If you’re at all interested in olives you may be aware of the continual reminders to buy them unstoned for good flavour. I used to take such advice with a pinch of salt, but that was in the bad old days before I acquired this magnificent beast: a sturdy olive stoner. Solidly built, sprung at the pivot, it made short work of pitting a jar of Kalamatas the other day and reminded me of how glad I am to have it. Stoning cherries should be a piece of cake also. £5.35 at Mottram’s on The Pantiles (I’ll let you know when their website is up – in the meantime check this blogpost for a decent description).
Mottram’s
35-37 The Pantiles
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
01892 538915
I used to have an unsprung one: it bent, it warped, it mangled the olives and gave me a blister every time.
Ooo. Good to know!
If I can save anyone the pain and expense of a useless gadget I will; glad to be of service.
Would this one be any good, do you think?
http://www.roullierwhite.com/oxo-good-grips-cherry-and-olive-pitter-951-p.asp
Also on:
http://www.oxo.com/OA_HTML/xxoxo_ibeCCtpOXOPrdDtl.jsp?section=10054&item=51786&minisite=10024&respid=53057
Or if not, then would the Mottram’s version do cherries as well?
Wow, Myfanwy – with splatter shield that’s a Rolls Royce deluxe model! Oxo Good Grips make excellent tools so I’m sure it’s great.
I haven’t yet tried mine on cherries but the stone/pit hole diameter is 1cm, although I’m not sure what the diameter of a cherry pit is, come to think of it…
I reckon if you’re intending to pit more cherries than olives it might be worth paying the extra for the Oxo as it’s specifically designed for them – that splatter shield has to be a bonus – happy pitting!