Cherry FAQ

What is a Tart Cherry?
Tart cherries (scientific name Prunus cerasus) are also called sour cherries. They are best known as a key ingredient in desserts; most importantly, the cherry pie. However, tart cherries are also delicious in preserves, main courses, salads, side dishes and beverages.

Tart cherries are very juicy and pleasantly acid, making them superior for cooking compared to their sweet cherry relative.

Tart cherries are classified into two major groupings: morello and amarelle.
Amarelle cherries, such as Montmorency, only have red pigment in the fruit skin while the fruit flesh is clear.
Morello cherries, such as Balaton® have red pigment in the fruit skin and throughout the flesh.

What are the origins of tart cherries?
The tart cherry is native to the Carpathian Basin where it is a common wild and cultivated tree. The Hungarian name for tart cherry is meggy.

Meggy is presumed to originate from the word mol which means a berry from a mountain plant. The large number of locations with tart cherry in their name such as Meggyespatak (cherry creek) suggests that locations with native tart cherries were widespread.

The first cultivated landrace variety of tart cherry in Hungary is named Pándy. It was believed to have been discovered along the river Körös, which flows from the Carpathian Mountains of Romania to the Hungarian river Tisza. Since its identification in approximately 1848, Pándy was propagated and distributed across the countryside.

When is the tart cherry season in Michigan?
Tart cherry trees bloom in late April and early May. The cherry harvest is generally in July.

Can I buy fresh tart cherries?
Tart cherries are seldom sold fresh, although a few farm markets, generally in the growing areas, offer them fresh during the harvest season. Frozen, canned and dried tart cherries are available year around in supermarkets and other retail outlets. Fresh tart cherries are difficult to ship because the natural red color is affected by heat and light. They will turn brown when exposed even to the light in a refrigerator. The cherries are still good to eat, but the color changes.

What are pie cherries?
Tart cherries are often called sour cherries or pie cherries. They have a natural, bright red color and tangy taste. They are often used in desserts and are especially good in pies.

What are the major varieties of tart cherry?
Montmorency is the primary variety of tart cherry grown commercially in the United States. It has been cultivated in the U.S. for more than a century. America's newest tart cherry variety is a dark tart cherry similar to the dark-skinned European Morello. The new variety is called Balaton® (named for a lake in its native Hungary). This variety was developed over the last 15 years at Michigan State University.

What states produce the most cherries?
Michigan leads the nation in the production of tart cherries, producing 70 to 75 percent of the crop each year. Other states with commercial crops of tart cherries include Utah, New York, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Sweet cherries are primarily grown in Washington, Oregon and California. Michigan joins the top four producers, harvesting about 20 percent of the sweet cherry crop each year. Other states with commercial crops of sweet cherries are New York, Pennsylvania, Montana, Idaho and Utah.

Where can I pick cherries?
U-Pick farms are popular, especially in the Midwest. Many of the farm markets listed in our. Some states publish a farm market guide; check with the department of agriculture in individual states.

How do you pit cherries?
Cherry processors have efficient machines that remove cherry pits without destroying the cherry. However, cherries are a natural product and an occasional pit may be in products.

For consumers with fresh-picked cherries, you may get advice to remove the pits with paper clips, a vegetable peeler or a knife. However, the best pitters are ones made especially for the job. There are hand-held pitters that work well on a small batch of cherries. If you are trying to pit cherries for a pie or a batch of jam, a model that clamps to the counter top works best. The fruit rolls out one chute and the pit out the other. Both kinds of cherry pitters are generally available at specialty food stores or through the Internet.

Where and When is the National Cherry Festival?
The Traverse City, Michigan National Cherry Festival, starts on the first Saturday of July and runs through the next Saturday. Information about the festival is available at www.cherryfestival.org or by calling the festival office at 231-947-4240.

When is cherry month?
February is National Cherry Month.

How can I preserve cherries for future use?
Always select red, tree-ripened fruit; remove the stems and rinse the fruit in cool water. Remove pits, if desired.

Freezing cherries: If you like to eat cherries while they are still frozen, freeze them on a cookie sheet with the pit still in them. After they are frozen, you can package them any way you prefer for use at a later date.

If using the cherries for pies or other recipes, pit them over the container they are to be stored in to catch the juices (4 to 5 cups of pitted tart cherries is enough for a 9-inch pie). Tart cherries are best stored in freezer containers with a bit of granulated sugar sprinkled over them; the sugar helps to preserve their red color.

Freeze tart cherries soon after buying them because their red color starts to fade after they are picked. Once frozen, the cherries will keep for 8 to 10 months.

Canning cherries:  It is best to follow the canning recipes from a Ball or Kerr canning book.
Drying cherries: It is possible to dry fresh tart cherries but results are not the same as commercially dried tart cherries. Dry the cherries with pits removed in a dehydrator for 24 to 36 hours.

Do you know that?
Cherry is a member of the rose family
Cherries don’t ripen after harvest