In the current issue of Small Farm Canada magazine, Pat Kerr shares her experience and tips for growing and harvesting cherries. She suggested that we might want to take a look at cherry pitters while we are at it.
As a result, this week’s cool tool is in honour of Pat with a discussion on cherry pitters. I know you may be thinking, oh my gosh not another single use tool. You are correct if you don’t like olives, but if you do, a cherry pitter can be also used to pit olives.
Back to pitters as cherry pitters. For your information there are several types. There are singles, multiples of six and continuous feed pitters. Lee Valley Tools and Canadian Tire for example feature cherry pitters that pit one or pit six cherries at a time. Prices range around $20 plus. Their small size makes storage doable.
Continuous feed cherry pitters (pictured left with hopper full of cherries) are also available but are harder to find. They do the job quickly in comparison to single pitters.
If integrity of the cherry is a consideration (i.e. keeping the cherry in one piece), then a single or six pack pitter is a better choice. A continuous feed cherry pitter is quick but may result in more pieced up cherries. Depending on your end-use and if you are over-run with a bountiful harvest, it could be a cool tool for the job.
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