How to Clean and Store Sour Cherries

Sour Cherries are an early summertime treat at the farm. Not only do the birds love them, but so do the kids. Tangy, tart, and a little sweet, these little red jewels are a favorite that can be a little trick to process. Learn our tricks on how to clean and store your sour cherries.

On the Farm

One of the deciding factors for me when we purchased the farm was the 200 plus year old cherry tree that graces the hill.

This monstrosity of a beauty is the quintessential tree that all farms should have. It is big and casts wonderful shade making it a perfect reading spot. Its branches hang low to the ground making it a climbers heaven. In the spring it is decorated in the most lovely halo of flowers and in the early summer it is dotted with a glorious abundance of bright shiny cherries.

What are sour cherries??

What are Sour Cherries

Cherries come in all sizes and flavor profiles, ranging from large and sweet to tiny and tart. The cherries on our farm are sour black cherries.

These little cherries are about a half inch in diameter and pack a mouth puckering punch if eaten too soon. Once they ripen to a deep blackish red, the pucker mellows out some and makes for more of a sour patch kids type of situation.

While sweet cherries are your go to snacker, these sour cherries are a bakers dream.

Sour cherries have less sugar (hence why they are sour), the acidity in the cherries balanced with a touch of natural sweetness and fall apart texture make these perfect for baking and making jams!

Picking Cherries

Early June at the farm is all about picking cherries. We have tried a few different methods to get these cherries from the top of our 200 year old cherry tree.

The Ladder

The first year I picked cherries I relied solely on a ladder and my hands. this was long work and didn’t yield many cherries.

Plus I hate ladders especially when they are on uneven ground.

The Fruit Picker

This year I purchased a Fiskars Fruit Picker and it did a much better job of reaching the high fruit while I stayed safely on the ground.

While my feet were more stable, it did have a bit of a learning curve to make sure I was getting only cherries and not foliage. It also makes for some neck breaking work, so there was quite a bit of break time in between.

What to Look for When Picking Cherries

When picking cherries, no matter what picking method you choose, make sure the berries are ripe but not overly so.

You also do not want a bunch of under ripe cherries. Look for bright shiny fruit with a dark blemish free skin. The cherry should come off the tree with just a gentle tug from the fruit picker.

The Fight for the Cherries

At our farm, the 200 year old cherry tree looms high over the rest of the farm making it difficult enough already to get those high reaching cherries.

Add in the fact that flocks of birds attack the trees fruits daily and you have a fight for the cherries on your hand.

It is a delicate balance of waiting for the berries to ripen and getting in there before the birds do.

This year with so many other projects going on, we only got one weekend and 6 pounds of cherries before the birds decimated them.

Next year I will be more prepared!

We will be living at the farm and I can easily take a break to pick cherries more frequently and hopefully beat out the birds!

Storing Cherries

Sour Cherries have a short shelf life. Even shorter than sweet cherries.

Do not wash your cherries until you are ready to use them, like most berries washing and storing will promote mold and spoilage.

If you do not plan to process the cherries and use or freeze them right away, store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Even stored in the fridge, you will only get about a week out of them before you lose them.

It is always best to clean and use or freeze right away.

How to Clean Your Sour Cherries

Cleaning sour cherries is about as easy as picking them. Pitting cherries is the most time consuming part of cherry processing.

I work in batches when possible, but this year I only had 6 pounds all together with pits and stems so I did one big batch of cleaning.

For 6 pounds of cherries it took me close to 4 hours to clean them and get them all ready for freezing. Now keep in mind, I have little ones running around my feet asking for snacks during this time as well.

Step 1- Cold Water

The first thing I do is run a sink full of cold water and dump my cherries in. This helps to keep them nice and cold while I work and gets the buggies off of them.

Step 2- Remove Stem and Pit

This is the part that takes forever! Pitting cherries is not quick work when you have a mountain of them. The process that I prefer is the chopstick method.

The chopstick method is simple. Take the cherry in your non dominate hand and the chopstick in the other. Insert the chopstick into the stem hole on the cherry and gently run it along the outside of the pit to pop it out.

You can also cut the cherries in half to remove the pit, but I feel like that is an extra step for some reason. So chopstick for me all day long.

I have a bowl for pits and stems and a bowl for processed cherries to help keep my workstation organized.

I also like to keep a washrag and towel close by as well to keep my hands relatively stain free. If you are concerned about the stains to your hands wear food safe rubber gloves. I don’t so much care because my hands always look dirty in the summer from working in the garden, so what is one more stain.

Once your cherries are all pitted you are ready for using or storing!

How to Store Your Sour Cherries

Storing Sour Cherries is so easy! I simply measure 4 cups of cherries into a FoodSaver bag and take out a little air. It is tricky when using a food saver with wet foods. You want to seal it off before the cherry juice starts getting pulled from the bag, but you don’t want to leave too much air either. It’s a fine balance ya’ll.

Once the bag is sealed , mark it and throw it in the freezer for later!

If you don’t have a FoodSaver, you can always use a freezer zip bag. I do recommend using the straw trick where you suck out as much air as you can before zipping it up and putting it in the freezer. This will help prevent freezer burn on all your hard work.

Ideas for Using Your Sour Cherries

Sour Cherries are best for baking, cooking, and making jams and jellies. The gentle texture of the fruit lends well to baked goods and the tartness gives an interesting depth of flavor.

Some of our favorites uses for sour cherries

• Sour Cherry Crisp
• Summer Sour Cherry Cobbler
• Sour Cherry Preserves
• Sour Cherry Pie
• Grilled Pork Loin with Balsamic Thyme Cherries

Other Recipes and Posts We Think You Will Love

Cooking is life here on the farm and we love when we can use the things we grow or forage to make delicious food.

Check out these favorites here on Hackett Hill Farm

• Easy Strawberry Jam
• Sourdough Peach Cobbler
• Southern Biscuits Like Grandma Used to Make
• All About Morels

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