Old timer at the farmers market taught me how to pick a good pineapple in about 10 seconds

I was buying produce for the restaurant about 8 years ago near Portland and this guy maybe 70 years old just walks up and grabs a pineapple. He gave it one twist at the crown and sniffed the bottom then handed it to me and said "that one's ready tomorrow." I still do that trick every time I get pineapples in and it has never steered me wrong. Anyone else pick up weird little tricks like that from random old folks?

2 comments

2 Comments

pat_schmidt601d ago

...except that sniff test is pretty hit or miss if the distributor has been keeping them cold. I've had plenty that smelled perfect but were still hard as a rock inside. The twist trick works if the crown is loose, but a tight crown can still give you a good one if it was picked late. The real shortcut is checking the eyes - if they're all the same size and spaced out evenly, you're in good shape.

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milestaylor1d ago

You mentioned the eyes trick, and I get why people like it, but I've actually had the opposite experience. The eyes being even doesn't always mean much if the fruit was stored badly somewhere along the line. I've grabbed pineapple with perfect eyes that were still totally bland and woody inside. The sniff test has been way more reliable for me personally. A strong sweet smell at the base has never let me down, even with cold storage stuff. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I'll take that over checking eyes any day.