Prep & Assembly
Pit
Remove the stone or seed from fruit before cooking or eating
Pitting removes the hard stone or pit from fruit like cherries, olives, avocados, and stone fruit. It's a small step that makes the fruit ready to eat or cook. A cherry pitter, a sturdy knife, or a firm press pops the pit out — just mind your fingers.
Pitting removes the hard stone from fruit like cherries, olives, avocados, and stone fruit — a small step that makes them ready to eat or cook. A cherry pitter, a sturdy knife, or a firm press pops the pit out. Just mind your fingers.
- Difficulty
- Easy
Types & varieties
Cut around the seam and twist the halves apart.
Halve, twist, and lift the pit straight out.
How to do it
- 1
For cherries and olives, set in a pitter and press the plunger.
- 2
For larger fruit, cut around the stone along the seam.
- 3
Twist the two halves in opposite directions.
- 4
Lift or pry out the pit and discard.
Common uses
Tips & pitfalls
- Pit cherries over a bowl — the juice splatters.
- A chopstick can push a cherry pit out in a pinch.
- Score an avocado pit with a knife heel and twist it free — carefully.
Good to know
- Tool
- Cherry/olive pitter or paring knife
- Best for
- Cherries, olives, peaches, avocados, dates
- Cue
- Stone out cleanly, flesh intact
Also called
stone · remove pit
Dishes that rely on it
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