Manually pitting a few cherries is easy, but a handful of them for making sweet treats like this quintessential cherry pie is a different conversation altogether. If you’re fond of preserving or baking with this stone fruit, you may want to consider getting a brand new cherry pitter.
You might be asking yourself, “is a cherry pitter worth it?”. It’s a valid question since you’d be spending money on another tool that would take up space in your kitchen. But the truth is that this tool is worth getting if you often struggle with removing tons of cherry pits. It’s also a little-known fact that you can also use cherry stoners to remove seeds from olives and other small frozen fruits. So if you decide on purchasing one, then you’ll have more than one use for this kitchen gadget.
Cherry pitters come in different shapes and sizes. The range of options on platforms such as Amazon alone can be quite intimidating, especially if you haven’t tried using one before. To help you on your shopping journey, we’ve put together a guide for choosing the best cherry pitter suited for your lifestyle and kitchen habits. Feel free to check out some tips below, as well as our top picks for the best ones to get this year.
Our Favorite Cherry Pitters at a Glance
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Best Overall: OXO Good Grips Cherry and Olive Pitter
A reliable ergonomic cherry pitter with a die-cast zinc prong, a soft non-slip handle, and a convenient splatter guard.
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Best Automatic Cherry Pitter: Norpro Deluxe Cherry Pitter With Automatic Feed Tray
A semi-automatic gadget with a spring-loaded plunger ideal for pitting large amounts of cherries for cooking and preserving.
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Best For Manual Pitting: ProTensils Premium Cherry Pitter Stoner
This is a sleek and durable zinc alloy pitter with a traditional hand-held design.
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Best Hand-Held: CUISIPRO Cherry Pitter
This is a convenient hand-held pit remover with a spacious silicone fruit holder good for one-hand operation.
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Best Tabletop: Ordekcity Cherry Pitter Tool
A cherry pitter made of food-grade silicone that can pit up to six stone fruits at a time.
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Most Durable: Westmark Cherry Stoner
This is a sturdy and easy-to-use metal pit remover with an uncomplicated design.
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Best Multipitter: Prepworks by Progressive Cherry-It Cherry Pitter
A reliable tool with a non-skid base and durable zinc prongs good for pitting up to four cherries at a time.
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Best For Small Cherries: Cherry Pitter Olive and Cherry Pitting Tool
A sturdy cherry pitter that is capable of pitting stone fruits of different sizes, from smaller sour cherries and larger sweet cultivars.
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Best For No Mess: Prepworks by Progressive Cherry Pitter
A stoner with a built-in space for catching cherry juice splatters and stone fruit pits.
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Best Kid-Friendly: Talisman Designs Chomper Cherry Pitter
A neat and fully functional cherry pitter with a kid-friendly design and child-proof features.
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10 Best Cherry Pitters For Your Kitchen
Here are ten of the best cherry pit removers available on Amazon. For this cherry pitter review, we took into consideration a few factors including brand reputation, overall customer reviews, and their special features. You can rest assured that the products featured in this list are worth your time.
Best Overall: OXO Good Grips Cherry and Olive Pitter
What We Love
- Affordable
- Durable
- Easy to use
- Soft and non-slip handle
What We Don't Love
- Pits tend to get stuck
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Kitchen products with an OXO Good Grips stamp are well-known for their cutting-edge and ergonomic design, so it’s no surprise that this cherry and olive pitter is just as celebrated. This pitter is the number one best-seller on Amazon’s “Fruit and Vegetable Pitters” list, with over 10,000 overwhelmingly positive ratings.
The OXO cherry pitter is a traditional hand-held tool constructed with durable die-cast zinc material, so it’s as heavy-duty as it is functional. Despite being made of tough material, it’s still comfortable enough to hold and it’s ideal for long-term use because of its soft, non-slip handle.
