When someone offers to send you a whole box of freshly picked Bing cherries?
You say yes.
Even if canning cherries will add an extra measure of craziness in between back-to-back trips and 4-H events.
And that’s exactly what happened when Northwest Cherry Growers emailed me and offer to ship me a box of cherries if I’d create a canning recipe featuring them.
I’ve been on a canning kick lately anyway–how could say no?
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So I didn’t.
Even though they arrived in the mail the day before I left for Amish Country to visit the Lehman’s Hardware store. And I had a small heart attack trying to figure out how I was going to can them in the middle of packing to leave.
Thankfully, unwashed cherries will last up to two weeks in the fridge (yes, I emailed them to ask).
Crisis adverted.
This time, at least.
Anyway, I’m home from my fabulous trip to Lehman’s (seriously– it’s Homesteader’s Paradise) and what better post-trip project than canning cherries?
(Ironically, I totally missed the fact that Lehman’s has a stellar cherry pitter… If I had thought to grab one while I was there, it would have saved me about two hours of work and a lot of splattered cherry juice in my kitchen…)
These were sweet cherries. And not just the regular kinda mushy, kinda blah sweet cherries I’m accustomed to from the grocery store. These were vibrantly sweet. And I couldn’t bear the thought of smothering them with tons of white sugar, so I decided to use a light honey syrup instead.
(Normally tweaking canning recipes is extremely unsafe and a big no-no. Thankfully, when it comes to sweeteners, you have a bit more leeway in many cases.)
Thankfully, as far as food preservation goes, canning cherries is pretty darn easy. I had it wrapped up early afternoon, even in the midst of post-trip mental fog and unpacking.
Honey canned cherries, y’all. Make ’em. You won’t regret it.
Canning Cherries with Honey
You Will Need:
Yield: 7 quarts
- 14 to 17 pounds of fresh cherries (roughly 2 pounds of cherries per quart jar)
- 3 cups honey (I love this raw honey)
- 10 cups water
Instructions:
Pit the cherries (see note below).
Place the honey and water in a large saucepan or pot and bring to a boil.
Ladle about 1/2 cup of the honey water into each of the seven quart jars. (Make sure to heat the jars first– I like to do this by simmering them in my canning pot while I’m prepping the other food.)
Place the pitted cherries into hot, waiting jars. Fill the jars to the top with cherries, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. (I lightly tapped the jars on my counter to help the cherries settle and was able to fit more fruit into each jar)
Ladle the hot honey water into the jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace at the top.
Remove the bubbles from the jars, wipe the rims, and affix two-piece lids.
Process quarts** for 25 minutes in a boiling water canner. (Add more time if you are at higher altitude.)
Eat your honey canned cherries straight from the jar, over ice cream or oatmeal, or add to pies and cobblers. They won’t last long!
**You may also can cherries in pint jars. The method is exactly the same and you still process pints for 25 minutes.
Notes about Canning Cherries
- The exact amount of the honey syrup you need will vary depending on how tightly you pack your jars
- Have a bounty of cherries? This recipe doubles (or quadruples) easily!
- Sweetness of cherries varies, so feel free to adjust your honey syrup accordingly. You could also can these in fruit juice– just be sure to boil the juice (just like you do with the honey syrup) before adding it to the jars and proceeding with the rest of the recipe as written.
- I love cherries. I hate pitting them. Pitting hacks abound (paper clips, bobby pins, etc…) but my favorite diy cherry pitting method is as follows: Find a glass bottle with a narrow mouth. Remove the stem and set the cherry on top of the bottle mouth. Use a metal straw (like this one) to poke out the pit. It will fall into the bottle, reducing the mess and leaving you with a perfectly pitted cherry. You can also get this Cherry Pitter from Lehmans. It’s inexpensive and I imagine worth every penny. Now, only if I had discovered all these handy-dandy tips before I spent 2 hours pitting the cherries I used for this blog post recipe. Argh.
- It’s perfectly fine to leave the pits in when canning cherries. However, as tempted as I was to do that, I decided I didn’t want to have to deal with the pits later, so I opted to pit first.
- If you have sour pie cherries, you could also can them using this method. You’d just want to increase the amount of honey in the syrup, or sweeten then when you’re ready to use them (such as in pie fillings)
- I love Bee Wild Raw Honey–they’re a small, family-owned company based in FL. And for a limited time, you can use my coupon code JILL to receive 15% off any order (excluding gallons).
Other Home Canned Recipes & Tutorials You’ll Love
- Canning Made Easy: My step-by-step canning process walkthrough– perfect for beginners or nervous canners!
- Roasted Poblano Salsa
- Honey Canned Cinnamon Peaches
- How to Can Pickled Beets
- How to Can Hot Pepper Jelly
- How to Can Pears in All-Natural Maple Syrup
Canning Cherries with Honey
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 7 quarts 1x
- Category: Food Preservation
- Method: Canning
Ingredients
- 14 to 17 pounds of fresh cherries (roughly 2 pounds of cherries per quart jar)
- 3 cups honey (I love this raw honey)
- 10 cups water
Instructions
Pit the cherries (see note)
Place the honey and water in a large saucepan or pot and bring to a boil.
Ladle about 1/2 cup of the honey water into each of the seven quart jars. (Make sure to heat the jars first– I like to do this by simmering them in my canning pot while I’m prepping the other food.)
