A word of warning: it’s Friday and a long weekend so I was a little giddy when I wrote this. It is a serious review of a great product but I was a little punchy in spots…and it shows. 
We have no paid endorsements (yet – although we had to turn down MJ as he wanted to set us up with matching Air Jordans and change our tag line to ‘we SLAM your preserves’). But when it comes to OXO products (other than the ‘cube’), I tend to gush a little. I’m told Micahel’s still dealing with the rejection but we’re holding out for the new Reebok Pump (up the jams) hightops.
I clearly need a new hobby.
At any rate, we’ve had the same pitters for years. I say ‘pitters’ (as opposed to the singular ‘pitter’) because they’ve been multiple versions of the same unit. All of them were worth $3-4 and they were perfectly fine. Light plastic, exposed spring and metal poker to remove said seed. You had to tie your hair back in case it got caught up in the spring but such was the life of the renegade pitter. They would work great until they would break.
Breaking was so reliable that I would buy them in pairs. When one broke I’d replace it with the next with no harm done (except that my recycling bucket would accumulate the carcasses of old pitters.
We recently bought 7 liters (quarts) of cherries. I knew we didn’t have a pitter at home and knew there were all sorts of MacGuyver solutions friends used – paperclips, pairing knives and bobby pins (Julia makes it sound so easy). I was certain that all of these things would work – and certain that I would go nearly mad in the process. So we did what made the most sense – went to the hardware store to buy two $3 pitters.
Hardware stores open later than farmers markets. Especially on Sundays.
So I drove to a big league kitchen store (one of the pleasures of living in a city). I dropped Dana at the front and she headed in looking for two $6 cherry pitters (figuring they would be identical to the $3 ones EXCEPT they’d be twice as much). Dana came out of the store (I circled it to avoid a $20 parking fee) with 3 things:
- A wry smile
- A big giant bag of goodies (so much for the $3 purchase)
- A $20 cherry pitter
The $6 ripoff was starting to feel like a deal.
I chuckled when she explained it had a ‘splash guard.’ I’ve found that a bowl normally does a pretty good job of that. But it was a pitter and there was pitting to be done.
I took a closer look when I got home. It was an OXO unit with the ‘safe grip’ handle (also funny for a pitter – not exactly a life endangering act). I was more impressed when I noticed a feature normally reserved for tongs – a little tab that you can pull or push to lock the handles closed and store in less space. Storage is a premium in our house and that was a nice touch.
I picked up a cherry, pulled the stem and placed it in the holder.
CHUNK. SPIT. CLICK.
It was so satisfying. This wasn’t A pitter. It was THE pitter. It was like using colouring pencils after years of crayons. Glue after years of glue sticks. A motorcycle after a tricycle. Craft beer after ANYTHING light. You get the idea – this was a tool and I was now a man.
OK, so it wasn’t really ALL that good. But it did feel like equipment. And it won’t add to the landfill anytime soon. And I don’t need two of it. And it really did chunk, spit and click.
If you’re looking for a pitter, consider the investment in this unit – it’s a lovely little thing.
Been there – done that. It is all about the Norpro http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=cherry+pitter&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5929272933486848675&sa=X&ei=r9IyTojEJdDUiAKF55W6CA&ved=0CHYQ8gIwAg
This is a hilarious review. I love it, and completely agree. The OXO pitter far exceeds the bargain basement pitters I have been suing for years.
I just bought my first cherry pitter this year as I am just in my second year of canning. I stared at the cherry pitter aisle for a long time deciding whether to spend the extra $8 on the OXO version. Now I know I should have! Oh well, next time!
I’m on my third season with my OXO pitter and I love, love, LOVE it. I think you paid the big-city-early-morning-extra fee though; it’s $12 on Amazon. But still… if I lost mine and needed another, I’d drop $20 on it in a heartbeat.
Yeah, the handheld pitters are alright, but I agree with farmgerl: the Norpro’s what you need when you really grow up.
Actually, I use both. The Norpro’s great for sweet cherries, but I find it a little rough for sours, which are easy enough to pit just by gently squeezing whilst pulling the stem. Some don’t get pitted properly that way, though, and then I resort to my hand pitter (not an OXO, but it does have a latch, which I appreciate, too).
Want, want, want.
I cursed madly each time my $3 cherry pitter jammed, which it did freqently on my latest jamming venture.
Or should I wait for the cherry season to wake up again next year?
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with oxo. When they first came out, I must have bought more than ten products. All but two were broken within the first year. There is no doubt that they are comfortable, chunky, toys and the silicon coated tongs are still a favorite. But they all look more durable than they are. So don’t get any ideas that the cherry pitter might also be useful as a lever or a door stop or anything like that.
I got one a few weeks ago after going cherry picking. I got mine for $12 and I got a free collapsable funnel (bed bath and beyone $5 off a $15 purchase plus the ball $1 off an accessory coupon that ran a few weeks ago). I like it a lot but it’s not great on small cherries. It tends to try to squash them through the pit hole. For bigger cherries, it is great. In fact, I have several cups of queen anne’s in the kitchen just waiting for me to pit.
Holy crap! I JUST bought this pitter last night with the intention of blissfully pitting away my weekend. Now I’m even more psyched – thanks for the review!!
I have one of these pitters and love it. It works great on small plums, too.
Love my Cherrymat Cherry Stoner by Leifheit . If it fails me I’ll go to Oxo.
I bought the Oxo pitter this year. I thought I was doing a kick butt job until it came time to chop the cherries the FP. I found out, even after diligently watching every pit get spit out, that I’d missed a couple. So I ended up having to skim floating cherry pits from the finished jam.
It was a great pitter, though. Made quick task of pitting pounds of cherries. Next time I’ll use my fingers to verify all pits are removed, though!
OMG — recently I wanted to make cherry jam and I thought, I don’t need a pitter — I’ll just use a paring knife, cut them in half, pop out the pit and be on my way. Wellll, I had too many pounds of cherries for that as it turns out. At the nearest Bed Bath and Beyond I found the Progressive Cherry Pitter — it’s like a Vidalia Chopper, but smaller. You can do 4 cherries at a time – the pits end up in the clear bottom container, you take out the 4 pitted cherries and add 4 more. VERY QUICK!!! The only problem was the first night I tried it out, I had to keep trying the cherries to make sure they were really pitted. Every single one I ate — NO PIT! Also, cherry to put in the bowl for jam! I gave up and decided another day would be better. So the next time I pitted I would eat a whole cherry and put all the pitted cherries in the bowl. Try a Progressive. they are $15, but well worth the money. It does both little cherries and large cherries. Check it out!