With a length of 5.75 inches and a weight of 0.3 pounds, carrying it around the kitchen won’t be an issue. In addition to that, you’ll be able to pit cherries of different sizes with this tool’s spacious holder. Underneath, it’s equipped with a transparent and removable splatter guard that keeps the cherry juice in one place. Lastly, this OXO pitter comes with a safety feature, so you can lock it closed when it’s not in use for easier storage, and to prevent it from causing accidents. With this tool in hand, you’ll easily be able to yield one cup of fresh pitted cherries to use for this classic cherry cobbler.
Best Automatic Cherry Pitter: Norpro Deluxe Cherry Pitter With Automatic Feed Tray
What We Love
- Easy-to-use
- Lightweight
- Can be disassembled
What We Don't Love
- Not flexible in terms of cherry sizes
- Metal parts tend to rust
This unit by Norpro is the closest you can get to an automatic cherry pitter. Although it’s not fully automated, using this tool requires less effort compared to traditional pitters. It’s ideal for those who struggle with limited hand movements as well.
This tool is equipped with a spring-loaded plunger. To use it, simply load up to 10 fruits onto the feed tray and pump the plunger to separate the unwanted parts. The pits will then fall into the transparent container underneath, and each cherry will be released from the pitter into your desired container. This mechanism minimizes the mess from the fruit juice, and it’s more suitable for pitting large quantities of fruit for canning, freezing, dehydrating, freezing, and baking treats like scrumptious cherry crisps.
The Norpro cherry pitter is made of lightweight material and weighs around 1.2 pounds. With a height of 12.2 inches and a width of 6 inches, it’s just the right size for a tool to place on your kitchen counter. Its parts are also removable, so you can disassemble them for easier storage and cleanup.
Best For Manual Pitting: ProTensils Premium Cherry Pitter Stoner
What We Love
- Heavy-duty
- Sleek design
- Returnable
- Dishwasher safe
What We Don't Love
- No splatter shield
If you would rather stick to the basics when it comes to buying kitchen equipment, then this cherry seed remover by ProTensils is the best tool to get. It’s a traditional hand-held pitter with a classic yet innovative design. Made of durable and non-corrosive zinc alloy, you can expect that this pitter is built to last for a long time. This material is also responsible for giving this tool a sleek and stylish finish.
Using the ProTensils pitter is simple and straightforward. All you have to do is position a cherry upright in the pitter and gently push down until the pit is squeezed out of the fruit. To keep the splatters and mess to a minimum, we highly recommend placing a container underneath the tool for catching liquids and seeds. This utensil is pretty flexible in terms of fruit size, as it can handle both small and large cherry varieties. With this pitter, you’ll be able to easily yield enough pitted cherries for this breakfast cherry muffin recipe instead of using canned ones.
Each purchase of this product is covered by warranty, and it comes with a free Ebook containing cherry recipes too!
Best Hand-Held: CUISIPRO Cherry Pitter
What We Love
- User-friendly
- Dishwasher safe
- Built-in locking mechanism
What We Don't Love
- Not heavy-duty
Hand-held pitters are especially attractive to people who want portable and space-saving kitchen equipment. They aren’t as bulky as their tabletop counterparts, so they are suitable companions for traveling and small kitchens. If this resonates more with your lifestyle, you might want to consider opting for this type of seed remover.
This black cherry pitter by CUISIPRO is designed to have a spacious silicone fruit holder that doubles as a scoop. This feature lets you pit individual cherries and olives with a one-hand operation that’s unique to this model. Use this to pit a few cherries for sweet or savory dishes like this chicken recipe that’s slathered in luscious cherry sauce.
This tool is easy to use and also comes with a long splash guard to keep displaced juices in one place for easier cleanups. It’s dishwasher safe, so you can simply plop it into the top rack of your dishwasher and lock it afterward for a more compact storage.
