North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Sarah Kehler Ewing <skkewing@yahoo.com>]

 I'm sorry: that was as clear as mud, wasn't it?
  
I have the $299.99 stainless steel pitter/stoner from www.berryhillltd.com 
(made by/for www.sausagemaker.com). I have the older model which pits 6 
cherries per pull of the handle (I think I read that the new one pits only 5, 
not sure why they would change the number as 6 pits quite easily).  I like 
one of the other new modification they made though: the pit catcher is now 
right below where the pits are removed and has a trough to direct the pits 
out to a catch container.  One of the problems I have had with mine is that 
the pits sometimes bounce and because there is so much room between where the 
pits are removed and the tray where they are supposed to land, they sometimes 
land in the pitted cherries.  But even with sorting them like raspberries to 
catch the flying pits, it is still light years faster than everything else I 
have tried and very easy on my wrists.  I also place my entire pitter into a 
tray to catch the juice that is produced.  The pitter
 doesn't mangle the cherries and leaves them quite
intact with two small holes: an x-shaped entrance hole and a round exit hole. 
The Evan's cherries have long pits which once in a while (maybe one a gallon) 
get sideways in there, but it just takes a jiggle of the handle up and down 
to persuade them to leave the cherry!
  
  Sarah
  zone 3b
  Edm. AB
  
  
> Sarah, did you buy the less expensive model (about $25) of the cherry 
> >pitter or the very expensive (about $249.00) one?
>  -- Sam Brungardt, St. Paul, Minn. 
  
 I want to recommend an excellent cherry pitter (and that's 'cherry stoner' 
for American readers, in Canada 'stoner' means something entirely different!) 
to fellow NAFEXers: there are full pictures and sales at
www.sausagemaker.com for U.S. customers and Berry Hill Ltd. for Canadian 
purchasers.  I can use it to comfortably pit a gallon in 10 minutes. I have 
the original model which pits Evan's cherries and the U. of S. cherries like 
a dream, however it did not like the largest Bing's that I bought in the 
grocery store. I understand that they have made some
modifications to enable it to pit the larger cherries (as well as some other 
modifications to make it work better) so the newer model may not work as well 
on the smaller pits of the Canadian cherries.  Berry Hill Ltd. still had the 
original model last time I checked.