Tag: how to preserve cherries

How to Can Cherries

I’ve spoken a fair bit in the past month of the tart Nanking cherries we harvest from a friend’s parents’ tree, but it’s a bit annual thing for us. It’s this one-time harvest of dozens of pounds of cherries and they need to be used ASAP before they go bad.

For the most part, we freeze the cherries as soon as we get them because they’re in the height of summer when we’re being overrun with foods that we’re harvesting. But once my schedule starts to open up, I juice the cherries and can the juice, and then at a later point when I’ve got more time, I start a batch of cherry wine (which is incredibly tasty).

While I’m generally not a fan of cherries, I do find that I enjoy eating these tart Nanking cherries as I pick them. I figured it was time to attempt canning cherries—for eating later in the year but also for garnishes on fancy drinks.

Canning cherries

Canning cherries is easy and safe. Cherries—both sweet and tart—have an acidity level that makes them safe for water bath canning.

Canning cherries is an easy beginner-friendly water bath canning recipe, so if you’re new to canning and have worried about the safety of canned food, this is a great starter project.

The only downside is pitting all the cherries. There are different tools and gimmicks for pitting cherries, from a cherry pitter, to stabbing a chopstick through the cherry (to push the stone through), to using an unfolded paperclip to scoop out the pit. But I found that none of these tricks worked, so I carefully used a sharp knife to slice open every cherry and pull out the pit. While this means I don’t have any whole uncut cherries in my end result, that’s really not as big a deal as it might feel like.

Tart cherries like mine can easily brown while you’re in the process of pitting them all, so to stave off that browning, you can put pitted cherries in a bowl of water with a splash of lemon juice mixed in.

Your choice of syrup (or water)

Cherries are acidic enough that they could be canned in just water, but canning them in a syrup of sugar-water complements the taste of both sweet and tart cherries perfectly.

Following the advice of a couple websites, I chose to go with a very light syrup of three-quarters cup of sugar, dissolved in six and a half cups of water. It’s light enough that the tart cherries should retain their tartness and the sweet cherries shouldn’t become overly sweet.

When I eventually opened a jar of my canned cherries and ate my way through the cherries, I found that it had indeed reserved that sharp tartness. Perhaps a bit too sharp. If I can cherries again next year, I may look at using a heavier syrup to see how it affects the taste; hopefully the sweetness will counter the sourness a bit, but still allow that distinct tart taste to shine through.

If you want to start off with a heavier syrup, consult the chart below for various syrup “heaviness-es”. For what it’s worth, the National Center for Home Food Preservation (which is where this chart comes from) recommends a medium syrup for sweet cherries and heavy syrup for sour cherries.

Syrup TypeCups of SugarCups of Water
Very Light3/46-1/2
Light1-1/25-3/4
Medium2-1/45-1/4
Heavy3-1/45
Very Heavy4-1/44-1/4

How to can cherries

You can raw pack cherries by placing the cherries in the jar, covering them with syrup, and then processing the jars in the canner. However, the hot pack method produces better results as the pre-canning process removes some of the air from the cherries and they then sit in the final jar better, and it also reduces the processing time in the canner.

To hot pack cherries, start by making your syrup. The ratios in the table above should be fine for 11 pounds of cherries (weighed before pitting), so if you’re dealing with a larger or smaller batch, you’ll want to adjust your syrup quantities. I tend to over-do the syrup quantities a bit whenever I’m canning because I find I usually need a little more than the recipe calls for.

In a large pot, bring syrup and cherries to a boil. As soon as the boiling point is reached, cherries can be transferred to jars.

Whether you’re raw packing or hot packing cherries, fill jars with cherries and syrup to a half-inch headspace. Using a bubble remover tool or a non-metal chopstick, remove bubbles from the jar and add extra syrup if needed to bring the headspace back to a half inch. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar, to remove any stickiness that might impede a proper seal. Place lids on, then screw ring on to fingertip tightness.

Place jars in a water bath canner and top with hot water until jars are submerged by 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and let boil for the appropriate length of time on the chart below. If the water ever stops boiling, the water must be brought to a boil again and the timer restarted.

Hot Pack
(Pints or Smaller)
Hot Pack
(Quarts)
Raw Pack
(Quarts or Smaller)
Elevation
0 – 1,000 feet
15 minutes20 minutes25 minutes
Elevation
1,001 – 3,000 feet
20 minutes25 minutes30 minutes
Elevation
3,001 – 6,000 feet
20 minutes30 minutes35 minutes
Elevation
6,001+ feet
25 minutes35 minutes40 minutes

Once the processing time has finished, remove the pot from heat and let sit for five minutes. Then, carefully using a jar lifter, remove jars from the canner and place on a thick towel on a counter or table and let them sit undisturbed overnight. In the morning, check if jars have sealed, if so, they can be stored in a cool dark place and should be consumed within a year—after a year, the food is still safe provided the seal is not broken, but quality may degrade. If any jars have not sealed, place jars in the fridge and consume promptly.

Canned Cherries

Canning cherries is simple and easy to do, and keeps that fresh taste of summer preserved for the depths of winter.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Fruit
Cuisine Fruit

Equipment

  • Water Bath Canner
  • Mason Jars with Lids and Rings, quart size or smaller

Ingredients
  

  • 11 pounds Cherries, Sweet or Tart, weighed before pitting
  • Sugar, as per preference in the instructions below

Instructions
 

  • Wash, stem, and pit cherries. Tart cherries may turn brown after pitting, so they can be temporarily put in a large bowl of water with a splash of lemon juice mixed in.
  • Prepare syrup, as per your preference, dissolving sugar in water. This can be done on the stove, heating until fully dissolved.
    Very light syrup: ¾ cup sugar, 6½ cup water
    Light syrup: 1½ cup sugar, 5¾ cup water
    Medium syrup: 2¼ cup sugar, 5¼ cup water
    Heavy syrup: 3¼ cup sugar, 5 cup water
    Very heavy syrup: 4¼ cup sugar, 4¼ cup water
    Cherries can also be canned in water only. The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends medium syrup for sweet cherries and heavy syrup for tart cherries.
  • For raw pack canning:
    Fill jars with cherries and syrup, leaving half-inch headspace. Debubble and add syrup if needed. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Put on lids and screw rings to fingertip tightness.
    For hot pack canning:
    Add cherries to pot of syrup and bring to a boil. As soon as mixture boils, fill jars with cherries and syrup, leaving half-inch headspace. Debubble and add syrup if needed. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Put on lids and screw rings to fingertip tightness.
  • Put jars in a water bath canner, fill with hot water until jars are submerged beneath 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil on the stove. Once boiling, process for the indicated time below. If at any time the water stops boiling, bring to a boil again and restart the timer.
    For raw pack canning (quarts or smaller):
    0-1,000 ft: 25 minutes
    1,001-3,000 ft: 30 minutes
    3,001-6,000 ft: 35 minutes
    6,001+ ft: 40 minutes
    For hot pack canning (quarts):
    0-1,000 ft: 20 minutes
    1,001-3,000 ft: 25 minutes
    3,001-6,000 ft: 30 minutes
    6,001+ ft: 35 minutes
    For hot pack canning (pints or smaller):
    0-1,000 ft: 15 minutes
    1,001-6,000 ft: 20 minutes
    6,001+ ft: 25 minutes
  • Remove canner from heat and let sit five minutes. Carefully using a jar lifter, remove jars from canner. Place jars on a thick towel on a counter or table overnight. In the morning, check that jars have sealed. If so, jars can be stored in a cool dark place for up to a year. If any jars have not sealed, place them in the fridge and consume promptly.
Keyword canning cherries