How long to grill a whole pineapple for tender, juicy results

Summer is the perfect time to experiment on the grill. Although burgers and hot dogs are a staple of backyard barbecues (even if they’re vegan), you don’t need to put out the fire when it’s dessert time. Instead, take advantage of fresh seasonal fruits and throw them on the barbecue too, following these tips to get started. The sugars will caramelize, the flavor will take on the characteristic smoky taste of charcoal, and you’ll get all those aesthetic marks.

If you want to try this with pineapple, you don’t even need to chop it entirely before grilling, meaning you can spend more time socializing and enjoying the heat while your dessert cooked by itself. A whole pineapple can take anywhere from half an hour to 50 minutes to be cooked on the grill. Because this fruit is so large, if you remove it from the heat before the half hour is up, you’ll be left with a cold, firm core — which isn’t exactly the sweet treat we’re looking for here. You can speed up this time a bit by putting the lid on your grill, but if yours doesn’t have one, you’ll still get delicious results in the meantime.

Read more: 13 Simple Tips for Choosing the Best Fresh Fruit Every Time

A prepared pineapple is tasty to the core

half grilled pineapple – Ncognet0/Getty Images

Although grilling a whole pineapple is more of a hands-off process than grilling slices, it still requires a little attention and preparation. You’ll first need to remove the leaves and all that prickly skin, as well as all the “eyes” that no one wants to eat. This last step may take a little time, as you may have to cut them out one by one. But once your fruit is bare and its cells are visible, don’t hesitate to rub a little brown sugar or coconut sugar and cinnamon, or a whiskey glaze, on all sides, which will make it will help soften on the grill. You can also coat it with a little neutral-tasting oil if you wish. To prepare a gas grill, set it to medium-low heat; and for a coal, move the coals to one side of the appliance, several centimeters from your fruit.

At this point you can absolutely skewer your pineapple all the way to its core. This is useful for lighting the barbecue, although it is not a necessary step. Then place your fruit on the grill. You’ll need to rotate it every five to 10 minutes or so, checking to make sure it’s not burning and moving it further away from the heat (or lowering the heat) if it is. Once your fruit is cooked, all sides will be golden brown with grill marks and you can easily slide a knife through the middle.

Read the original article on the tasting table

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *