We Tested the Best Cherry Pitters for Effortless Pies and Pastries (2024)

Cherries are a popular fruit—but those pits! They can be a choking hazard for small children, and for sure you wouldn’t want a beautiful cherry pie filled with hard pits. While there are methods for pitting cherries using common household or office supplies, it’s a lot easier—and probably safer—to use a tool designed specifically for the task. Plus, olives and cherries are about the same size, shape, and texture, so you can use most cherry pitters to pit your olives, as well. We’ve compiled our favorites, whether you just need to pit a few cherries for snacking or you’ve got a tree full of fruit that’s ready for canning.

To help you find the best cherry pitters for perfectly enjoyable cherries, we tested top-rated pitters in our home kitchens. Each one was used to pit both cherries and olives. Then, the cherry pitters were all rated on performance, design, ease of cleaning, and overall value.

Our Top Picks

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Best for Small Cherries:

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Cuisipro Cherry Pitter at Amazon$14$9
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What We Like

  • Comfortable grip

  • For cherries and olives of various sizes

  • Very accurate

  • Does not require a lot of pressure

What We Don't Like

  • Plastic hinge is delicate

  • Still some splash from juice

While this cherry pitter looks simple, it’s got features that boost its performance. The clear shroud keeps cherry juice from splattering sideways, so the kitchen counter won’t look like a crime scene. The holder contains large Bing cherries easily, while the recessed area cradles small cherries or olives securely. The curved spike moves easily in an arc to slide through the pitter and the cherry for clean pit removal, and the handle is comfortable to hold, no matter how many cherries need pitting for your pies.

We liked how the grip on this pitter remained comfortable across 12 tests of large cherries with no hand fatigue. We noted the splatter shield completely contained juices while operating, and the flesh of the cherries remained pristine after pitting. Across all tests, the cherries pitted with ease, but when we tried Castelvetrano olives, the pit was a bit large and the pitter tore the flesh two out of four times. When switched to smaller types of olives, we recorded complete success with no marring or tearing of olive flesh.

The plastic shroud is removable for easier hand washing, and the whole tool is dishwasher safe. Be warned the shroud is small, and best loaded in the utensil caddy when running in the dishwasher. For storage, the pitter locks closed, and we appreciated the compact design.

Dimensions: 5.75 x 1.25 x 4.75 inches | Cherry Capacity: 1 at a time | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

What We Like

  • Easy to operate

  • Pits large quantities at once

  • Attached container keeps mess away

  • Easy to clean

What We Don't Like

  • Cherries sometimes stick

  • Requires heavy pressure to pit

Great for pitting a lot of cherries for jams, pies, and salads, the Leifheit is designed to make it easy to keep pitting without stopping. The plunger pits the cherries with a simple push.Those pits fall into the large clear container, while the cherries roll out the chute where they can be caught in your favorite bowl. We noted a learning curve when first setting up this cherry pitter. Instructions come in multiple languages, but English is not one. Fortunately, pictures of the process on the box and in the instruction manual walked us through set up and operation.

The highlight of this pitter was the no-mess performance. We pitted all 34 cherries without juice splash, and every pit collected in the large clear container that did not have to be emptied until we finished.We did note that the cherries had to be manually removed from the dowel each time, but the spout design directed them straight into an awaiting bowl we positioned below. We did attempt testing of olives, but after 10 Castelvetranos, we found though pitted, five were mangled from the amount of pressure required. And the nonslip base kept the Leifheit from moving around the counter during testing.

We noted the Leifheit stood out in large batch pitting because of the top shelf where de-stemmed cherries can be loaded to await pitting. Once finished, we took it apart and put it into the dishwasher for cleaning. We advise putting the smaller parts (spring and coil) in the utensil caddy to prevent losing them, but were pleased all components came out completely clean and intact.

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Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.5 x 12 inches | Cherry Capacity: 1 at a time | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

What We Like

  • Doesn't cause hand fatigue

  • Accurate cherry pitting

  • Durable construction

What We Don't Like

  • No splatter shield

This lightweight model effortlessly pits cherries at an affordable price. The durable aluminum construction promises long life, and the compact size makes for easy storage. We noted the pitter was quite sturdy in our hands, and felt no fatigue across testing six large cherries.

