Smoked Pineapple

Hot summer evenings call for sweet juicy desserts. Kick up your warm-weather desserts with a deliciously smoked pineapple! 

Have you ever wanted to hit your meal out of the park? What do I mean by that? Flavor, originality, and presentation. That is the trifecta when it comes to top-notch meals. Smoked pineapple does accomplish all of that for you. I love grilled pineapple. I love grilling fruit and turning it into ice cream. Check out my grilled peach mascarpone ice cream. But the challenge with the grill is typically the higher heat and it can quickly dry out or burn elements of your food. The smoker is more gentle. 

A Perfect Dish

The flavor is the key to food. If it isn't flavorful, it doesn't get eaten. Even if it doesn't look awesome, if it tastes good, it will be eaten. Originality can be challenging especially if creativity doesn't come naturally to you. My wife is much more creative than I am so I rely on her for suggestions and then I am happy to try and pull it off. The presentation can sometimes be the biggest challenge. It can either take too long, or we don't have a great vision for how it may look? This is why the smoked pineapple hits them all.

Wow Factor

Smoking the pineapple adds another level of flavor as the natural sugars caramelize and encapsulate the swirling smoke into the fruit. Most people wouldn't think to smoke a pineapple so originality is accomplished very easily. The best part though, the presentation is so simple. Just cut the pineapple in half and toss it on the smoker. You don't need to season it, don't need to add brown sugar. Just throw it in there.

This is where the smoker leaves the grill behind. The skin and stalky top of the pineapple would just start to burn away on the grill but in the smoker, on a lower heat, it just gets a little tan. The yellow flesh becomes light golden brown and the nice little grill lines will decorate it to complete the look. There aren't many things that look more impressive on a platter than a perfectly smoked half a pineapple.

Just look how great that looks. A whole smoked pineapple. No other ingredients than just the pineapple. It's very easy and delicious and takes no prep time. 

How to smoke a pineapple

Step one: Pick out a ripe pineapple. Or be patient and wait a few days until your pineapple ripens on the kitchen counter. We keep our pineapples upside down after buying them so the sweet juice distributes evenly. Otherwise, the bottom of the pineapple is sweeter and riper than the top.

Step two: Play fruit ninja and slice the pineapple in half longways.

Step three: Place in pre-heated smoke for 60 minutes.

Step four: Remove from smoker, slice, chop, eat and enjoy.

It only takes about an hour for a halved pineapple to cook in the smoker. Once the pineapple is soft and caramelized, take it out of the smoker and let it rest for at least five minutes. You could get the smoker fired up for just the pineapple, or if you are smoking for the day, pull the beef, pork, or chicken off the smoker and then toss the pineapple in for 60 minutes. It is that easy.

Ways to Serve Smoked Pineapple

You could just slice it and serve with whipped cream or have it as a part of chocolate fondue. Try switching up your favorite ice cream recipe and toss some of the smoked pineapples in there for an instant new favorite.

If you aren't hungry, but just a little thirsty, use some of the smoked pineapple (obviously remove the skin and core) in your pina colada and take some of the smoked pineapple slices to use as a yummy garnish.

You can even chop this up, add some jalapeno and onion, and serve as a sweet relish with Traeger pork tenderloin or Tajin chicken.

You can even use this to top our No Bake Mango Cheesecake Bars! Or serve it along with some Smoked Bananas.

Even better, use it to garnish cocktails such as a Pineapple Screwdriver and a glass of Malibu Rum Punch.