Pros
Effective for cherries (and damsons according to an Amazon reviewer)
The OXO website shows an image of someone holding the cherry pitter (affiliate link) mid-air, and using a bowl to catch the stones. For me, this would make an unholy mess. The splatter guard is okay but not fail-safe. Instead, I place the guard flush on a chopping board, then squeeze. The guard is angled so it sits nicely with no gap. This keeps the majority of the splatter contained.
Most of the time, the stone pops out, sometimes accompanied by a chunk of flesh. Occasionally the stone stays inside the cherry. If you like eating cherries whole, this may be annoying. I usually halve them and even if the stone remains, the pitter makes their removal ten times easier than using a knife alone.
A quick note on the small piece of flesh: it can look like a cherry stone so I always double check that the stone has made it out. If not, I set the cherry to one side. I’d be so annoyed if Col or I accidentally chomped on a stone and ended up with a big dental bill.
Strong and inexpensive
I paid around £15 from Lakeland - probably less as they regularly have 10-20% off events. You can buy cheaper pitters but OXO products have good longevity and this one feels sturdy and well made.
Low maintenance and easy to store
It’s dishwasher safe but I usually just rinse it under a tap. There’s a pull tab to lock it closed and the whole thing doesn’t take up much space in a drawer or cupboard.
Cons
Not 100% splatter free, splatter guard can become loose
Unless I’m really concentrating, I usually splatter my chopping board a little. I always wear an apron. Soft cherries release their stones easily but firmer ones need a strong squeeze and they can make a mess.
A few reviewers complained that the splatter guard becomes loose and doesn’t stay in place. With this in mind, I’ve never removed mine and it still feels like it’s securely attached.
Giant cherries won’t fit
This isn’t an issue I’ve faced, even when buying king cherries, but lots of reviewers mentioned that large cherries don’t fit into the opening.
Hit and miss for olives
So many reviewers said the pitter doesn’t work well for olives that I didn’t even think to try, until I filmed my review video. It depends on the olive. I bought a mixture but most were on the firm side. You know the olives that you chew on for ages and the flesh never entirely detaches? It’s useless for those; they get smushed. Semi-firm olives fare better but you do need a good amount of hand strength to remove the pit.
Small olives fall straight through and all olives, even the softer ones, end up with a big chunk of flesh missing. I mostly buy pitted olives and that won’t change because I own this pitter.
Would I replace it if it broke tomorrow?
Yes. The biggest compliment I can pay this pitter is that I no longer hesitate to buy cherries. I would sometimes see a big punnet on offer and think, “nope, no time for that”. My old method of slicing around the equator and digging for the stone could take ages if the fruit wasn’t ripe. Now I buy them all the time and the stone removal feels no more laborious than hulling strawberries (I see that OXO has a gadget for that too).
