How to store cherries for a longer shelf life

How to store cherries for a longer shelf life

Store fresh cherries properly

Fresh cherries begin to rot and mold after a few days as soon as they have been harvested. So you should consider the following in order to keep them as long-lasting and aromatic as possible:

  • Store cherries with a stem. In this way, they do not lose any juice, they remain tasty and no putrefactive bacteria can penetrate.
  • Always keep fresh cherries in the refrigerator. The cool temperatures ensure a longer shelf life.
  • If necessary, take the cherries out of their plastic bag or bowl after shopping. The air can only circulate poorly in it, which can easily lead to mold.

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Freeze cherries

If you want to enjoy your own harvest outside of the cherry season, you can freeze the cherries. The fruits are safe for several months in a freezer bag or a tightly closed freezer container. When freezing, you have two options:

  • Freeze pitted cherries: If you want to save as much effort as possible when processing the cherries later, freeze them pitted. First place the cherries side by side on a board in the freezer for a few hours. This will prevent the juicy fruits from freezing together in a lump.
  • Freezing cherries with a stone: If you leave the cherry stone in the fruit when freezing, the advantage is that the cherries do not lose any juice. It is also easier to pitted yourself with a knife when frozen.

Make cherry juice

If you want to use the juice of the cherries for drinks or desserts, you can easily juice cherries at home. The easiest way to do this is with a steam extractor, as you do not have to stone the fruit. The juice heated during hot juicing can be kept for up to a year when filled in sterile bottles.

Reduce the cherries

Cherries have a particularly long shelf life if they are boiled down. Heating destroys germs that would otherwise rot the fruit. You can boil cherries very well in different variations:

  • Boil down whole cherries: Put cherries with or without a stone in sterile glasses, fill up with sugared water and boil in the oven in a water bath for 30 minutes
  • Cooking cherry compote: stone the cherries, put them in a saucepan, cook with spices and a little water or wine, thicken with starch and place in sterile glasses
  • Cooking cherry jam: stone the cherries, mix with the preserving sugar, let it steep, then boil to jam for four minutes and place in sterile jars
  • Cooking cherry jelly: steam cherries, boil juice with preserving sugar to jelly and pour into sterile glasses