Gadget name: OXO Ratcheting Pineapple Slicer
Price: $19.99
It looks like: A large, stainless steel corkscrew.
How it’s supposed to work: Most pineapple-cutting gadgets are designed to separate the core and skin from the flesh of the pineapple with several twists of a handle. This one even promised to slice the fruit into rings, as well.
How we tested it: We bought a bunch of pineapples and set to work slicing them up.
How it actually works: To use it, you just cut the top off the pineapple, put the tool on top, and start turning. It takes 10 seconds for the pineapple to be completely cut and out of its shell, which you can then use as a funky fruit bowl or tropical drink cup.
Good to know: Measurement markings on the shaft let us gauge the depth of the pineapple so that we could slice it without punching through the bottom. The gadget also lies flat in a kitchen drawer for easy storage.
My favorite part: You never have to reposition your hand as you turn the handle: It cranks back to the start position so the process is easier and takes less time. Then, the handle pops off so you can slide the entire cut, cored pineapple off the tube in one swoop. Magic!
Best for: Eliminating the need to buy pre-cut or canned pineapple, it makes freshly cut fruit a no-brainer.
Overall: This useful tool was efficient, easy to use, and wasted little of the fruit. It would make a great addition to any pineapple lover’s arsenal.
About the Author: Lisa McManus
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My cutter also has two sizes lg. and yes small makes the job neat, clean, and fast great gadget bought 15 yrs.ago.
I have one like this, that I bought last year. I’d never seen one before, until my fiance’s family had one. I’ve never had to buy sliced pineapple again, and fresh is SO much better! I like the little additions of this unit.
I bought an older model Vacu Vin pineapple cutter (without the plastic cutting disk) at a consignment store for a mere $3. It looks like the Oxo model except that it’s plastic. I used it for the first time today. I noticed that it turned a lot of the fruit to mush. I looked up your ratings and saw this product was recommended. The fruit was not overripe. Any thoughts as to why it didn’t cleanly slice? It did preserve the juice and removed all the tough core. Several of my family members love pineapple so it seems like this could become a frequently used tool. Thanks!
Probably because the cutting mechanism of metal pineapple cutters can be made a little sharper and slimmer than plastic ones, they don’t seem to crush fruit the way a plastic one can. I recently tried an older model of the Oxo in plastic, and it was surprisingly less effective at cutting a ripe pineapple. It generated a fair amount of juice and smushed a little bit of the fruit, basically just as you describe. It worked fine, on the whole, but the metal version is much better, with cleaner cuts.