Pineapples

[sherrardk]

How can I tell if a pineapple is ripe, I thought it was when the leaves pulled out easily. Himself bought a huge pineapple which is best before 12 March but it still feels like a brick and the leaves are not being easily pulled out. Thank you.

[Buenchico]

According to Aunty Beeb . . .
. . . "Go for pineapples that feel heavy for their size, with no bruising or withered, brown leaves. A ripe pineapple should smell sweetly and strongly of pineapple. An additional test for ripeness is to pluck out one of the leaves - it should come away easily"
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/pineapple

[woofgang]

well but its only the 9th today.

[EDDIE51]

It should be possible to press it and feel some 'give' just around the top of the fruit where it joins the leaves. If not it is not ripe yet so give it another day.

[sherrardk]

Was a bit concerned that it was one of those fruits that are not ripe for ages, ripe for about an hour (in the middle of the night) and then is too ripe.

[Brinjal]

How does it smell? If it smells nice and sweet it will be ripe.

[BlueToffee]

Those concrete pineapples you see on gate posts aren't supposed to be eaten, and they never ripen!

[LyndaB]

I would use Ina Gartens (the barefoot contessa) advice - "if it smells like pineapple, it'll taste like pineapple"

[EDDIE51]

They do tend to go off fast once they are fully ripe, but not that fast!

[ethandron]

Sherr, I buy a pineapple every week from the supermarket and just pick the biggest. I can honestly say Ive never had one that isn't ripe, I've never tested any by pulling leaves off, or squeezing or sniffing.
My feeling, rightly or wrongly, is that by the time they reach the shops here they're all ripe enough to eat straight away.
I cut the top and bottom off, stand it on end and slice the peel off, then quarter it longways. The hard core is then easy remove from each quarter, and the juicy flesh can be chopped into chunks.

[mailorderbride]

Turn it over and press the little circle of stem at the bottom. If it's nicely yellow and smells of fresh pineapple (and gives a little) that's great! If it smells of nothing, won't give or if it's acrid, sickly sweet or mouldy: it's not!

[heathfield]

Ignore the best before and leave it sitting in a warm place for a few days. It'll soften and sweeten over time. My wife is constantly buying pineapples, and does this. (They've never been so cheap as they've been lately).

[gingejbee]

That "best before" isn't a "best before"! You get "best before" dates on long-life foods...not fresh, perishable ones.

[society]

I've read somewhere that pineapples does not ripen once they are harvested.
Some information here - http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/what-makes-a-good-pineapple.htm