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Before you can enjoy culinary delights such as guacamole and cherry pie, you first have to endure the tedious and finger-numbing process of pit removal. A sharp knife and some skill can extract any seed. But, if you have an insatiable appetite for kitchen gadgets (guilty), there’s a purpose-built tool for almost any job.
1. Anything
Kikuichi began as a samurai-sword maker in 13th-century Japan but pivoted to knives—like this 3.2‑inch paring model—in 1868. Its birch handle balances the weight of its stainless-steel blade.
2. Jalapeños
Williams Sonoma’s stainless-steel Jalapeño Corer has a rolled, serrated blade. Shove it inside the pepper, twist, and remove the seeds and pith, which contain the veg’s mouth-scorching capsaicin.
3. Avocados
ER visits due to botched avocado cutting incidents are on the rise. The plastic edge on the OXO 3-in-1 Avocado Slicer cuts only the fruit, then a trio of steel blades easily grab and extract the pit.
4. Pomegranates
Place a halved pom onto the Shoham Pomegranate Tool’s circular sieve, then cover with its rubber dome, and whack with a spoon. The husk stays in place as flavor grenades fall into the bowl below.
5. Cherries
The Ionox Cherry Pitter’s scissor mechanism ejects hard fruit cores. Just place the produce in the cup and squeeze. A narrow zinc-alloy column pops out the pit, leaving behind only sweet red flesh.
This article was originally published in the Summer 2018 Life/Death issue of Popular Science.