Janet Tweedy wrote:
Weird, I've never had blackberries do that. To the point where I don't pick
blackberries much any more cos it annoys me so much.

How on earth do you pick them Vicky? If they are ripe then they come
away from their stem in fact you'd have to grasp the stem and the
prickles if you wanted to get the stem as well!!

Blackberries need very little preparation in my experience.

I think we're talking cross purposes. I do not get 'stem'. I sometimes
get the leafy bit at the outside of the top of the 'berry', and I always
get a chewy core bit - unlike raspberries, which come away 'hollow'.
I am not talking about eating a tree here, just that they aren't 'cored'
like raspberries are.