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• Part 1 of 3: Choosing a pineapple
• Part 2 of 3: Storing a pineapple for a short time
• Part 3 of 3: Storing a pineapple for a longer period of time

Because pineapples do not ripen once they are harvested, it is important to know what a ripe pineapple looks like. Once you can tell if a pineapple is ripe or not and whether it is overripe or not, you may want to save your pineapple for later. Depending on how long you want the pineapple to last, there are a number of ways you can store it.

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Part 1 of 3: Choosing a pineapple

1. Know what you are looking for. When choosing a pineapple, there are two things to keep in mind: ripeness and over-ripeness. Ripeness is about whether or not the fruit can be eaten, while overripe is about when the fruit is decaying.
   • The ripeness of a pineapple can be deduced from the extent to which the skin of the pineapple has a golden yellow color.
   • If the fruit is overripe, the skin is wrinkled.
2. Look at the color of the pineapple's skin. The skin should be bright green and yellow with no white or brown spots on it. The skin should be more yellow than green, although this depends on the pineapple variety.
   • In any case, the golden yellow color should be present around the "eyes" of the fruit and at the base.
   • Although a pineapple can be ripe while it is still completely green, you can hardly check this. So you take a risk when you buy an all-green pineapple.
   • The higher the golden yellow color reaches, the more even the taste of the pineapple will be.
3. Feel the pineapple to see if it is ripe. Even if the pineapple has the ideal color, it does not have to be ripe. To be sure, you will have to feel how firm it is on the skin.
   • Lightly squeeze the fruit. It should feel firm, but the skin should give a little.
   • There should be no holes or soft spots. A good, ripe and juicy pineapple will feel heavy.
4. Look at the size of the eyes from top to bottom. They should all be the same size, color and mold free. You can clearly see from the eyes whether the pineapple is ripe and sweet.
   • Choose the pineapple with the largest eyes. The size of the eyes shows how long the pineapple has been able to ripen on the plant.
   • Look for a flat-eyed pineapple. Flat eyes indicate a sweet fruit.
5. Smell and listen to your pineapple. While the smell and sound of a pineapple are not decisive when it comes to ripeness, they help you choose the best specimen if you pay attention to other signs as well.
   • The pineapple should smell sweet, but if it smells too sweet, almost alcoholic, the fruit is overripe.
   • A ripe fruit makes a dull, firm sound. Unripe fruits make a hollow sound.
6. Watch out for overripe fruits. You are looking for a fruit that has had enough time to fully ripen, but you also need to watch out for a fruit that was picked too long ago. If a pineapple starts to look less good, it is overripe and it is better to choose another one.
   • An overripe pineapple has a partially to completely wrinkled skin and is soft to the touch.
   • Look for leaks or cracks in the fruit, both of which often indicate an overripe fruit.
   • The leaves of an overripe pineapple are brown and stiff.

Part 2 of 3: Storing a pineapple for a short time

1. Leave the pineapple on your counter. Pineapples don't need to be refrigerated for the first few days. In fact, if you plan to eat your pineapple within a day or two of buying it, it's no problem to just leave it on your counter.
   • Note whether the pineapple shows signs of overripe when standing.
   • It is better to buy a pineapple on the same day you want to eat it to avoid overripe.
2. Place the pineapple whole in the refrigerator. If you want to keep your pineapple a little longer, you can keep it in your fridge. Keep in mind that pineapples don't keep very long even when refrigerated, so it's important that you eat your pineapple within 3-5 days, even using this method.
   • Wrap the pineapple in plastic before putting it in the fridge.
   • Check the pineapple for spots every day.
3. Store sliced ​​pineapple in the refrigerator. You can keep your pineapple for a day or two longer if you cut it into slices before putting it in the fridge. It's harder to tell if your pineapple is deteriorating once it's sliced, so even using this method, it's important to eat the pineapple within six days of purchasing it.
   • Use a serrated knife to cut the top and skin off the pineapple.
   • Once you've cut the outer parts of the pineapple off, you can cut it into slices that you can make as thick as you like. Then use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut the heart out of the center of the discs.
   • Store your pineapple slices in an airtight container, such as a Tupperware container, to keep them as long as possible.

Part 3 of 3: Storing a pineapple for a longer period of time

1. Freeze fresh pineapple to keep it for a long time. You can keep a pineapple for up to 12 months if you freeze it. You will have to cut off the skin and the heart of the pineapple first.
   • Once the skin and heart have been removed from the pineapple, place the pineapple in an airtight container, such as a Tupperware container.
   • Leave a little air in the container with the pineapple.
2. Use a food dehydrator to dry pineapple if you want to keep it. If you happen to have a food dehydrator you can dry your pineapple slices and then keep them just about forever! During drying, all the moisture is removed from the pineapple slices, making them something like "pineapple chips" but still having the same nutritional value as pineapple that has not been dried.
   • Use a sharp knife to cut the skin off your pineapple and take out the heart, then slice the pineapple. Make sure your discs are all about 1/2 inch thick.
   • Place in your food dehydrator and dry at the temperature recommended by the manufacturer, or 54 degrees Celsius, until the fruit is leathery but not sticky.
   • It may take 12-18 hours for the pineapple slices to dry completely.
3. Make your pineapple in a tin or jar. The last method you can use to store your pineapple for a longer period of time is canning. Preserving your pineapple, canned or jar, can keep it for a year or more, but for safety's sake, it's better not to keep it for more than a year.
   • Once again you need to cut your pineapple into pieces and take out the heart after cutting off the top and skin of the pineapple. This time, you may want to cut the pineapple into cubes instead of slices, as this will make it easier to make it.
   • You will need to cook your pineapple in a preserving liquid so that it fills up the remaining space in the can and keeps the pineapple pieces moist. You can use apple juice, white grape juice, or canning sugar which you can buy at any supermarket or health food store.
   • After you have cooked the pineapple in the preserving liquid, fill the jars, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of space at the top.
   • Put the lids on the jars and close them tightly. Then place the pot (s) in a pan of water 2.5-5 cm higher than the top of the pot or can.
   • Boil ½ liter jars for 25 minutes and 1 liter jars for 30 minutes. After you remove them from the pan, there will be no more air in the pots and you can start storing the pineapple.