Hi Marilyn,

Thanks for reaching out with your cherry preservation question. Unfortunately we do not recommend using an air fryer for canning cherries. Successful and safe canning depends upon a very even distribution of heat penetrating to the center of the canning jars, and lab studies have shown that dry heat does not achieve the same results as wet heat in this regard. 

All of our canning recipes for cherries recommend either a boiling water canner, in which the jars are fully submerged with 1-2" of water above the top of the jar; or you may use a domed lid steam canner, which heats the jar via boiling hot steam. Depending on your jar size, your elevation, and whether you are pre-heating the cherries in syrup (hot pack) or putting them in the jar raw with syrup (raw pack), you would have to process the jars anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes. Page 5 of the attached "Canning Fruits" publication lists the processing times for each variation. 

I'm also attaching a short flyer that gives some info on steam canners. If you're looking to avoid lifting a heavy pot of water, or if you simply want to use less water and energy to heat it up, a steam canner is a great, safe alternative. 

I hope this helps you in your cherry preservation!

Jared