Most serious cooks aren’t huge fans of having specialty equipment taking up room in their already overstuffed cabinets unless it’s something they use a lot. If a cherry pitter isn’t high on your list of vital tools you use frequently, cherries can be pitted with something most of us have lying around anyway: a chopstick.
More:Treat yourself to a delicious cherry and pistachio mousse slice
We aren’t going to pretend this isn’t a bit messier than using a pitter, but messes clean up, so if you don’t pit cherries (or olives, for that matter) often, it’s worth the extra hassle to maintain your valuable kitchen real estate.
We used those wooden takeout chopsticks, which will do in a pinch. But if you have them, use nicer chopsticks with a sharper point. Also, this should go without saying, but do not wear white while doing this or allow the cherries to come into contact with a white or porous (plastic) surface, or you could find your things permanently stained. You should also avoid storing the cherries in any kind of reactive metal.
More:Cherry-sage fancy flank steak in just 20 minutes flat
How to pit cherries with a chopstick
Step 1: Wash and thoroughly dry the cherries, and remove the stems.
Step 2: Using the pointed end of the chopstick, gently push a shallow hole (about 1/8 inch) into the cherry at the end opposite from the stem. Remove the chopstick.
Step 3: Slowly push the wider end of the chopstick into the depression left from the stem, and gently poke around until you locate the pit.
Step 5: Use the chopstick to push the pit through the other end, through the hole you created.
Oh God. You guys. This cherry-pitting tutorial turned out to be way too sexy for the food channel. I don’t even understand how that happened. Um… may we suggest this activity with your significant other this weekend? In the bedroom, with sheets you don’t mind staining. Enjoy!
More:Sweet potato and cherry galette will show off your rustic baking skills
Leave a Comment