pitting Nanking or Hansens bush (sand) cherries

[doodlemom]

Sand cherries are smaller than regular cherries so running them through a cherry pitter doesn't work. I used to hand pit the sand cherries to make sauce and preserves which goes well with poultry, but it is time consuming to hand pit. I grow pie cherries for pies/desserts and sweet cherries for fresh eating/desserts using the pitter is easy. Anybody know an easy way to pit bush cherries?

[chas]

Originally Posted by doodlemom

Sand cherries are smaller than regular cherries so running them through a cherry pitter doesn't work. I used to hand pit the sand cherries to make sauce and preserves which goes well with poultry, but it is time consuming to hand pit. I grow pie cherries for pies/desserts and sweet cherries for fresh eating/desserts using the pitter is easy. Anybody know an easy way to pit bush cherries?

I ordered two manchurian apricots from a cheap catalogue and one of them was covered with little white flowers and the bush latter had small blackish cherry like fruit. The other had a couple apricots!!
I got brave or foolhearty and bit into one.It was like bitting into a choke cherry.Bitter and took the moisture from my mouth.I lived, so the next day I ate a couple more.They just don't get any better!
The bush is 8ft. tall and loaded with blossoms now.
Is this a sand cherry?????
Chas

[doodlemom]

Different apple trees have different apples some tart some sweet. Maybe its a sand cherry. Mine are red both varieties and the kids eat them off the bush as do I. Not as sweet as a regular cherry.

[oberhaslikid]

Doodlemom I run mine through a sieve to get the seeds out or some people call it a food mill. I only make Brandy or jam /jelly with mine.

[Ann-NWIowa]

If you have or can borrow a steam juicer, you can extract the juice to use for jelly. My kids ate them off the bushes and the birds got the rest as they were too small to mess with. Also, my bushes had a rather short life time. I hope you have better luck.

[katydidagain]

Originally Posted by chas

I got brave or foolhearty and bit into one.It was like bitting into a choke cherry.Bitter and took the moisture from my mouth.I lived, so the next day I ate a couple more.They just don't get any better!
The bush is 8ft. tall and loaded with blossoms now.
Is this a sand cherry????? Chas

I ordered from the same company! The manchurian "bush" is now 30' tall; I hate apricots. I also got some of those blackish "chokers"; they are long gone. Hansen's (red), though very small, are quite tasty; they grow like weeds for me. I gave up pitting them and just smashed what I didn't eat fresh. Yes, I spit the seeds in the garden so I have lots of "volunteers".

[Muskrat]

Have you tried chopsticks to punch the pit through? Put the cherry, stem-end down, on the top of a bottle (or a wire rack, whatever will hold the cherry in place, but let the pit go through) and poke the chopstick through the bottom to pop the pit through the stem end.

[doodlemom]

I am going to try all of the above suggestions to see which works best for me. ANN-NIOWA I did have a few bushes just off and prematurely die on me and I have no idea why while others of the same variety do fine. Luckily I took suckers and cuttings off of the parent plants and they're coming along fine. Don't give up on Hansen's or Nanking's bush cherry as they make a fine edible hedge and are pretty cheap. I planted them in the worst soil (sandy) in my yard. They thrive with total neglect. They have been growing for 12 years max height 5'. I have also purchased the bush apricots 2 years ago and am still waiting for my first fruit.

[Jan in CO]

What I did was wash the fruit well, then simmer in a small amount of water until soft. Mash through a slotted collander, not a screen strainer, too small. When I had as much of the fruit as I could get off of the pits, I sweetened it with about half as much sugar, and canned it like pie filling. Worked great, tasted just like canned pie filling, just no complete cherries in it. Otherwise, they are a LOT of work! Oh, and I think if I remember right, I also simmered the pits in the collander again with a bit of water and made a couple jars of jelly. Jan in CO