How to Peel a Pineapple without a Knife: A Guide to this Viral Hack

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How to easily pull apart and eat pineapple with your hands
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Sweet, fresh, and wearing a crown—what’s not to love about pineapple? This summertime fruit is super delicious, but getting to all that juicy meat can be a hassle if you don’t have a knife nearby. Luckily, we’ve got the perfect hack to peel apart a pineapple without a knife—it only requires a bit of muscle and a whole lot of appetite. Keep reading to learn more about this handy trick!

The Best Way to Open a Pineapple

  1. Start with a ripe pineapple.
  2. Twist off the pineapple's crown.
  3. Bang the pineapple on a hard surface to loosen the meat.
  4. Roll the pineapple back and forth to separate the meat from the core.
  5. Grab a spike on the pineapple's skin and pull it out.
  6. Eat the flesh that you just removed from the pineapple (but avoid the skin).
1

Choose a ripe pineapple.

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  1. Search for a ripe pineapple that’s more yellow than green with fresh, healthy-looking leaves. Then, press into it to ensure that it’s slightly soft. The riper a pineapple is, the yellower the outside will be and the squishier it’ll feel. [1]
    • Chef Ed Kuoha says that ripe pineapple has “a firmness but still softness to it…it won't be overly soft.”
    • To make sure pineapple is perfectly ripe, personal chef Randall Chambers recommends pressing the “indentation on the bottom” of the pineapple. He says, “If it has some leeway, you're probably okay.”
    • Providing a similar hack, private chef and food educator Ollie George Cigliano says that “the best way to determine if a pineapple is ripe or not is by pulling out the innermost center leaf. If that leaf removes easily, then the pineapple is ripe.”
    • You can also smell the base of the pineapple to be sure it’s ripe—it should smell sweet and fruity, not funky or vinegary.
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2

Twist off the pineapple’s crown.

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  1. Place one hand near the bottom of the pineapple and the other on the leafy top. Hold onto the crown or leafy top tightly and twist—it’s as simple as that! [2]
    • The riper your pineapple, the easier this step will be.
    • If you can’t twist the crown off, use a paring knife to cut in between each pineapple ridge. Then, rip off the top. [3]
    • Don’t throw out the crown and instead use it to grow a pineapple plant ! Let it dry out for a week and then set it in soil or a glass of water to grow roots. [4]
3

Hit the bottom of the fruit on a hard surface.

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  1. Whack or firmly bang the pineapple onto a cutting board, a counter, or even the ground, keeping the crown end face up. Do this 2 or 3 times to get all those juices moving. [5]
    • Be careful when whacking the pineapple down on a table. The sudden force could cause the table to wobble.
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4

Roll the pineapple back and forth.

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  1. Lay the pineapple on its side and roll it back and forth with your hands. Think of it like kneading a ball of dough. Some juice may start coming out, but don’t panic! That means the hack is working. [6]
5

Pull the pineapple apart by the thorns or spikes.

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  1. Now that everything’s all loosened up inside, pinch one of the little leaves on the pineapple’s skin. Pull, tug, and wiggle it until a piece of pineapple slips out with the skin. [7]
    • If you used a knife to help you out earlier, separate the pineapple pieces by digging your finger into the bottom edge of a section’s exterior and pulling upwards. [8]
    • The skin or rind will still be attached when you pull out a chunk of pineapple, so make sure to eat only the meat.
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6

Store the pineapple in a plastic bag in the fridge.

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  1. When you’re done snacking on the pineapple, seal the entire fruit in a plastic bag or storage container. Simply store the pineapple in your fridge for up to 3 to 5 days to keep enjoying the juicy pieces of fruit! [9]

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      Tips

      • If this hack doesn’t work for you, don’t fret! The ripeness and type of pineapple you have can all play a factor. There are plenty of other ways you can cut a pineapple , so you can still have a tasty treat (just with a few more steps).
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      • To actually cut a pineapple, Chambers recommends “cutting off the stem, [then] shaving off each side with a knife,” ensuring you remove all of the “eyes” and spines. Slice the pineapple lengthwise and cut the pieces into chunks. Or, core the pineapple with a corer tool.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://fcs.osu.edu/sites/fcs/files/imce/PDFs/SNAP_Ed_newsletter_pineapples.pdf
      2. ↑ https://youtu.be/2SBRtNTpupM?t=7
      3. ↑ https://youtu.be/o8jQbaJ9u50?t=220
      4. ↑ https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/article/2003/12-5-2003/pineapple.html
      5. ↑ https://youtu.be/2SBRtNTpupM?t=12
      6. ↑ https://youtu.be/2SBRtNTpupM?t=15
      7. ↑ https://youtu.be/2SBRtNTpupM?t=29
      8. ↑ https://youtu.be/o8jQbaJ9u50?t=348
      9. ↑ https://fcs.osu.edu/sites/fcs/files/imce/PDFs/SNAP_Ed_newsletter_pineapples.pdf

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