Learn how to can pineapple (chunks or spears), for long term storage. Buy fresh pineapple on sale and can it for convenience, and to enjoy year round.
Have you ever wondered how to can pineapple? Well I have, and my curiosity led me back once again, to my trusty canning book called “Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving”. I can’t tell you how much I have relied on this handy “cookbook” over the years. Guess what? Canning pineapple is not too difficult at all!
I enjoyed learning how to can pineapple, and have used this recipe several times to prepare canned pineapple for our home pantry (especially handy when pineapples are on sale)! Even though it’s easy for most folks to buy canned pineapple at the grocery store, home canning is a great skill to have toward becoming more self-reliant! It’s convenient to have home canned food in storage when there is really bad weather, an emergency, or you just can’t get to the store!
You will need to have a water bath canner, some fresh, sweet and RIPE pineapples, water and little sugar (for the syrup), plus canning jars and lids, but that’s it! The “process” is quite simple, and I would like to share it with you today!
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At the Bottom Of The Page
A Couple Important Things You Need To Know
There are a couple things you need to know about how to can pineapple:
- Prepare canner, jars and lids according to manufacturer instructions and USDA safe canning guidelines. Make sure they are clean, hot, and ready to go, before you heat the pineapple in the syrup.
- If using PINT sized jars , you will need about 1½ pounds of pineapple per jar.
- If using QUART sized jars, you will need about 3 pounds of pineapple per jar.
I used pint sized jars and made a very small batch (which is reflected in my photos). You can easily double or triple the amount of pineapple you wish to can.
The printable recipe card at the bottom of this post gives the ingredients to make 2 pints, but you can easily change the quantity of the ingredients! Use the calculator in the recipe card, to see ingredients necessary to can your desired amount of jars.
Prepare The Pineapple For Canning
You will need to remove the crown, peel, core and slice the fresh pineapple into spears or chunks before processing. To do this, first slice off both ends of the pineapple, stand it upright, and then slice away the peel (from top to bottom) all around the pineapple. Use a sharp knife, and don’t forget to carve out all the little brown “eyes” on the pineapple!
Once peeled, slice the pineapple in half, from top to bottom. Remove the middle core, because it is really fibrous and a bit “woody”.
If you are canning pineapple spears, cut the cored pineapple into long spears. Remember that the spears will have to fit into the jars with a ½ inch headspace. If canning pineapple chunks (this is what I did), cut the fruit into spears, and then slice each spear into bite-sized chunks (about 1 inch each). Set aside.
Make Extra Light Syrup For Canning The Pineapple
You will need to quickly make a syrup to can the pineapple in. Syrups are comprised of sugar and water, and they can range from really sweet to really light on the sugar spectrum. I canned my pineapple chunks in extra light syrup, because they are already naturally sweet.
I forgot to take a photo, but measure water and sugar into a large stainless steel saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring this mixture to a boil on MEDIUM-HIGH heat, stirring constantly as the sugar dissolves. Once sugar dissolves and syrup comes to a boil, turn the heat down to LOW.
Add the pineapple chunks to the hot syrup, and heat, stirring often, only until pineapple has been heated through. This will take only about 1 minute. If you are canning LOTS of jars of pineapple, do this step in batches, keeping each batch warm. Remove from heat, and fill jars.
How To Can Pineapple
Fill the hot prepared canning jars with the pineapple pieces. Using a slotted spoon is extremely helpful to remove them from the hot syrup. Pack the pineapple into jars to withing 1/2 inch of the top.
Use a ladle to fill jar and cover the pineapple pieces with hot syrup, remembering to leave a 1/2 inch headspace in jar. Use a plastic utensil inserted into the jars to remove the air bubbles, and adjust the headspace, if necessary.
Wipe the rims of jars clean with a wet cloth. This helps to remove any syrup that might cause jar not to seal. Apply the flat lid, and screw on the band, to fingertip tightness. Repeat process with remaining jar(s).
Processing Times For Canning Pineapple
Place filled jars onto an elevated rack, and lower them into simmering water in canner. Make sure the water covers the entire jar by at least one inch above the top. Place lid on canner, and then bring the water to a gentle rolling boil.
