Canning Cherries

Canning cherries gives you convenient jars of cherries to have on hand for cherry pie, pouring over ice cream or in a cherry cobbler.

Cherries are an acid food and can be safely water bath canned.

These directions are for either sweet cherries like bing cherries (this is what you see in the pictures) OR sour cherries that you use for pies.

Canning plain cherries in a light syrup makes it easy to create desserts of your choice later. I like simplicity!

I made a few jars of pie filling and I canned some cherry jam this year too.

canning cherries My husband is a big fan of frozen cherries so I also froze 5 - 1 gallon bags of those as well.

He says they are just like popsicles. I say they are much better for you too.

Prepare

Gather your canning supplies

water bath canner
canning jars
canning seals and rings
jar lifter
canning funnel
large pot or blancher
bowls
large spoons
sharp knife
towels and dish cloths
cherry pitter - optional

Ingredients

Cherries -as many as you can stand to pit! (we had a LOT of cherries!)
sugar - for the syrup (optional)

Syrup for Packing

Prepare light or medium syrup. I prefer light syrup. Simply heat water and sugar in a sauce pan until sugar dissolves.

Light – 2 cups sugar to 1-quart water
Medium -3 cups sugar to 1-quart water

You can also make a syrup with honey if you don't want to use processed sugar.

light - 1 1/2 cups honey to 4 cups water
medium - 2 cups honey to 4 cups water

Procedure

Wash and pit cherries. Pitting is the most challenging part. :0)

But if you just sit down and DO IT, you can make some delicious dishes. Have a friend come over and visit while you pit.

My husband likes cherries enough that he gets my boys going and they all have a sit down and pit cherries party.

They make a mess but the cherries are pitted when they are done. I love it. I certainly don't want to pit all those cherries if I don't have to.

Actually canning cherries with the pits is perfectly acceptable. It just makes them quicker and easier to use if you go ahead and pit them now. If you want to can them with the pits just prick each cherry with a sterilized needle to prevent it from bursting.

Make syrup of your choice to pour over cherries. If you are doing sour cherries you may want a medium or heavy syrup.

I prefer extra light syrup. You could use just water if you don't want to add any sweetness.

extra light - 1 cup sugar to 4 1/2 cups water
light - 2 cups sugar to 5 cups water
medium - 3 cups sugar to 5 1/2 cups water
heavy - 4 3/4 cups sugar to 6 1/2 cups water

Place cherries in jar. I have found it works to add 1/2 cup or so of syrup to the jar, then fill half way with cherries.

canning cherries

Tap the bottom of the jar on a pot holder laid on the counter to settle contents. Fill the rest of the way tapping to settle without smashing.

Cover cherries in jar with syrup leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and clean rim of jar.

Wipe the rims clean, remove any air bubbles and place your lids.

For more details follow water bath canning instructions.

Process

pints or quarts for 25 minutes.

Altitude Adjustments for Boiling Water Bath Canner
Altitude in Feet	Increase processing time
1001-3000	5 minutes
3001-6000	10 minutes
6001-8000	15 minutes
8001-10,000	20 minutes