Cherry pitters

[ps8]

Who has one of the cherry pitter contraptions? Do they work? Does it matter what size the cherry is? There's one at Williams-Sonoma that looks interesting.

 

[BlueCat]

Good question. I almost bought one the other day but didn't know how useful it would be.

BC

 

[SpiceUmUp]

I have one like it, different brand, same idea. It work fine. It helps if you have strong hands

 

[AllenOK]

I have a cheap one. I think I got it at Wally-world many, many, years ago. I've only used it for a few things, usually olives, not cherries.

 

[designerobsessed]

I have one & it works well for cherries and olives-a cheapie that I've had for years. I used to make alot of cherry pies for hubby (his favorite).

 

[mudbug]

I got mine from Bed Bath & Beyond for about ten bucks (less with the ubiquitous 20% off coupon) and used it for the first time last week. Made a super deelish pie using fresh cherries.

I found that the trick to using it is to pit the cherries into your hand - that way you can tell right away if you got the pit or just a pit-sized piece of fruit flesh because your cherry was not positioned right.

 

[lhanson]

I have a cheap plastic one that I've used a few times over the years. It works fine - misses a few pits here and there, so you have to double check it's work before adding the cherries to your baking. I've ran through pie cherries as well as some of the larger varieties of cherries with the same results. Mine splatters juice out as it pits the cherries, so my clothes and the floor end up being a sticky mess afterward. However, if you're doing significant quantities, I'm sure a pitter is an easier and faster alternative to pitting by hand.

 

[ps8]

Pitting by hand? That sounds horribly tedious. I think I'll buy one & see how it goes. I LOVE cherries! I'd grow a cherry tree if I could, but they don't grow down south I'm told.

 

[Claire]

Mine is made from a heavy metal of some kind. Yes, I mostly use it to pitt olives for things like tapenade and mufalletas. It is wonderful, even when the pitts don't fit through the hole, it really saves a lot of time by loosening them so I can just easily pick them out. Also if you make cherry pies/cobbler, etc. A worthwhile purchase for me, as we are real olive lovers and hubby likes me to make tapenade a lot.

 

[kitchenelf]

I had a plastic one and switched to a metal one - I prefer the metal and it wasn't expensive. We pit a lot of kalamata olives so it comes in handy. I can't imagine not having one.

 

[luvs]

ps8, if you get that one, will you post about it? i've been eyeing the same one.
elf, that's a good idea. i hadn't thought of using one for olives. i get these Sicilian olives and kalamatas a lot and they have pits.

 

[Guts]

I have one of these works Great!

http://www.chefscatalog.com/catalog/product.aspx?scommand=search&search=cherry%2bpiter&item=93600

 

[JillBurgh]

"HOORAY FOR THE CHERRY PITTER!!" she shouts from the mountain tops. I always wanted to get one and finally gave in over the winter when there are no cherries.

Just got my first bag of the summer and hooooweeee that pitter is not the pits at all! It's the berries! For sure. I thought it would tear the little fruits to shreds but you can hardly see the little hole. What a special snack. Now I should try out one of these fabulous cherry recipes that came up in the DC search for this thread...

 

[CharlieD]

I have couple. One el chippo and one fancy that doesn't work so well. I need and use it evry year when cheries are in season I make cherry preserve and need to get rid of pits. Without trying there is really no way to tell if it will work or not. For sure there is no way to tell if you will use it or not.

 

[Poppinfresh]

I have one. Sort of.

It's basically just a pair of tongs with a metal "poker" on one end and a little area for the cherry to rest in. Insert cherry, push down, out comes the pit. One by one.

I use cherries a lot in my cooking (pork, venison, baked goods). One would think I'd just get a mill pitter, but alas.

 

[VeraBlue]

I use a chop stick. Remove the stem and push the chop stick into the indentation.
Chop sticks are free...how much for the one in WS?