How Long Does A Whole Pineapple Stay Good To Eat?

Fresh produce is always a must-have at the grocery store, but it does come with a catch: It has a naturally built-in expiration date. Picking a whole pineapple is always a good choice since when it's at its peak, there's nothing like its sweet and intoxicating floral flavor. But if you're in the mood to pick one up to take home, you'll need to keep a few things in mind.

First of all, pineapples are one of those fruits that don't ripen once they're harvested. That means leaving it out on the counter won't do you any favors, so it's best to enjoy it sooner rather than later. (And I hate to break it to you, but there are no magic hacks to improve an underripened pineapple.) Second of all, you don't have to store the pineapple in the fridge — after all, you likely picked it up in the non-refrigerated part of the produce section. You can expect your pineapple to stay good for about three days before it might start to head south. So if you're not going to eat it by then, you'll want to slice it up into chunks and store those in the fridge in an airtight container. You'll be able to keep the fresh pineapple pieces in there for three to four more days.

Fresh pineapple tastes way better than the canned stuff, so even though there's an added step of having to slice off the skin, it's definitely worth the extra effort. The spiky-looking fruit might look a bit intimidating, but there's not a ton to do when cutting one up. First, slice off the top, where the leaves are. Then slice down the sides, trying to stay as close to the edge of the fruit as possible to remove the rough peel.

You're likely going to expose little dark pits or dots, which are called "eyes." If you can't tell by looking at them, they're inedible, so you'll need to remove them by using a few shallow v-shaped cuts and a flick of the wrist to get them out. The center of the pineapple is tough and woody, and you'll be able to identify it by its circular, column-like shape. Line up your knife with one of its edges and slice down vertically, taking off four vertical wedges. Those wedges are the ones you can now slice up to eat. You can discard the core since you can't really chew through it.

Even though it might take a few tries to get the most flesh out of your pineapple, it's certainly worth the effort. Just do your best to make sure you use yours within three days, and you'll be rewarded with a bunch of sugary and juicy bites at their very peak of freshness.