Plums not only taste good on their own, but also made into jam or liqueur. They also refine cakes or sweet dishes. Before you can enjoy it, however, you have a task that many people find very unpleasant: you have to pit the fruit. We have various solutions for you that will make things much easier for you.

Removing plum stones is not an easy task

About the stubbornness of the plum stones

While the stone on plums is relatively easy to remove, on plums it is usually stubborn and difficult to separate from the pulp. It is strongly related to the fruit here. All too often, impatient hobby gardeners and cooks try to rip it out by force - and crush the plum in the process. To prevent this from happening to you, it is best to follow our tips.

The right time to pit plums

Pitting is easiest when the plums are ripe but not overripe. You can tell when the fruit is ripe by picking it up and gently squeezing it - if it doesn't give way right away, it's in excellent condition.

This is how you can pit plums with ease

There are two ways to pit your plums:

  • with a plum stoner
  • by hand with a knife

Process the plums with a stoner

If you would like to use and consume plums more often, you will be doing yourself a great favor by purchasing a stoner. Make sure that the device, which looks like tongs, is really intended for plums and is of good quality. Solid versions are available from ten euros.

That's how it's done:

  1. As a "rock catcher," provide a bowl to work over.
  2. Place the plum lengthwise in the tip of the tongs.
  3. Squeeze the pliers.
  4. The stoner now bores through the plum and pushes out the stone.

Remove the stone from the plums with your hand and knife

If you rarely have plums at home, you can also choose the manual version. With the right approach, the effort and time required is almost as low as with a special destoner.

  1. Wash the plums thoroughly.
  2. Dry the fruit carefully with kitchen paper (so that the surface is no longer so smooth and slippery).
  3. Take the first plum in one hand and a short paring knife in the other hand.
  4. Place the knife on the tip of the plum.
  5. Now cut all around in one go - along the notch to the stone.
  6. Turn the cut halves of the fruit against each other.
  7. The stone loosens and falls out or can be easily removed by hand.
  8. Repeat the process with all the plums.

tips

If the stone is still a bit stuck, carefully loosen it with the knife.

Extra: pit, don't core…

Prunes are often referred to as "pitting" - a term that is misleading. Plums are drupes and therefore have no stone, but a stone. So you should only talk about pitting.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

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Trees