PRESERVE SOME SUMMER BY CANNING CHERRIES RIGHT NOW

Canning cherries is a great way to enjoy them all year long! Stone fruits like cherries are especially well-suited for canning since they don’t tend to get mushy.

Cherries are at their peak during summer, so this is the best season to can these delicious little fruits.

Beyond their sweet and tart flavours, cherries are loaded with vitamins, phytonutrients, and minerals. They also ease muscle soreness, combat cancer, balance blood pressure, and soothes insomnia and headaches.

Here is everything that you will need for canning cherries:

• canning jars with lids and screw bands
• a water bath canner or a large pot
• a cherry pitter or a knife
• saucepan
• a lot of cherries – as many as you can stand to pit
• syrup – it’s easy to make your own with either sugar or honey. For sweet cherries, you just need a light syrup, which is 1 cup sugar to 4 1/2 cups water OR 1 1/2 cups honey to 4 cups water. You may need to scale up the recipe depending on how many cherries you’re using.

Directions:

• Wash and pit your cherries with a cherry pitter or knife. Do this over a large bowl to catch the juices.
• Make the syrup by mixing sugar or honey with water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Making sure that your jars are sterilized and hot, fill it halfway with your syrup.
• Stuff the jars with cherries, then fill more syrup until it reaches 2cm below the rim.
• Place sealers and lids on jars.
• Place the jars in a water bath canner or large pot with boiling water for 15 minutes.
• Remove the jars and let them cool.
• Store your canned cherries in a cool spot and away from sunlight.

Now that you are an expert on canning cherries, let us know what you’re going to do with your bounty!