Beginner Gardening: Is my pineapple ready?, 1 by gmun

gmun wrote:
How do I know if my pineapple is ready to eat? I don't want to pick it early or leave it too long - I've been waiting for this for two years!!

This was taken a few days ago now. If you look really closely at the bottom front of the picture the plant is beginning to "split"(?) and start to grow a new centre-bit. It's fairly pushed through in the last few days (yes I should take another picture but it's raining outside and I keep forgetting to ask about this!) so I wonder if that means the plant has finished with this fruit and is now preparing for another one...??

Also, the fruit is pretty small compared to store bought pineapples - does anyone have any advice on the best way to cut this without wasting flesh?

Thanks,
G