Even when cherries were askew during testing, the pit came out cleanly with the simple scissor-action of the pitter. Across all tests, the cherries remained unmarred and pristine, and the operation of the pitter required little pressure. When we switched to olives, we found less success—neither Kalamatas nor Castelvetranos yielded their pits. The olives remained fully intact with pit, or tore apart completely. But this pitter is worth it for the easy and accurate cherry-pitting capabilities.

The pitter locks with a simple latch on the end of the handles, so it will stay neatly closed in the gadget drawer. It’s not dishwasher safe, but we noted it washed up easily in a basin of hot, soapy water. You'll be cleaning the sink anyway since this model has no splatter shield so all our tests needed to be performed over the sink to contain mess.

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Dimensions: 6.5 x 2 x 1 inches | Cherry Capacity: 1 at a time | Dishwasher Safe: No

What We Like

  • Doesn't crush or break the fruit

  • Compact and easy to store

  • Dishwasher safe

What We Don't Like

  • Can be messy with extraction

  • Sometimes difficult to gain purchase on pit

When you’re pitting cherries for snacking, for jam, or for a pie, they don’t need to be pretty—they just need to have the pit removed. But when you want a pretty cherry for a garnish or an elegant dessert, you want a nicer-looking fruit. That requires a bit more manual work. This pitter makes that work a bit easier, since it’s designed to neatly cut out the pit without crushing, bruising, or breaking the fruit, and it leaves a neat hole.

We appreciated the straightforward operation, and level of control this manual pitter afforded. Across 10 large cherries, we appreciated that the pitter was lightweight, caused no hand fatigue, and produced pristine cherries each time. We did note that our hands became quite messy during the process as we had to hold each cherry while digging out the pit—processing over a sink is paramount. We also found equal success when pitting larger olives, except we did have to work harder to separate the pit from the skin, but again, the olives were unmarred when complete.

Whether you plan on stuffing the cherries or leaving them whole, they will look attractive on the plate. When you’re done pitting, this tool is dishwasher safe for easy cleaning and quite compact for easy storage in the gadget drawer.

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Dimensions: 5.12 x 0.8 x 0.47 inches | Cherry Capacity: 1 at a time | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

What We Like

  • Can be used with one hand

  • Mess-free and splatter-proof design

  • Dishwasher-safe

What We Don't Like

  • Ineffective at olive pitting

  • Cherries have to be placed nearly perfect for pitting

The Cuisipro pitter features a silicone cup that accommodates cherries of any shape or size, while the scoop front allows one-handed use. Just scoop a cherry from the bowl and tilt it into the cup, squeeze to push the plunger to send the pit out of the bottom, and tip the pitter to drop the pitted cherry into a bowl. The deep bottom and splatter shield keeps cherry juice from splattering for neater pitting.

After six rounds of trials with cherries, once placed directly below the dowel, cherries pitted cleanly. We did appreciate the size and comfort of the pitter for longer periods of use, though cherries had to be placed exactly below dowel, not askew, for the pitter to operate. When testing it with olives, the Castelvetrano olives were met with no success. It either wouldn't push the pit, even with excessive pressure, or completely tore them. It was also unsuccessful with smaller Kalamata olives, where the flesh of the olives completely tore.

This is dishwasher safe for easy cleaning when the pitting is done. We put it through two dishwasher cycles and noted it came out pristine both times. Once dry, it locked for compact storage.

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Dimensions: 8 x 3.25 x 1.5 inches | Cherry Capacity: 1 at a time | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

What We Like

  • Expandable base fits most bowls

  • Pits up to 6 cherries at once

  • Mess-free operation

  • Clear instructions

What We Don't Like

  • Cherries don’t always release automatically

Gripped cherry pitters can be hard for some to operate, and often cause a mess for kids, which is why we like this pitter. It operates like a wide stapler; you compress the top to pit up to six cherries at a time, and the pits deposit into a removable receptacle for mess-free, easy collection.

After going over the visual and written instructions that clearly explained how to operate and clean the pitter, we appreciated the stable, expandable base that easily fits any bowl. The dowels cleanly pitted cherries every time we placed six cherries inside, and even when placed askew and off-kilter. We did note we had to manually remove the pitted cherries from the dowels, but reasoned the quantity it did in one operation made up for the time it took to collect them. We also found the pit chamber adequately contained juice and pits, but had to be emptied after each plunge.

In another round of trials, we tested two loads of six Castelvetrano olives with mixed results. Half of each test released the pits, but the flesh was mangled on a few. We successfully pitted a round of six Kalamata olives with ease and no marring of flesh. Throughout both types of testing the pitter remained secure on the bowl, no matter how much pressure we applied.

