Food tip - pitting cherries (garlic, cook, olive, juice)

[elnina]

A cherry pitter is a wonderful thing, but what do you use if you don't have one?
The chopstick!
To pit cherries with a chopstick, just place the chopstick on the stem-end of the cherry, push it through, and voilà – out pops the pit.
Occasionally you might have to root around for the pit, and the process is messier and more time-consuming than using a pitter. However, as long as you don't have too many cherries to process, it's actually kind of fun.

BTW: you can also use very sturdy plastic straw.

Martha Stewart said one of her staffers used a paper clip: simply unfold a paper clip at its center, and depending on the size of the cherry, insert either the large or small end of the clip through the top of the stemmed cherry. Loosen the pit, and pull it out. If you want to de-pit cherries but leave their stems intact, just insert the clip from the bottom.
I thought that pretty clever

How do you pit cherries?

[Bulldogdad]

with my mouth

[elnina]

Well, that's nice, but what you are going to do when you need the cherries for a cake???

[Gerania]

You don't want him to answer that.

I used to own a cherry pitter when I lived in a house which had a cherry tree in the yard. The chop stick method sounds interesting.

[jtur88]

Olives present a similar challenge. As I recall (it's been a long time), I pitted black olives the same way I peel garlic. I lay a wide-bladed knife on the olive, and strike with my fist. It splits the olive, and the pit comes out a lot easier than when you cut the olive in half. Of course, one never gets a nice, neat, whole olive with the pit missing, but olives are less often used for their cosmetic appeal than cherries.

[Gue]

Makes me think I have never pitted cherries to cook with them..

Chopsticks are a good tip!

[bjh]

Cherries shouldn't be pitted against each other. They should be encouraged to live together in cooperation.

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by Gerania

You don't want him to answer that.

I used to own a cherry pitter when I lived in a house which had a cherry tree in the yard. The chop stick method sounds interesting.

Good call on your part!!!! LOL

[NinaN]

Just pay the $5 for the pitter. Saves a ton on the mess - cherry juice can get everywhere without the pitter.