Best Tabletop: Ordekcity Cherry Pitter Tool
What We Love
- Affordable
- Easy to use
- 1-year warranty
What We Don't Love
- Not very sturdy
This cherry pitter tool by the Ordekcity brand is our top pick for the best tabletop pit remover on Amazon. It comes with silicone parts that are food-grade and durable. The built-in tray on this product can carry up to six fruits at a time, and the stainless steel prongs above the tray let you pit all of the cherries simultaneously. All you have to do is push the cover down, and you’ll get fresh pitless cherries in no time. This mechanism lessens the time and minimizes hand strain from manually pitting individual fruits.
This product is easy to clean and store since it’s dishwasher safe and you’ll be able to disassemble it. The Ordekcity pitter has a space intended for catching seeds and juices, so you can quickly dispose of the waste in one go. If you receive a defective model by chance, you can rest assured that you’re covered by a money-back guarantee for one month, as well as a one-year warranty.
Most Durable: Westmark Cherry Stoner
What We Love
- Sturdy
- Easy to use
- Money-back guarantee
- Dishwasher-safe
What We Don't Love
- Doesn’t work on big olives
The Westmark Cherry Stoner is one of the sturdiest among all cherry pitters on Amazon. It’s built with a high-quality cast aluminum material and finished with a powder coating, making it reliable and easy to clean at the same time.
In terms of functionality, you wouldn’t have a hard time trying to figure out how to pit cherries with this tool as it comes in an uncomplicated design that’s easy to use. Much like traditional seed removers, simply position the cherry in the tool and press on it to extract the pit. Its handle is also ergonomically designed for a more comfortable pitting experience.
The only downside to this tool is that it doesn’t have a great reputation as an olive pitter. However, if you won’t be using it for the green stone fruit, then you’ll find this tool very useful as you can use it on cherries and other small frozen fruits.
Best Multipitter: Prepworks by Progressive Cherry-It Cherry Pitter
What We Love
- Easy to use
- Sturdy
- Dishwasher-safe
- Has safety lock
What We Don't Love
- A bit pricier compared to others
The Cherry-It Cherry Pitter by Progressive International is the best and most reliable gadget to use for pitting multiple cherries at a time. It comes with a removable insert or cherry tray that you can load with up to four fruits. Along with this is a non-skid base container underneath for catching liquid and pits.
To begin pitting, simply place the pitter on a flat surface. Position the loaded tray inside the stoner and then push the cover closed until the zinc prongs thrust the pits into the base container. Pop the pitter open and repeat the process until you reach your desired number of pitted fruits. Compared to traditional pitters, the prongs of the Cherry-It are hidden and the tool itself can be locked close, so it’s safer to have in households with kids. When you’re done, you can disassemble the parts of the pitter and clean them in the dishwasher.
Best For Small Cherries: Cherry Pitter Olive and Cherry Pitting Tool
What We Love
- Can pit cherries of different sizes
- Heavy-duty construction
- Lifetime warranty
What We Don't Love
- No splatter guard
Not all cherry stoners are made to accommodate stone fruits of different sizes. Some models can’t be used for either smaller or larger varieties of stone fruits. Thankfully, that is not the case with this cherry pitter tool. This one is useful for removing seeds ranging from the average-sized sweet cherry cultivars, smaller sour cherries, and even larger olives. It’s flexible, and it has a straightforward design that even beginners can learn to navigate with ease.
This pitter is also made of sturdy material for practicality. It doesn’t come with a built-in splatter guard, but it is designed with a gentle squeezing mechanism to minimize juice splatters. With its ergonomic handle, you won’t experience much hand strain when using it. Each model is secured with a lifetime warranty, with free replacement for defective units as well as a 90-day money-back guarantee.
Best For No Mess: Prepworks by Progressive Cherry Pitter
What We Love
- Affordable
- Easy to use
- Dishwasher safe
What We Don't Love
- Not very durable
This model from Prepworks by Progressive is the best no-mess stoner on Amazon. It’s no surprise that it’s ranked second-best in the platform’s “Fruit & Vegetable Pitters” category. Aside from being touted for the neatness and convenience that it offers, it also doesn’t fall behind in terms of performance and functionality.
