Easy As Pineapple

This week I canned my first batch of pineapple. It was pretty much the easiest thing ever. But I thought I would make a post in case you are like me, and love step-by-step directions with pictures attached.

I found myself at Superstition Ranch Market again this week and they had pineapples on sale for $.69 apiece. I picked up four of them.

Start by cutting off the top and the bottom of the pineapple and then slicing the peel off from top to bottom.

Cut the pineapple into quarters.

Now it’s a breeze to slice the tough core out of the pineapple. Simply cut along the top of each quarter removing the hard woody material that made up the core.

I sliced each quarter in half lengthwise and then chopped the pieces into almost cubes about 2 to 3 cm in width.

Pineapple has to be preserved in fruit juice or syrup. I did not have any pineapple juice or grape juice on hand, and I did not want to go through the process of trying to juice the small amount of core and peel that I had sliced off. Since the pineapple was already very sweet I decided to go with a very light syrup. 2 cups of sugar for 7 cups of water.

Combine the sugar and water in a large pan and apply heat.

As the syrup heats up the sugar will disappear and the liquid will turn clear. Heat until boiling, then add your pineapple. Pineapple is better preserved using a hot pack method over a cold pack method. The fruit is also less likely to float in the syrup if you hot pack it.

Allow the fruit to simmer in the syrup for approximately 10 minutes. You’ll notice the pineapple appears slightly more translucent and floats in the pot.

After that it’s business as usual. Place your fruit into clean jars, packing the fruit down slightly. If you need to add some of the syrup from the pot to leave one 1/2 half inch headspace. Put on your lids and bands and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for courts.

Four pineapples filled 6 pints and one quart, or 1 gallon of process pineapple. Visually it is very consistent with store-bought pineapple. It does not seem to have broken down any more than the fruit that you purchase and I can.

I have not priced out canned pineapple recently but at $.69 each, already having the jars at home, adding the trivial cost for sugar, this seems very cost-effective. Basically a gallon of pineapple for just over three dollars. I don’t think that can be beat at the grocery store. The more I think about it the more I’m considering heading back to buy ten more.

On a side note, this is the first post that I’m making with the WordPress iPhone app. I’d appreciate any feedback anyone has on whether the format is different, or if I’ve overlooked anything due to my speech to text posting.

Happy Canning.

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