When you snack, a cherry and its pit go into your mouth. However, seed-free specimens are required for a cake or jam. With a special stone remover, the stones can of course be removed in no time. But it also works with other methods.
What is the best way to pit cherries?
Cherries can be pitted in various ways, such as with a knife, chopsticks and bottle, hair clip, Thermomix or a special pitter. Each method has its own advantages and is suitable for different uses of the pitted cherries.
How can cherries be pitted?
You are actually spoiled for choice, as many paths lead to pitted cherries. The good news: They all work perfectly. The bad news: you can hardly expect to save any time.
- Corning cherries with a knife
- Removing cherry stones with chopsticks
- Remove the seeds with a hair clip
- Corning cherries in the Thermomix
- de-stone with stone remover
Selecting and preparing cherries
It doesn't matter whether you want to pit sour cherries or sweet cherries. Both varieties must be picked beforehand because the sensitive cherries quickly show rotten spots. Especially if they are stored warm for a longer period of time.
- only pit cherry fruits that are in perfect condition
- wash the fruit thoroughly beforehand
- then let it dry
- some methods also remove the stems
Attention: The red juice of many types of cherries leaves stubborn stains. Therefore, an apron and food gloves are essential when gutting.
Core the cherries with a sharp knife
The flesh of a few cherries, for example for a dessert, can also be carefully removed from the core with a sharp knife. However, if the fruits are desired whole or a large quantity of them has to be processed, this knife method quickly reaches its limits of feasibility. Too tedious, too time-consuming and also a bit dangerous. The other methods are simply much more effective.
Tip
When it comes to cherries from your own garden, cutting them open with a sharp knife definitely has a convincing advantage: if the inside of the church can be seen, any worm infestation can be better identified.
Removing cherry stones with chopsticks
This method involves pitting one cherry at a time, so allow enough time. The following utensils are required:
- a large bowl
- an empty, clean glass bottle with a small opening
- a chopstick with a blunt end
- Place the bottle on a non-slip surface.
- Place a cherry on the neck of the bottle, the stem should be inside the bottle. However, if the whole cherry slips through, the bottle neck is too wide for this purpose and the bottle must be replaced with another one.
- Press the stick into the cherry from above. You will perceive the core as a resistance.
- Press the chopstick with more force until the
- Pull the stick out of the cherry and place the pitted fruit in the prepared bowl.
- Core all the cherries one after the other.
- pierce the outer shell of the cherry with it
- Push the clip under the cherry stone
- Remove the core from the fruit
- Crush the cherries in the Thermomix for about 3 minutes
- then place the mixture in a coarse sieve
- so separate the pulp from the seeds
- various models are offered
- some can pit several cherries at the same time
- some devices even have splash protection
- But they are harder to clean
- Reading: sort out rotten specimens; wash fruits; If necessary, remove stems
- Suitable helpers: knife; chopsticks and bottle; hairpin, Thermomix; Stoner
- Knife: Cut through the fruit and remove the core; suitable for a few fruits
- Chopstick method: Necessary utensils: a clean bottle with a small opening, a blunt chopstick
- Procedure: Place the cherry on the neck of the bottle; Press out the core with chopsticks
- Hairpin: open the needle in a U shape; Insert the ends into a handy cork
- Procedure: pierce the shell; Slide the clip under the cherry stone; Remove core
- Thermomix: Ideal for making jam; Add cherries; small step; about 3 minutes
- Sifting: Place the cherry mixture in a coarse sieve; Separate the pulp from the seeds in this way
- Destoner: Various models available; Follow instructions; worth it if you pit often
- Tip: Red cherry stains can be removed with lemon juice
Core pierces the lower side of the church and falls into the bottle.
If the bottle is filled to the brim with seeds in between, you can simply shake them out in the trash.
Remove the seeds with a hair clip
Of course it has to be a new, clean hairpin that gets to work here. But it also works with a metal paper clip that is bent apart. Since it is difficult to hold a “naked” hairpin in your hand when doing this work, you will also need a cork as a handle. Open the hair clip in a U-shape and insert the two ends deep into the cork so that the needle sits really firmly in it.
The correct use of the hairpin must definitely be practiced on the first few fruits, but after that the deseeding goes smoothly. With this method, even less of the valuable cherry juice is splashed than is the case with the bottleneck method described above.
Corning cherries in the Thermomix
If you have a Thermomix in your kitchen, this machine could save you a lot of time. Cherries can be pitted in a matter of seconds. You won't find the cherry intact afterwards, but the mushy pulp won't bother you when making jam or as a topping for cakes. This method is also ideal for making juice. Only if you want to use cherries for decoration purposes do you have to forego the speed of this device.
Tip
Don't set the highest possible level so that the kernels don't get squished. It's better to test your way up level by level until you find the optimal setting for now and the future.
Corning with a stoner
With a cherry pitter it should be possible to pit more than 10 kg of cherries per hour. With some models from grandma's time, it is unlikely that the sore muscles will not appear the next day. Good stone removers are available on the market for as little as EUR 15. How such a device works does not need to be mentioned here. The enclosed descriptions explain the handling in detail.
If you have your own large cherry tree, you could expect a bountiful harvest year after year. Purchasing a de-stoner is a worthwhile investment in the long term.
Tip
Red-colored hands become clean again if they are rubbed vigorously with lemon juice and then washed with water.
