Bing cherries. Everyone in the family LOVES them and they are so very simple to can up! My family eats them faster than I can put them up, and cherry season doesn’t last long, so I have to be quick! Here are my step-by-step instructions for canning bing cherries yourself
Canning Bing cherries
First, get out all your canning equipment, jars, extra bowls and strainer for cleaning your cherries, etc. and don’t forget a stack of kitchen towels or old washcloths–you’ll need them.
Step by step, here we go:
1. Wash cherries
2. Stem cherries. Get the kids in on this! My 4 year old did the majority of this task and he is darn good at it! My 14 year old helped, but she ate more than she stemmed!
3. Prick a hole in each cherry if you’re not going to pit them, and I don’t. I just grabbed handfuls of clean stemmed cherries and gently poked each one with the end of a steak knife, and then I pack them into canning jars. S I M P L E!
4. Get the canner heated up, the pot of sugar syrup going and my lids heating up in hot water too. I get this started while we’re getting the cherries ready to pack into jars.
My sugar syrup is just water and organic raw sugar, boiled for a few minutes and simmered. I used a 4-quart pot and about 3-4 cups of sugar. My husband likes the canned cherries in a heavier syrup than I normally use for our fruits, so I obliged since he will be the one to eat the vast majority of the canned cherries!
While everything is getting ready on the stove, I am poking holes in the cherries and stuffing them in jars! If you have children/family around to help you– this may well be your quickest canning project–ever!
The canning process
When the cherries are in the jars, I cover them with my sugar syrup to about 1 inch headspace, and make sure the rims/mouths of the jars are wiped clean with a wet, hot cloth. Then I put the lids on and screwed down the rings.
At this point, set them in the rack in the canner, lower the rack and make sure the water level covers the jars. Process them in the water bath for 30 minutes. When done, carefully remove each jar and set them on a towel, (listening for the ‘PING!” as each jar seals up) on your counter or table for about 24 hours, then label and line your pantry shelves! DONE!
That’s it! Told you it was easy!
Helpful resources
- All-American Pressure Canner (Ultra heavy duty, more expensive)
- DVD: At Home Canning for Beginners and Beyond
- Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
- Ball Canning Utensil Set
- Presto Pressure Canner (budget-friendly)
- Simply Canning by Sharon Peterson
Couple questions for you! Why do you poke the cherries with a knife? And how long do you let them set before you eat them? Thanks for the recipe!
I canned bing cherries for the first time this year. I found a recipe using organic apple juice instead of sugar syrup. Lower sugar and the bonus of having some apple/cherry juice to drink when you open the jar.
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