About 6kg of cherries have now been picked. Probably that much again left on the tree if I was feeling enthusiastic enough to pick them.
Now I need to work out what to do with them - they are cooking cherries (morello), not sweet eating cherries. I’ll probably just pit & freeze them for now and do some baking later.
Try drying them. Pit a trayful and put them on a lined baking tray in a very low oven - 30-50 deg - basically the defrost function if your oven has one - with the fan on. Stir them about every hour or so until they dry to snapping point. Or stop at the shrivelled but still bendy stage and freeze them in a vacuum bag. I’ve heard of people drying them in a microwave but I’ve never done that and don’t know how.
Dried cherries are a wonderful snack and really add something to cakes, mince pies etc. I’ve put them in chook stuffing too. Use them anywhere that calls for sultanas or currants or raisins.
I’ve dried cherries before and didn’t really use them. I might do a few to go in the next fruit cake I make - I have a dehydrator, which makes it much easier than the oven method. Although it is currently filled with chicken scraps destined for dog food, I really need to get onto packing that away too.
About 6kg of cherries have now been picked. Probably that much again left on the tree if I was feeling enthusiastic enough to pick them.
Now I need to work out what to do with them - they are cooking cherries (morello), not sweet eating cherries. I’ll probably just pit & freeze them for now and do some baking later.
Try drying them. Pit a trayful and put them on a lined baking tray in a very low oven - 30-50 deg - basically the defrost function if your oven has one - with the fan on. Stir them about every hour or so until they dry to snapping point. Or stop at the shrivelled but still bendy stage and freeze them in a vacuum bag. I’ve heard of people drying them in a microwave but I’ve never done that and don’t know how. Dried cherries are a wonderful snack and really add something to cakes, mince pies etc. I’ve put them in chook stuffing too. Use them anywhere that calls for sultanas or currants or raisins.
I’ve dried cherries before and didn’t really use them. I might do a few to go in the next fruit cake I make - I have a dehydrator, which makes it much easier than the oven method. Although it is currently filled with chicken scraps destined for dog food, I really need to get onto packing that away too.
Ooh. Fruitcake! Giant jar, some sort of booze, citrus peel etc. just sit and forget.