Homemade Cherry Pitter

Homemade Cherry Pitter

Gary bought another bunch of cherries at the farmers market. I think he was hoping for Cherries Jubilee again. But we try to restrict all that fat laden ice cream. So I thought I'd make something else, perhaps spiced cherry chutney. I returned the cherry pitter I borrowed and can't find one locally. Perusing youtube I found a video on how to make a pitter out of a cheap thin fork. 

I just happened to have a single cheap fork in my silverware drawer. Not sure where I got it and don't even know why I saved it, but we shall see.

Basically you take a needle nose pliers or vice gripes and bend the two outer tines down.

Then you take the tip of the two inner tines and just bend down the tip. Hold the cherry in your hand insert the bend tines in the middle into the cherry and dig the cherry out. I tried two so far and it's not as easy as it sounds. I'm sure I'll get better with practice.

I am just now reading one of those old fashioned potato peelers can be used to pit cherries as well. I happen to have one. I will see which one works better. Wear black clothes so cherry juice doesn't show up. Wear gloves if you don't want red fingernails all around the edges and be prepared to get some juice splattered in your face.

I am here to report, none of these home pitters are worth the trouble. Turns out the chopstick inserted at the end of the cherry, not where the stem is, happens to be the best home method so far. You have to have a lot of hand strength to push it through. Thinking back on the cherry pitter I borrowed I think I went in from the top and thought it wasted too much pulp. If I had gone in from the bottom of the cherry it would have been the best method so far.

There will be no cherry recipe today because after making the tomato jam and removing all the cherry pits, I am worn out. I think it took an hour to pit them all. So tomorrow I will make something with the already pitted cherries.  Stay tuned !