If you've been put off from cooking with cherries because the thought of pitting them is too cumbersome, then we've got some good news for you. Pitting cherries is a lot easier than it looks and nifty tools exist to make the job super speedy.
Cherries are one of our favourite summer fruits, and we have so many delicious recipes that feature this vibrant fruit. Some of our favourites include our chocolate cherry bakewell tart, cheat's cherry pancakes and our duck and cherry pie!
What is the easiest way to pit cherries?
In our opinion, using a cherry pitter is the easiest way to pit cherries. All you do is put the individual cherry into the chamber, and press the handle. The stone will be pushed out of the bottom of the cherry and your cherry will be left intact if you want to keep me whole, otherwise cut in half to continue with your recipe.
How to pit cherries without a pitter tool?
To do the job without a pitter, take a paring knife, or thin knife with a sharp tip. Slice cherry in half around stone and separate the two sides. Ease stone out with fingers or tip of a knife.
Is there a hack for pitting cherries?
Our favourite hack for pitting cherries uses an item you most likely already have at home. All you do is take a wide drinking straw and firmly push through the top of the cherry, where the stalk would be. Keep pushing until the stone pops out the other end.
For a slightly more time consuming way, but one that will keep the cherries as intact as possible, is to take a paring knife, and cut a small cross in the bottom of the cherry and gently squeeze to pop the stone out.
What cherry recipe are you going to try first?
Step aside pistachio, we’re all about the cherry trend in the GH Kitchen
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
