# Choke Berries



## Judi Reilly (Mar 27, 2008)

My berry supplies called today asking if I'd like to get some choke berries for my jams...never heard of them..so did some research..has anyone used these berries for jams..and if so...how did it taste..and where can I find recipes for jams..? thanis..Judi


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## windblown (Apr 18, 2011)

google chokecherry jelly got a lot of answers they are the same thing we used to make the jelly when I lived in the mountains very good


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## ekjns (May 31, 2002)

I would love more information on chokeberries too. Thanks for the tip about googling...you gotta' love Google!


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## kenworth (Feb 12, 2011)

These parts of the woods we have chokecherries, they grow on trees, not on a bush.

A little bit larger than a green english pea, but way smaller than domestic cherries. 

They have a large pit in them taking up IMHO about 1/2 of the cherry. Tart, tart, tart to eat raw, but sugared up in jam...heavenly.

My trees had none this year


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## lemonthyme7 (Jul 8, 2010)

Around here we call the one's that grow on trees wild cherries. They come from the wild black cherry trees (Prunus serotina)

The chokecherry is more of a bush (Prunus virginiana). I have never tried chokecherries but I know my dad has mentioned them making jelly from them years ago. The fruits look pretty much alike on both (at least the pictures I looked at).

I LOVE wild cherry jelly. Like kenworth said though, my trees have none this year. Thankfully, I have some extra juice I canned from last year that I will use to make jelly.
Don't know about chockcherries but wild cherries have a large pit. I'm not sure how you would make jam with them as I think it would be hard to get the small amount of flesh off the seeds easily. They are easy enough to make juice from though and make a nice jelly or syrup. By the way, don't eat the pits if you eat any of the fruits. They are supposed to be somewhat toxic but juicing with them in seems okay. Have fun with them!


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## kenworth (Feb 12, 2011)

lemonthyme7 thanks for your explination to different named fruits in different parts of the country, LOL.

Cantalope and Muskmellon. Sweet potatoes and yams. I am aware that there are differences between them, but don't know what they are specifically.


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## deb_rn (Apr 16, 2010)

Chokecherries and Chokeberries are different. You need to confirm what you have. Different areas call them by different names. 
Just today a neighbor told me that there were tons of chokecherries by the river. I went to look and it took me an hour to investigate what they really were, because they didn't look like any chokecherry I ever saw. Come to find out they are European Buchthorn... NOT edible. I brought a sample home to identify online.

Be careful out there!

Debbie


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## PrincessFerf (Apr 25, 2008)

We have a choke berry bush. I've eaten some of the berries - slightly tart, not too bad. Definitely better for making jams than eating fresh (IMO). 

Choke cherries are different from choke berries. Most people mistakenly assume they're the same thing. I googled choke berries and found a couple of good websites with recipes, nutrition information, etc.


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