Last summer I bought a whole flat of cherries for a pie and realized I owned exactly zero cherry pitters. The pie still got made. Here is the thing: you do not need the gadget.

The Chopstick Method

Grab a wooden chopstick, the kind that comes with takeout, and a straw if you have one. Hold the cherry in one hand and push the chopstick through the stem end. The pit pops out the bottom. It takes about two seconds per cherry once you get the angle right.

I found that aiming slightly off center works better than dead center, because the pit slides out instead of sticking. My record is a bowl of forty cherries in about eight minutes, which is not bad for free.

The Paperclip Backup

Lose the chopstick? Bend a paperclip into a U shape and use the loop end to scoop the pit out. It is slower and messier, but it works in a pinch. I have done this exactly once, in a hotel kitchen, and I will never admit how long it took.

What to Do With the Pits

Do not toss them down the sink disposal. They can dull the blades and they stain everything. Toss them in the compost or the trash instead.

If you bake with cherries a lot, a pitter is worth the twelve bucks. But for a once-a-summer pie, the chopstick method gets the job done with zero drawer space sacrificed.