What is the best/easiest way to remove the pits from fresh cherries if you do not have a cherry pitting machine? Cherries are supposed to be really good for arthritis and I would like to get them now and freeze them for smoothies.
By Barbara Kamm from Middletown, DE
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My husband makes home made wine. Last summer we pitted 15 pounds of cherries for it without a cherry pitter. We used a ball point pen with the ink refill removed. The pen shell was sterilized in alcohol. Place the pen point end in the stem area of the cherry and push the pit out. Worked for us.
Years ago a friend showed me how to easily pit a cherry using a hair pin! Not a (tight) bobby pin but the open U shaped ones. Go through the top of the cherry and just scoop it out. :)
All great Ideas ! You can use a straw or put a long nail in a board turn it over, clean it and push the cherries on it. I use the hairpin method and Hubby used the nail!
I don't know anything about pitting cherries, but would like to point out that not all cherries are equal. The active anti-inflammatory compound, anthocyanins, is most prevalent in tart cherries.
No need to invest in an automated pitting machine, but if you plan on pitting a lot of cherries, why not buy a manual handheld pitter? You can find them for as little as $7.
You can find plenty of inexpensive cherry pitters on ebay and Amazon. Here's another $7 model. Some of the < $20 models even do several cherries at a time, or have automatic feeding.
I like to use a vegetable peeler. Just insert the cupped end into the stem end of the cherry and pull the pit out. Be sure to hold the cherries over the receiving container so as to retain all the juice.
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