Place the pitted cherries into hot, waiting jars. Fill the jars to the top with cherries, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. (I lightly tapped the jars on my counter to help the cherries settle and was able to fit more fruit into each jar)
Ladle the hot honey water into the jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace at the top.
Remove the bubbles from the jars, wipe the rims, and affix two-piece lids.
Process quarts** for 25 minutes in a boiling water canner. (Add more time if you are at higher altitude.)
Eat your honey canned cherries straight from the jar, over ice cream or oatmeal, or add to pies and cobblers. They won’t last long!
**You may also can cherries in pint jars. The method is exactly the same and you still process pints for 25 minutes.
Notes
- The exact amount of the honey syrup you need will vary depending on how tightly you pack your jars
- Have a bounty of cherries? This recipe doubles (or quadruples) easily!
- Sweetness of cherries varies, so feel free to adjust your honey syrup accordingly. You could also can these in fruit juice– just be sure to boil the juice (just like you do with the honey syrup) before adding it to the jars and proceeding with the rest of the recipe as written.
- I love cherries. I hate pitting them. Pitting hacks abound (paper clips, bobby pins, etc…) but my favorite diy cherry pitting method is as follows: Find a glass bottle with a narrow mouth. Remove the stem and set the cherry on top of the bottle mouth. Use a metal straw (like this one) to poke out the pit. It will fall into the bottle, reducing the mess and leaving you with a perfectly pitted cherry. Now, only if I had discovered all these handy-dandy tips before I spent 2 hours pitting the cherries I used for this blog post recipe. Argh.
- It’s perfectly fine to leave the pits in when canning cherries. However, as tempted as I was to do that, I decided I didn’t want to have to deal with the pits later, so I opted to pit first.
- If you have sour pie cherries, you could also can them using this method. You’d just want to increase the amount of honey in the syrup, or sweeten then when you’re ready to use them (such as in pie fillings)
Newbie canner here! This looks like an amazing recipe but I only have a few pounds (bought from the store) so maybe enough for a quart or a couple of pints. You mentioned that the honey water can be adjusted depending on sweetness preference. Would it be ok to scale it down provide I have enough liquid to cover them in the jar? Thank you for any advice. You’re blog posts have been so helpful as I’ve been learning how to can.
Yay! I love newbie canners! 🙂 Yes– try doing 1.5 cups of honey per 5 cups of water (or use less honey). Technically, you can safely can cherries (since they are high acid) in plain water (although they won’t be as tasty), so you have a lot of liberty in adjusting the honey.
Wonderful! Thank you so much for your guidance. Have a blessed day!
We as a family stay away from refined sugars. Honey we do use but when we can we use stevia as my daughter is type one diabetic. Can we use stevia and water? thank you!
What kind honey do you recommend using? Raw/ pasteurized or does it not matter since the honey will be heated regardless? Thanks a bunch! Your website is always so helpful.
Of course you say YES! Last year we bought an angora rabbit from a lady that was moving. She had a plum tree in her backyard full of smallish, super sweet plums. She’d put up all she needed and offered the rest to us. I picked 2 bushel baskets full and brought them home and canned them in honey syrup like you did your cherries. Oh so yummy!
★★★★★
I love Lehman’s! I live in Ohio and I was just there at the end of June. It is probably 1.5-2 hours from my house, so I haven’t been there often, but It’s just a delightful place to be in 🙂
When working with cherries or other staining fruits, do not wash the juice from your hands with soap. The soap will make your hands stain that way.
If I remember correctly, it is vinegar we used at my grandmother’s house.
Anybody have any other solutions to the staining problem?
I honeslty have never canned but am considering it. You make it seem so easy. How long do you say these jars will last ( a few months?) and I’m assuming you store them on a shelf in the cool basement correct? Thanks for any info.
I can’t believe this but I just got a whole case of cherries and I got your email here about canning cherries in honey I told my daughter about how I got a email from you about canning cherries 🙂
Such a blessing to get so many Bing Cherries!!! The link to the NW Cherry Growers doesn’t go anywhere… if you or any of your readers still have cherries to process this is a great recipe…use it over ice cream or the filling in a layer cake…we decreased the sugar amt.
http://www.freshpreservinguk.co.uk/recipes/black-forest-macaroon-conserve
Kindly,
Chris Ann
PS: I’ve loved Lehman”s for decades!
Do you think figs would work with honey method?
Any comments about pressure canning cherries? I’ve found that water bath canned tomatoes have a 1 year shelf life, while pressure canned tomatoes will last for 5 or 6 years. Save time and labor by doing larger batches less frequently.
Thanks
I bought 20 pounds of cherries a week or so ago. I promptly pitted and froze them before seeing this idea. Does this work best with fresh cherries or would it be possible to can the frozen ones?
i am trying your method. is there suppose to be fome on the water and honey
Howdy, I live in Denver ,CO how much more time do I need for processing the cherries?
Do you have the base time to process these? I want to do it safely but unless you post your altitude – 25 min process time does not tell us how long they need to be processed for safely. Im at 7500 ft altitude in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. I know i usually have to add an additional 15 minutes. Would like to try this recipe for our family but cannot unless I know I am doing it safely. (We have 8 little kids dont want to make anyone sick) Thanks in advance!