Yes, I've got one. Don't use it often but it's great in cherry season. I also use it to pit olives, although they have to be larger than a nicoise.

I tried that one and another brand and returned both. They spattered cherry juice all over, even though I tried to do it in a deep bowl, and the "action" was hard and tiring to my hands.

I decided that for me, I would either eat fresh cherries as-is and spit out the pit or buy frozen ones already pitted for baking/cooking.

Linda, I have a much cheaper plastic version and I use it when I want whole pitted cherries for things like my brandied cherries. For jam it's just as quick to cut the cherries in half with a paring knife and remove the pit, but it does have its' place in my very limited "gadget collection".

Annie

Here's Martha Stewarts way of removing the pit from cherries.

Here is a link that might be useful: cherry pitter

Just recalled that I've seen it done w/a firm straw, which ever works for you, remember to wear gloves so your finger nails don't get stained.

here's a link using a straw..

Here is a link that might be useful: straw

I have one that I use for pitting cherries and olives. It's just a stainless one that has nothing to catch the pits....so the pit goes flying across the kitchen most times. I like the OXO one. I also like how Martha pits her cherries...I wonder how long it would take to do it with a paper clip or a straw? Hmmm, I may have to try one of those ways.

Well, that does it! The paper clip trick looks so easy I think I'll pass for now on the pitter! Makes no sense to have a one or two use gadget for something you don't often need when a simple makeshift "gadget" will do the job just as efficiently!

Thanks!

I can't even begin to tell you how many hundreds, if not thousands, of quarts of sour cherries I've pitted over the years with one of these...

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Get the proper speed and rhythm of dropping them into the hopper and you can easily do a quart every 2 to 4 minutes.

I also have pitted tons of sour cherries using my two different kinds of pitters (not the oxo one) and I have also used a paper clip and a paring knife. I have to say, I kind of prefer using a knife to slice the cherry before removing the pit because that is the only way to see if there is a nasty worm hiding in there. I can't help it; I don't want to have worms in cherry pie or cherry jam if I can avoid it. It's frustrating because it's so slow for doing mass quantities!

I tried using the straw but the pits were too big and the cherry was crushed in the process. So I just used my 20 yr old, reliable potato peeler and it worked great.

Also I wear surgical gloves to avoid the purple staining on my hands.

Michelle

Hi Linda,

I do have the Oxo pitter, and I really like the way it works. It does have a built in splash guard, but it's not that effective. The cherries I've pitted this past summer (Bings and Rainiers) were not that juicy, and I wore a dark apron to avoid the inevitable splatters. It also works on olives too.
DONNA

I'm pretty fast at this just using my hands. I've tried the paper clip and the hairpin, but for me it's easier without them. But -- the acid-attacked skin on one of my fingers didn't get back to normal for a long time after my last sour cherry session. So I ordered the Oxo pitter a couple of weeks ago. It'll be useful for Kalamata olives too. I'm sorry to hear that the splash guard doesn't work very well.

I use a good-old-fashioned hairpin (NOT bobbypin)....works much like Martha Stewart's paper clip method. Insert at the stem end and scoop out the pit. It doesn't destroy the cherry's form and you loose very little of the juice, doesn't squirt juice all over....and best of all, it costs but a few cents for the hairpin !!

I like kframe have an antique cherry pitter that is much faster than any way I an imagine with a knife paper clip or a straw. Mine does 2 at a time, punches the seed through the hole into a "pit bin" and drops the fruit into another bowl and you roll the cherries down the tracks 2 at a time and just "ka-chunk ka-chunk" and pit them.
Linda C