Stones with or without - cherries?

[Chris Mellor]

A question...

Should the stones be removed from cherries or not?

I’ve seen a few different recipes for between 2kg to 3kg for a gallon. But some leave the stones in, others ask for their removal.

Now, as much as I find pitting cherries as cathartic as the next person, that’s a lot of cherries.

Maybe it’s better to ask...

What influence will the stones have on the finished product?

Thank you.

 

[Johnd]

I would strongly consider doing so......

https://sciencenotes.org/yes-apple-seeds-and-cherry-pits-contain-cyanide/

 

[Scooter68]

There may be a few exceptions, but unless the fruit is a "Berry" seeds and stones are not generally contributors of good things to fruit wines. (Grapes are another matter)

 

[Rice_Guy]

A question...

Should the stones be removed from cherries
What influence will the stones have on the finished product.

* Yes there is cyanide in the stone, there are some stories of for example eating roasted apple seeds and poisoning oneself. It also is possible to eat the occasional apple seed and not get close to LD50 so we don’t worry about it.
* The cherry stones are assumed to be intact and not leaking cyanide when they are left in the pulp much the same as when we eat cherries, gnaw the pulp off and spit out the stone. We worry more about a busted tooth than a pip which has gotten busted.
* The best argument for pitting is that it is possible to press out more juice from the pulp. The down side with my home style putter is that I lose significant juice with pitting.
* The biggest argument against pitting is that it accelerates oxidative browning reactions. A side note is that industry sugars cherries after pitting to draw juice out and limit exposure to oxygen. (The red pigment rapidly reacts with SO2 if we go that route for oxidation)

For me, I don’t pit cherries for wine but will pit several kilos of cherries intended for pies.

 

[Chris Mellor]

Thank you all for your replies.

I think I will go for leaving the pits in. Tuesday is market day and usually a good day to score cheap seasonal fruit. Let’s see what we can find

 

[Arne]

Leaving the pits in can cause your cherry wine to come out bitter. The bitter taste will probably go away with age. Think last time I tried it with the stones in it was close to 2 years before the bitter taste went away. Arne.

 

[Scooter68]

Thanks Arne - As difficult as it may be to remove stones from cherries, your experience/guidance tells us why it is worth that little bit of extra work. The "easy" way isn't always the smart way.

That's something we see so often here - folks looking for shortcuts "fast solutions" etc. Many of which incur a price or yield less than great results.

 

[Arne]

If you can find one of the old fashioned cherry pitters it doesn't take much time. Can probably do a gal. in 15 min. or so. Put the cherries in the funnel on top, turn the crank and the meat falls out the bottom, the pits out a shoot in front. If you could find one that is not worn out like mine it would probably be even faster. It leaves a few pits in with the meat, but not very many. If you use them for pies you want to check the meat a bit closer, but a few pits do not hurt with the wine. Arne.

 

[Scooter68]

Yes Arne - I picked one of those old cast iron ones - mine looks like a spider. Perhaps made intended more for decoration not real use but some day I plan on giving it a work out.....If I ever get enough cherries to work with.

 

[Sailor323]

I do have a cherry pitter (works as an olive pitter as well). I find that it is easier and faster to use a paper clip to remove the stones from cherries.

 

[Arne]

Sounds like you have one of the new ones. One at a time will take a long time to pit them. The old pitters would pit them about as fast as you put a small handfull in them. I looked for a new one a few years ago. All I could find were one at a time. Arne

 

[Scooter68]

Cherry pitters.... I have been amazed at how few there are that are made for doing large quantities of cherries. It's as if they only expect a person to pit a pound or two at a time. Even the ones that take 4-6 cherries at a time require hand loading.
Well until my young cherry trees grow more and produce some serious quantities of cherries I don't have to worry about that.

(I also have a plastic pitter that holds maybe 6-10 cherries at a time but takes one push of the plunger to pit one cherry. Messy, not reliable and s l o w going with that.)

 

[Arne]

@Scooter68 You have to find one of the old pitters, as in antique. They were made to throw the cherries in, meat and skins come out the bottom and the pits go out the front. Easy and fast, but I don't think anybody makes new ones anymore. Arne.

 

[Scooter68]

Yes that's what I've seen. I do have on and I am hoping it's not just a cheap imitation. Clearly this one will not produce "pretty de-pitted cherries" and of course it's going to get a real cleaning before it gets used but... .

 

[Arne]

@Scooter68 Nice find. Y ou will find it probably leaves a few pits. If making pies, you want to watch it close. If making wine no problems if just a few pits get thru. Looks like your machine is in a lot better shape than mine.Where the wing nuts are, you adjust the housing back and forth to allow for the size of the pits. Arne.

 

[Scooter68]

@Scooter68 Nice find. Y ou will find it probably leaves a few pits. If making pies, you want to watch it close. If making wine no problems if just a few pits get thru. Looks like your machine is in a lot better shape than mine.Where the wing nuts are, you adjust the housing back and forth to allow for the size of the pits. Arne.

Thanks for the good words Arne.

AND Sorry about Hi-jacking your thread Chris.