I’ve spoken a few times on this site so far about the friend’s parents’ place that has a cherry tree and a few apple trees. Earlier this summer we went and harvested the cherries and we made sure to get every last cherry we could reach, and ended up with a record harvest of around 45 pounds (compared to 25 pounds last year).

Their cherries are Nanking cherries, which are quite tart. And it was with these cherries that I learned I actually do enjoy eating some cherries. These are very delicious, if a little mouth-puckering sour at times. My mom later gave me a sweet cherry to try, to see if I liked it, and, well, I didn’t. Tart cherries are the one for me! (It’s the same with grapes—I enjoy the sourness of green grapes but really don’t like sweeter red grapes.)

When we harvest the cherries, we wash them all, let them dry a bit, and then bag them up and freeze them. We very rarely use fresh cherries.

(If I’m feeling ambitious, this cherry liqueur is phenomenal when made with tart cherries. Do this recipe exactly the same, just with tart cherries instead of sweet cherries.)

For the rest, I turn the cherries into juice and make wine from the juice.

This year, with a record cherry harvest and a record rhubarb harvest (115 pounds versus our previous record of 85 pounds), I needed to clear out the freezer to prepare for the oncoming haul of peas, corn, broccoli, and peppers that are destined for the freezer. I wasn’t ready to start a batch of cherry wine, so I decided to juice them and then can the juice, so it’s ready to go when I want, but it’s not taking up freezer space.

Once the garden season slows down in the late fall / early winter, I’ll pop these jars open and get started on a batch of tart cherry wine, which is incredibly delicious.

The safety of canning tart cherry juice

I did enter into this project with great trepidation. I couldn’t find recipes or guidance on canning cherry juice from the official websites / organizations that fully lab-tested recipes to ensure safety. With canning, if done improperly, you run the risk of botulism, which is undetectable when opening a contaminated jar and can kill you.

However, I dug a little deeper and found some information on trusted websites.

The Oregon State University Extension Service provides general information on canning juice and specifically names cherries as an example.

Further, the Government of Canada’s site details that foods (and thus fruit juices) must have a pH lower than 4.6 to be safely canned. Tart cherries have a pH of 3.1 to 3.6, making them safely in the range. While this post is about tart cherries, sweet cherries have a pH of 3.7 to 4.2, which would make their juice safe too can too. When in doubt, a pH testing strip can help determine acidity for safety.

Since there are no lab-tested recipes specifically for cherry juice, please only proceed if you are comfortable with this information.

How to can tart cherry juice

This recipe applies to tart cherry juice and not to sweet cherry juice. However, sweet cherry juice is typically in the safe range for canning (below a pH of 4.6) and this guidance from Oregon State University does not differentiate between tart or sweet cherries, so sweet cherry juice should be fine to can using this method too.

The first step is to juice your cherries. I pulled out my steam juicer to tackle this project. I’ve posted previously on using a steam juicer to juice cherries, so check out that post if you want the step by step breakdown.

If you don’t have a steam juicer, there are other options for juicing—this website lists a variety of ways to juice cherries.

Once you have clear, sediment-free cherry juice, you’re ready to start the process of canning.

You can use any jar up to the half-gallon size; the only difference between the sizes is the half-gallon has a longer processing time.

If your juice has cooled, warm to simmering. Fill pre-warmed jars with tart cherry juice, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Place lids on and screw on bands to fingertip tightness.

Place jars in a water bath canner and add water to ensure jars are submerged by at least two inches of water. Turn stove on high and once the water is boiling, let boil / process for five minutes, or for ten minutes if you’re using half-gallon jars. (Add five minutes if you’re at elevations of 1,0001-6,000 feet.) If the pot stops boiling at any point, bring back to a boil and restart the timer.

When the processing time is over, remove the pot from heat and let sit for five minutes. After five minutes is up, carefully use a jar lifter to remove the jars from the pot and set them on a thick towel on the counter overnight.

The next day, check the jars to ensure they have sealed—the lid is curved downward. If so, jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for at least a year. If not, place these jars in the fridge and consume promptly.