The pitter has a tray that can hold up to six cherries at a time. Zinc metal prongs are positioned directly above the tray, for thrusting the pits out of the fruits. Underneath the tray is extra space for containing the seeds and cherry juice. With this feature, you can rest assured that the mess will stay inside the pitter.
For safety measures and to keep all parts in place, the pitter is supported by a non-skid base. Although it’s bulkier than the hand-held seed removers, you can easily disassemble this pitter for more compact storage. Also, it’s dishwasher safe so cleaning up will be a breeze after you’ve gathered enough pitted cherries for some mulled wine and other recipes.
Best Kid-Friendly: Talisman Designs Chomper Cherry Pitter
What We Love
- Child-proof
- BPA-free
- Dishwasher safe
What We Don't Love
- Not suitable for large cherries
Did you know that you can turn pitting cherries into a fun family activity with the kids? With this BPA-free cherry pitter by Talisman Designs, you’ll no longer have to worry about the possibility of injuring your child with the sharp prongs of a traditional seeder.
This child-proof pitter is equipped with all the essentials. It extracts pits from the stone fruits with the “chomper,” a plunger-type mechanism with a kid-friendly design. The chomper’s large front tooth is also more than just ornamentation. This feat is intentionally designed to keep fingers away from the pitter. Cherry pit removal will be mess-free too since the pits and juices will go straight to the transparent container below the chomper (aka the chomper’s belly). It has a length of six inches, so it’s portable and easy to carry around.
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How to Choose a Cherry Pitter
If you’ve brushed through our list, you may have noticed that modern pit removers come in different forms. Each one is equipped with special features that cater to specific needs. To choose the cherry pitter tool that’s best suited for you, here are a few basic factors to consider:
Type of Pitter
First of all, you have to determine if you’d benefit more from having a hand-held pitter or a tabletop model.
Hand-held types are more traditional. They are compact and are more suited for small kitchens. They’re portable too, so they’re great to have for picnics and traveling. These hand-held pitters are ideal for seeding fewer cherries, but you can also make do with it for larger quantities (although it might require more time and effort). Nowadays, manual pitting is a lot more comfortable thanks to features like splatter guards and ergonomic handles that manufacturers add to their models.
Meanwhile, we highly recommend getting a tabletop model if you’ll be pitting large quantities of cherries. With their built-in mechanisms, you won’t have to exert as much effort since the tool will do most of the job for you. Also, this is the better choice for those who struggle with hand or finger movements. You can either opt for a plunger-type pitter or those with multiple prongs, so you can remove multiple seeds at a time. They tend to be bulkier, but some models can be disassembled for more compact storage.
Material Used
Always go for cherry pitters made of good quality materials as this is more practical in the long run. For hand-held pit removers, opt for those with zinc alloy or stainless steel since these are durable and resistant to rust. You can also go for models with soft or metal ergonomic handles for comfort.
Most tabletop types are mainly built with plastic. If you’re looking to get one, we highly recommend getting those that are labeled as “BPA-free” since this guarantees that the product doesn’t contain the harmful chemical known as bisphenol-A. Despite the parts being mostly made of plastic, the prongs of tabletop models are still metal. Zinc or stainless steel prongs are also good options.
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Easy to Clean
Pitting is the farthest thing from a neat or mess-free activity. Aside from thrusting out seeds, what does a cherry pitter do? It also squeezes out a good amount of liquid from the fruit. This is the reason why most multipitters and tabletop pitters come with containers for catching pits and juices.
This feature is practical since the mess will be contained in one place only for easier disposal. Some products are also dishwasher safe for more convenient cleanups.
Have you tried any of these cherry pitters? Share your experience with these tools or other pitters you recommend in the Kitchen Equipment forum.