What is your idea of the best cherry pitter? They certainly are getting better! I’m considering this model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE1A9Ii3Dpk
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Those are very large cherries! I wonder how it would work on smaller varieties?
I’d think the hopper could slant downward so as to feed the cherries into the pitter. It seems that you’d have to set them each one at a time into the slots, which would be slow
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I’m going to wait on the real review I think Dwarf Sour Cherry, Sour Cherries, Dwarf Sour Cherries for sale and save some cash on the same Pitter slightly cheaper $175.
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Disappointing that this one, too, can miss some pits
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Very interesting video https://youtu.be/aA3dIJIFbrY . The norpro pitter in the video went through these partially frozen / chilled carmine Jewell cherries like they were not a problem. 2 gallons took 20 minutes to pit.
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I bought an antique crank-style pitter, but found that the Carmine jewel seeds go right through it. Tonight we were eating cherries from the freezer to find some large pits in some. I assume they were Romeos or Juliets. Those pits are big enough for the pitter, so there is hope, as I have three bushes of each of those varieties. Might “let”our friends pick the carmine jewels from now on. 
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I purchased the Leifheit Pitter and it worked great as well. You have to put the rubber piece in the slot where the plunger goes through. It has a small plus sign hole. I put the cherries on a cookie sheet that held exactly a full quart of cherries in the freezer for 25 to 30 minutes. I was pitting just like the video posted above. Mine were probably more frozen and less of a mess if you work quickly. I would dump the bowl into the bag after every load of the hopper. https://www.amazon.com/Leifheit-37202-Replacement-Parts-Cherrymat/dp/B0002HOUBQ/ref=asc_df_B0002HOUBQ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=550292507167&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2440762942102652383&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016995&hvtargid=pla-324004129325&psc=1
I like the price of that Norpro pitter and the suction cup base.
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I like this brand. I used it to pit 7 lbs of sour cherries today.
It’s a gift from dear @mrsg47 . She has been very kind to me.
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Have you used that pitter on Carmine jewels, which have smaller pits?
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I only had about a pint of Carmine Jewel to pit. I don’t see any difference between pitting CJ and Juliet.
The pitter I use is not fool’s proof. I had to watch the cherries as a few rolled through the slot before they were pitted, esp. when I tried to go fast.
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I’m not sure there’s a cherry pitter on the market that’s 100% foolproof. Even commercially packaged cherries, olives, etc say “may contain pits.” And sometimes they do…
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I did 5 or 6 quarts of Carmine Jewel with my Leifheit a few days ago. You have to hold the cherries back with your hand and must let enough through at a time so it doesn’t get bound up with two trying to go into the hole at the same time. A couple of times an unpitted cherry bounced through before I pitted it and it got lost in the bowl so I have a couple of pits in my bags. I had a large cherry harvest for me. My first real harvest. I got a couple of gallons of Juliet and a gallon of Montmorency. I also got a couple of gallons of Ranier and a gallon of Stella mixed with Bing too. I have some stray cats and also adopted a cat that has helped keep squirrels and chipmunks away. Plus I sprayed deer and rabbit repellent on the bushes until the cherries formed then I sprayed it on the ground where the suckers are coming up so that might have helped with birds too besides the deer. Of the sour cherries, I couldn’t tell the difference in pitting any of them. They went through all the same. I like to get them almost frozen so very little juice sprays or forms in the bowl. I could do a quart at a time before they got messy.
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I dumped the pits into a strainer above a large Pyrex measuring cup in the sink and then sprayed and swirled them to get the juice. I added a bit of sugar and drank several glasses of delicious juice!
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@jcguarneri
Of the many lbs I pitted (10+lbs), there were only about a dozen pits escaped into the bowl. All were caught because we watched them carefully. We also eat cherry desserts with care, just in case there are a pit or two in them.
@Johnnysapples
My husband found a cherry pit syrup recipe so he is making it now.
He complains that it is a pain to do but he wants to try.
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We used the same equipment. I couldn’t believe how many cherries I got off of just one small bush. Most of my cherries were on that bush as to the other two other bushes. I saved some of my Carmine Jewel pits. I have a full ziplock sandwich bag full. I had to spray my bushes right afterwords for the cherry brown spot virus.