's ripeness.

scb
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post #10 of 12
8/24/08 at 8:29am
Did you use a carbon steel knife to cut the pineapple?
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post #11 of 12
8/24/08 at 11:35am
Well, Shel, far be it from me to contradict the experts.

I learned that technique from a Carribean lady several years ago, when she noticed me having trouble deciding. In that beautiful lilt one only finds in the Island bred, she showed me how to do that thing with the leaves.

Since then I've bought, oh, I don't know, maybe 70 pineapples using her technique. Must be just coincidence and good luck that every one of them was dead-on ripe.
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post #12 of 12
8/24/08 at 12:36pm
Go ahead - experts have been wrong, and some just repeat what thy've been told.

My experience using the technique has been hit or miss, but, to be fair, I don't know if I pulled the right leaves. :confused: I will pay attention to that in the future. At $4.00 for a pineapple, I want to stack the odds in my favor .

scb
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