Fresh pineapple is one of those things I always mean to buy and then talk myself out of. Anyone who’s tried to cut one up knows why. You hack the top off, shave the skin in strips, go back for all the little brown eyes you missed, then try to cut round a core that’s as hard as wood. Half the fruit ends up on the chopping board and the juice ends up everywhere else.
A pineapple corer skips most of that. The OXO Good Grips one is a stainless steel tube with a curved blade at the bottom and a knob on top. You slice the crown off, put the corer in the centre, and twist it down through the fruit. The blade cuts a spiral of flesh while the hollow middle takes out the core. Pull it back up and you’ve got a stack of rings on the shaft, with the empty shell left standing on the board.
The bits that make this one easier
Cheaper corers work the same way, but you’re gripping a handle and twisting your whole wrist round and round. This one has a ratcheting knob, so you can keep turning in short strokes without letting go and re-gripping every half-turn. If your wrists aren’t great, that alone makes a real difference.
There are measurement markings on the shaft too. They’re there so you can see how deep you’ve gone and stop before the blade punches through the bottom of the shell. That matters more than it sounds: if the base stays intact, the empty shell works as a bowl for the juice, or for serving the chunks at a barbecue if you want to be a bit showy about it.
Once you’re done, the knob and shaft come apart at the press of a button, which is how you slide the rings off, and both parts go in the dishwasher. It lays flat in a drawer and comes with a safety cap for the blade, so you’re not reaching past bare metal to find the peeler.
A couple of honest caveats
OXO says it fits most pineapple sizes, but a really huge one will leave more flesh stuck to the shell than a small one. You can scrape that out with a spoon, and it’s cook’s perks anyway. And it only does one thing. If you buy a pineapple twice a year, a sharp knife will do. If you get through one a week for smoothies or fruit salad, this pays for its drawer space quickly.
