I told you yesterday in my Rise & Shine post that I was freezing my $1 pineapples from QFC and I’m happy to report that it turned out great! I had never done this before, but it was so easy, that I definitely think I’ll be doing it again.
First I cut them all up into chunks. I used a pineapple peeler, corer gadget. Have you seen these before? The verdict is still out on whether I think they are more a pain than a help. They are very sharp, so be careful. I didn’t cut myself. . . this time. I got this from my days as a Pampered Chef peddler. I wonder about something like this – Easy Tool Stainless Steel Fruit Pineapple Corer Slicer Peeler Cut
After dicing my pineapples into 1-2 inch chunks, I spread it out onto a cookie sheet and popped it in the freezer for 24 hours. I did this so that the pieces of pineapple wouldn’t freeze in one big chunk inside a bag. I wish I would have put down parchment or wax paper because they did freeze to the pan.
But I just used a metal spatula and I scraped the pineapple into gallon bags and we’ll probably use it for smoothies!
I heard some of you bought as many as 50 pineapples at your local store! I can’t imagine processing that many pineapples but the price just can’t be beat! I did the math and I weighed the “meat” after I trimmed them up and I got about 1.5 pounds from each one! That comes out to $0.67/lb – not too shabby!
Today is the last day to get your pineapples at QFC!
Have you ever frozen pineapple before? I also think it would be delicious to dehydrate!
Great idea adn your price point is terrific! We use frozen pineapple to sweeten up smoothies. I recently purchased a 12 oz bag of frozen pineapple chunks at Target (Market Pantry brand) for $1.98 on clearance. Will have to try freezing myself — much better price.
I purchased 10 and then was delighted to see 3 more pineapples in my Bountiful Basket order this week as well.
I froze a couple of bags, using the same method you did. The rest I dehydrated. Once dehydrated I vaccum seal them. I’ll use them in recipes by rehydrating them an also for trail mixes. If you really dehydrate them all the way they become crispy and you can use a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) to grind them in to a powder. I use it as a sweetener in different items. Pineapples are so yummy!
I didn’t know you could freeze pineapple! Great idea!
How long does the pineapple keep in the freezer?