A gadget to take the pain out of pineapple prep

When it comes to weaning, the stage between purely purees and eating literally everything can be super stressful. Knowing which finger foods are safe and manageable can be a minefield to navigate, let alone finding ones your little treasure will actually enjoy eating.

Ripe fruits are always a hit, especially when they can be cut into baby-hand sized chunks. Tinned pineapple is an easy solution as the fruit is prepped for you, but with so many cans being loaded heavily with sugar, you won’t get healthier than buying the fruit itself. Supermarkets have chimed in with their own solution of selling pre-cut fingers, but this is so much more expensive than buying the fruit yourself.

400g of pre-cut pineapple pieces – £1.60 (£4.00/kg)
565g of canned pineapple (supermarket own brand) – £0.73 (£2.15/kg)
1 medium pineapple (approx 700g) – £0.95 (approx £1.35/kg)

Prepping a pineapple isn’t the quickest fruit out there and is an often messy (or slightly painful when you catch a prickle) experience. But there’s a gadget out there that is supposed to make pineapple prep a breeze – the pineapple corer.

What is the pineapple corer?

The pineapple corer is a cheap gadget, consisting of only 2 parts: a handle and a metal hollow shaft. The version I got* was super cheap and came with a plastic handle, but there are more fancy versions out there with stainless grips or even having a ratcheting system*. I’m not sure how durability compares across all the brands and variants out there but figured that if the cheapest holds up fine, why pay more?

At the end of the hollow tube is a serrated cutting edge, designed to core out the tough centre of the pineapple at the same time as cutting the juicy innards into a big long spiral. The handle simply pops into this shaft and can be easily removed after use for cleaning and storage.

Tip:
Why not add some of the juice from your cored pineapple to our Hot Toddy Recipe for a tropical twist when you’re feeling poorly?

How does the pineapple corer work?

1. Place the handle into the cutting shaft
2. Cut the top off the pineapple with a knife
3. Insert the serrated edge into the top of the pineapple
4. Twist the gadget until you reach the bottom of the pineapple
5. Pull the tool upward to remove the fruit from the husk of the pineapple

Does the pineapple corer work?

In short, yes. Although the handle didn’t feel to secure on my corer, it worked fine and stayed in place whilst cutting through the fruit. It was so much quicker than cutting with a knife, although you still needed to dirty a knife and cutting board to remove the top of the pineapple to insert the gadget. For the price, this gadget works well, and would not take long to pay off the initial investment in replacement of buying pre-cut pineapple.

Top Tip:
Keep the hollowed out pineapple and the top with leaves to use as a funky looking, tasty serving vessel for a cheeky cocktail

What kitchen gadgets can you not live without? Would you buy a pineapple corer? Let us know in the comments below.

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