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Step 1
Go to a store where you have bought good pineapples before. Be prepared to go to more than one place. You may have trouble finding fresh pineapple, but you cannot settle on one that isn’t perfect or you will be sorry. Most good chain grocery stores will have them, as well as some specialty stores and any place that offers good produce consistently—-especially around holidays.
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Step 2
Carefully inspect the fruit for evenness of color, size and shape. A little discoloration (lighter browning color) around the base of the fruit is not necessarily a bad sign.
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Step 3
Pick up any that look good and turn it around and over in your hand, feeling gently to make sure there aren’t any variations in firmness or soft spots. Although this won’t help a lot in picking out the perfect one, it’s a good disqualification process. You should be able to mash the skin slightly when you gently squeeze, but you shouldn’t squeeze it hard enough to be noticeable to anyone who may be watching.
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Step 4
Take the final, definitive step. Hold one hand down on the base of the pineapple to stabilize it or hold it still, then select a leaf at the top in the middle of the plume. Wiggle the leaf gently between your thumb and forefinger to determine if it is loose. Then tug slightly on the leaf. If it detaches easily, the pineapple is ripe.
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Step 5
Go home and prepare the pineapple for eating fresh alone, in a salad or other fresh dish, or for preparing a scrumptious cooked dessert.