Process PINT jars for 15 minutes AFTER water comes to a boil. Process QUART jars for 20 minutes AFTER water comes to a boil. When done, turn off heat, remove canner lid, and wait for about 5 minutes before removing hot jars using canning tongs.
Place the HOT jars onto a dish towel. Avoid placing jars directly on your counter top, because temperature variances (cold counter versus boiling HOT jars) could cause jars to crack. Nobody wants THAT! Let jars cool completely for 12 hours or overnight without disturbing. Once they are completely cool, wipe jars to remove any sticky residue, label, and store in pantry (or other cool, dark area).
That’s it! You just learned how to can pineapple! It honestly isn’t that labor intensive, if you ask me. I LOVE the convenience of having jars of delicious home canned pineapple in our pantry, to conveniently have to use in various recipes! Thanks for visiting, and I hope you will consider trying this recipe for canning pineapple! Have a GREAT day.
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Original recipe source: “Ball Complete Book Of Home Preserving, published 2006 by The Jarden Corporation, page 152 (pineapple) and page 142 (syrup)
Learn how to can pineapple (chunks or spears), for long term storage. Buy fresh pineapple on sale and can it for convenience, and to enjoy year round.
- 3 pounds pineapple , cut into bite sized chunks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 5 cups water
Remove the crown, peel, core and slice fresh, RIPE pineapple into spears or 1" chunks before processing. Set aside.
Measure water and sugar into a large stainless steel saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring this mixture to a boil on MEDIUM-HIGH heat, stirring constantly as sugar dissolves. Once sugar dissolves and syrup comes to a boil, turn heat down to LOW. Add the pineapple chunks to the hot syrup, and heat, stirring often, only until pineapple has been heated through (about 1 minute). Remove from heat, and fill jars.
Fill warm, prepared canning jars with the hot pineapple pieces. Using a slotted spoon is extremely helpful to remove them from the hot syrup. Pack the pineapple into jars to within 1/2 inch of the top. Use a ladle to fill jar and cover the pineapple pieces with hot syrup, remembering to leave a 1/2 inch headspace in jar. Use a plastic utensil inserted into the jars to remove the air bubbles, and adjust the headspace, if necessary. Wipe rims of jars clean with a wet cloth. This helps to remove any syrup that might cause jar not to seal. Apply the flat lid, and screw on the band, to fingertip tightness. Repeat process with remaining jar(s).
Place filled jars onto an elevated rack, and lower them into simmering water in canner. Make sure the water covers the entire jar by at least one inch above the top. Place lid on canner, and then bring water to a gentle rolling boil. Process PINT jars for 15 minutes AFTER water comes to a boil. Process QUART jars for 20 minutes AFTER water comes to a boil. When done, turn off heat, remove canner lid, and wait for about 5 minutes before removing hot jars using canning tongs.
Place HOT jars onto a dish towel. Avoid placing jars directly on your counter top, because temperature variances (cold counter versus boiling HOT jars) could cause jars to crack. Let jars cool completely for 12 hours or overnight without disturbing. Once completely cool, wipe jars to remove any sticky residue, label, and store in pantry (or other cool, dark area).
Note: Caloric calculation was based on using half of the extra light syrup to fill 2 pint jars (you won't need it all for 2 pint jars). Syrup recipe as written will yield about 5¼ cups syrup total.
If canning in QUART sized jars, you will need approximately 3 pounds of pineapple and about 1 to 1½ cups syrup per quart jar. Quart sized jars should be processed for 20 minutes.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
Could you use coconut water instead of water?
Hi, Michelle… I have never tried canning pineapple using coconut water, so I can’t tell you how it would turn out or if it would alter the results. Sorry!
I’m wanting to can pineapple spears and want to give it a coconut flavor. Can I use coconut water instead of plain water?
Wow… that sounds wonderful. I have never tried that, so I can’t help with that substitution and whether it would work or not… sorry.
I just saw a video where , they made the syrup with the core ,cut in chunks and the remaining of the eyes , They strained and used the syrup. Another question should we used lemon juice or lime ? Some people use critic acid , do we have to use this when canning pineapples?
Hi, Gardenia… it is not necessary to add lemon juice (or lime juice) when canning pineapple. Take care, and have a great day.