I’ve mentioned before my disdain for single-purpose kitchen gadgets. The last thing my already overcrowded kitchen implements drawer needs is an avocado slicer or a strawberry huller. But sometimes (as was the case with that Zyliss garlic press) a single-purpose gadget is so useful, so life-changing, that it’s worth purchasing for its one itty bitty use, just because having it makes cooking so much better.
Today I’m launching a semi-regular series entitled: “Do I need this?”, in which I’ll evaluate some tools I’ve been duped into purchasing over the years, with a candid assessment of whether they’re worth (a) the money and (b) the drawer space.
Our first contestant here on “Do I Need This?” is: the cherry pitter!
(applause, cheering)
A cherry pitter is PRECISELY the kind of gadget I would normally sneer at and swear up and down I would never buy: it’s a little bulky, it only does one thing (pit cherries), and that one thing occurs only rarely (when I need to make a cherry pie, which is almost never).
But about a year ago, I worked for a minute at a fancypants bar that made its own maraschino cherries, and I will not lie: a few weeks eating those delicious, homemade, so-far-from-the-formaldehyde-soaked-jar-kind-they-shouldn’t-even-bear-the-same-name cherries spoiled me forever. Ever since, whenever I have a manhattan, or a daquiri, or heck, even just a craving for something sweet out of the kitchen, I have found myself wishing we had a mason jar full of cherries in sweet boozy syrup chilling in our fridge.
The trouble is, to make homemade maraschino cherries you really need sour cherries (sometimes called pie cherries) instead of the sweet, wine-dark cherries we’re used to eating. And, of course, I developed this affinity for homemade maraschino cherries just after sour cherry season ended last summer. So I have had almost an entire year to work myself up into a lather at the prospect of making homemade cocktail cherries. I have considered various recipes and techniques. I have prepared mason jars. I even, god help me, purchased a cherry pitter.
When, finally, sour cherry season rolled around a few weeks ago, and I bought a quart and got out my cherry pitter and…promptly started swearing as bright red cherry juice splattered all over my clothes, my counters, and my hands. Yes, the cherry pitter takes a little getting used to, and it makes an unholy mess if you don’t use it right (despite its little plastic chamber designed to shield you from spattering). But once you figure out where to line up the little dowel that punches through the fruit to remove the pit, it gets easier. And, to an extent, it works: it surely made shorter work of the otherwise hours-long task of pitting enough cherries to fill a half dozen mason jars, but it still took an awfully long time. And it did do a nice job of pitting the cherries without hacking the fruit into two pieces, the way I invariably do when I try to do it by hand with a paring knife.
Well, turns out the joke’s on me: I made a few jars of cocktail cherries with pitted cherries, and a few jars with whole cherries, and the intact cherries both look and taste better, so it turns out I didn’t need the pitter after all. And while I’m not going to throw the thing out, it’s definitely getting shoved to the back of a rarely-used cabinet. I don’t like cherry pie.
So: Do I need a cherry pitter?
Verdict: No, unless you’re planning on making a LOT of cherry pie and don’t mind cleaning cherry juice splatters off every surface of your kitchen. Save your drawer space.
Oxo Cherry Pitter, $12.95 at Amazon.com
UPDATE: Want to make your own maraschino cherries? Click here for recipe!
Lisa G.
I love “Do I need this?”! Haha, it’s a great idea, kinda like David Letterman’s “Is this something?” And kudos to admitting when you ultimately don’t really need something!
August 5th, 2009 @ 7:29 am
Michelle Smiles
Love this! I too hate single use gadgets – garlic press aside (which I use so often it is always in the dishwasher and I’ve actually considered buying a second one).
August 5th, 2009 @ 10:04 am
Korinna
I like you that you crave “sweet boozy syrup.” Heh.
August 5th, 2009 @ 12:32 pm
Alice
i didn’t even think i LIKED maraschino cherries until i tried your homemade ones. WHO KNEW? yummmm.
August 5th, 2009 @ 1:29 pm
Swistle
I love this new feature. I was actually TENSE with anticipation to find out the answer!
August 5th, 2009 @ 5:06 pm
Swistle
Also, you are OF COURSE planning on posting the maraschino cherry recipe? Because I love to soak stuff in booze.
August 5th, 2009 @ 5:06 pm
Live a Colorful Life
This feature is a great idea! I think we used to have a cherry pitter. Can’t find it. Not spending time looking for it. Instead, clicking on the recipe for homemade maraschino cherries! Better use of my time…
August 6th, 2009 @ 5:35 pm