When finished testing, it easily came apart for thorough washing in the dishwasher, and it folded up into a slim rectangle that fit in the gadget drawer right next to the mandoline. The compact design belies the incredible efficiency of this model.

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Dimensions: 8.5 x 4 x 2 inches | Cherry Capacity: 6 at a time | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Final Verdict

The OXO Good Grips Cherry and Olive Pitter is our top cherry pitter since it's well-designed and nearly splatter-free. If you're looking for a super-compact for the rare bag of cherries or olives for your martini, pick up the Triangle Germany Cherry Pitter.

How We Tested

Our selected cherry pitters were tested for hours in our home kitchen for the most authentic results. We paid close attention to each pitter's design and performance, assessing how well they pit cherries and olives. We also made note of how easy it was to clean each pitter. Each cherry pitter was given a rating for performance, design, ease of cleaning, and overall value. Our tests included:

  • Pitting large red cherries
  • Pitting large olives
  • Cleaning each pitter, according to manufacturer instructions

How We Test Products

What to Look for in a Cherry Pitter

Type

Handheld: These work very much like a stapler or one-hole punch. They have minimal parts and are easy to use. Usually, you can only pit one cherry at a time.

Tabletop: These models are placed on a table or counter and often have non-slip attachments to secure them during the process. Rather than a squeeze, these typically require a hand plunge to operate. Most can accommodate multiple cherries at a time.

Volume

An important consideration is the number of cherries you will destone. If you're an avid baker who pits pounds of cherries to store for pies and preserves, you want a pitter that does multiple cherries at a time. This will decrease prep time considerably. If you only want enough cherries for a single pie or some other discrete product, a handheld option is more than adequate. With a handheld pitter, you also have more control over quality. Another factor may be the size of the foods you plan to destone, as some pitters can only handle small cherries and olives, while others can take on the bigger ones.

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Ease of Use and Cleaning

It is always important to consider how easy the cleanup will be when embarking on a kitchen tool purchase. Many of the tabletop systems have attached containers or guards that contain the juice spillage to those areas. There's also the consideration of how quickly something disassembles for cleaning and whether it's dishwasher safe. The handheld pitters are small and easy to give a quick hand wash, while the tabletop varieties have separate parts, but are mostly dishwasher safe.

Efficiency

This is really a question of whether the quantity or quality is most important to you. If you're destoning 5 pounds of cherries for a neighborhood pie swap, you want the fastest, most efficient model—probably a tabletop design. If you're more concerned with aesthetically pleasing cherries for garnishing plates or topping cakes, you need a tool that has optimal control. This is where the compact handheld models perform best. You can easily decide where to plunge the pitter and adjust pressure if they're smushing.

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FAQs

Are cherry pits harmful?

The answer is more nuanced than just a simple yes or no. If the pit is whole, they are rarely poisonous, but a broken pit can be dangerous. Inside the pit is a “nut” that contains amygdalin, which the body converts into cyanide—a very dangerous substance to the human body. Don’t worry if you swallow some whole pits, but make sure you don’t crunch or nosh them and expose yourself to the poison inside the nut of the pit. If you find yourself in a situation like this, it's always best to call your doctor.

Can you use a cherry pitter to pit olives?

Yes, you can pit olives with a cherry pitter. The only caveat is the size the pitter can hold. Some pitters are only designed to destone smaller cherries and would not work on a Spanish queen olive or other large variety. If you want a tool that will be versatile enough to use for multiple types of stone foods, check the capacity of the pitter.

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Carrie Honaker tested all seven products in this roundup, and updated the article for key specs, what to look for when buying, and frequently asked questions. As a food writer, restaurateur and avid home cook, she knows the importance of finding the right tool for the right job. She loves her OXO Good Grips Cherry Pitter for its comfortable grip, mess-free operation, and dependable performance when pitting an entire bag of cherries for summer cobbler. Her work has appeared in many publications including Bon Appetit, Allrecipes, and Wine Enthusiast.

Donna Currieis a cookbook author, food writer, and product tester for The Spruce Eats. From garlic presses to food processors, she has always loved to tinker with all the kitchen gadgets, testing their pros and cons, and always looking for the best of the best even before she started writing about food. Her love of gadgets and cooking led to a recipe blog,Cookistry, and a cookbook, "Make Ahead Bread."

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We Tested the Best Cherry Pitters for Effortless Pies and Pastries (2024)

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