Quick Tip: How to Get a Stubborn Pit Out of Stone Fruit

Ideally, cutting open a peach or nectarine is a simple matter of cutting the fruit in half from top to bottom, twisting, and then popping out the pit. But sometimes it doesn't work out quite so nicely. Here's what we do!

If the one half of the fruit releases, but the pit stays firmly ensconced in the other side, we simply cut the fruit into segments while it's still attached to the pit. With a little wiggling, these thinner segments release much more easily from the pit than the whole half.

If we can't get either half to release, a different tactic is needed. In these cases, we first cut the entire fruit into segments from top to bottom. Then we begin making perpendicular slices through the segments - essentially cutting the fruit into lines of latitude and longitude.

Working carefully, we run the knife along the pit, half slicing the fruit away and half using the knife as a wedge to pry the fruit off. The fruit ends up falling off the pit in pre-cut cubes.

It's not the neatest way to eat a peach, but it works! What do you do when the pit is being stubborn?

Related: How to Use Up Overripe Fruit

(Images: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)

Comments (4)

What not to do: slam your chef knife directly into the stubborn pit. I ruined a nice knife by actually bending the steel. The knife sharpener just shook her head at me...

I would love a tip for getting the pit out without dicing the fruit. I enjoy making cakes with the halves of the fruit floating in the batter. The above tip works well though if you want cut fruit.

posted by tallsarah on July 13th 2009 at 12:51pm
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You can slice off a side and then use a spoon to dig around and scoop out the pit. A serrated grapefruit spoon works best on firm flesh.

posted by seandev on July 13th 2009 at 1:32pm
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I slice those like I slice a mango, down either side of the pit, so I get the most fruit flesh away from the pit as possible.

posted by Rucy on July 13th 2009 at 3:31pm
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I use this method for avocados, it might work for peaches. Cut the peach in half, then stick the knife blade into the pit, as if you were going to halve the pit itself. Then using the knife, twist the pit until it comes out.

posted by allicoop86 on July 14th 2009 at 9:02am
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