How are maraschino cherries pitted?

How are maraschino cherries pitted? - Close-Up Shot of Candies in a Glass Bowl

How are mass-produced maraschino cherries pitted? I looked on wikipedia, but it doesn't mention much about pitting.



Best Answer

I'm going to assume you're talking about the "whole fruit" style and not the "halved" style.

It depends on the producer and variety of cherry, but the cherries that I've seen are pitted in two different ways: in a similar way to olives and simply "brute force" pitted.

Like an olive:

The cherry is centered over a round(circular or elliptical) cutter and then a blade(you've seen the cute "X" shape at the bottom of an olive) pushes the cherry onto and the pit through the cutter.

Brute Force:

Since most cherry pits are "free"(they don't cling very hard to the pit) it is possible to simply center the cherry over a hole and press out the pit with a dowel or rod. The pit simply "squirts" out and the skin is split a little and the flesh on the opposite side is bruised a bit. This results in a cherry that looks more "whole" and retains more flesh and sometimes you can barely tell where the pit left the fruit.

However, like all industrial processes this can be done many different ways up to and including by hand depending on the producer and/or target cost/quality of the final product.




Pictures about "How are maraschino cherries pitted?"

How are maraschino cherries pitted? - Close-Up Shot of Candies in a Glass Bowl
How are maraschino cherries pitted? - White and Red Flower Bouquet
How are maraschino cherries pitted? - Strawberries and Cherries in White Ceramic Bowl on Newspaper



Quick Answer about "How are maraschino cherries pitted?"

Like an olive: The cherry is centered over a round(circular or elliptical) cutter and then a blade(you've seen the cute "X" shape at the bottom of an olive) pushes the cherry onto and the pit through the cutter.

Do maraschino cherries have pits in them?

The end result are bright red, very sweet cherries ( 4 ). At this point, they're pitted and have their stems removed. They're then covered in a sugar-sweetened liquid with added preservatives. Summary Today's maraschino cherries are regular cherries that have undergone a major transformation.

How are cherries commercially pitted?

Well, pitting cherries doesn't have to be the pits if you don't have a cherry pitter! You probably have just what you need to get baking sooner, without having to buy a cherry pitter. What is this? If you have a sturdy straw (like these stainless steel metal straws) or a decorating tip, you can pit cherries.

Are pitted cherries without the pit?

Since 1940, "maraschino cherries" have been defined as "cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar, and packed in a sugar syrup flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor."



Fruit pitting machine | cherry pitting - Tooltechnik




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: George Sistonen, George Sistonen, George Sistonen, Yaroslava Bondareva