Canned Pears

We finally canned all our pears so now we have ten quarts to enjoy this winter if we can wait that long.  We've already eaten a couple quarts of our plums so I hope we still have some by winter. Our last night of canning is always a big relief knowing that we are done for another year.  The first batch of jam or jelly is always exciting, then everything begins to ripen at once and it gets a little stressful to preserve everything before it spoils and when the final canning is over, it's always such a relief.  So, we are done for another year!  Yeah!!! This recipe does not qualify for October Unprocessed, that's for sure!  These pears are totally processed and use lots of sugar, too.  But I have a philosophy about this.  If you eat "junk" food or in this case "processed" food, it's O.K. as long as it's homemade and these canned pears are definitely homemade. I mentioned in a previous post that I like many vegan recipes, but I'm not vegan.  I like October Unprocessed but I don't completely avoid processed foods.  I guess you could call me a moderate.  My diet is always one of variety and moderation.

We made one last trip out to the orchard last weekend to find any remaining pears 

and only found one lonely pear.  Pear season is officially over.

Makes 10 quarts

1 bucket of pears or 10 pounds
(pears are picked off the tree while they are unripe - they don't ripen well on the trees, so unlike peaches, pears WILL ripen after picked.)
6 cups of water
3 cups of sugar

1.  Make syrup:

Heat water and add sugar slowly, stirring constantly to dissolve.  Bring to a gentle boil.  Keep syrup hot (but not boiling) until jars are ready to fill with the pears.

2.  Prepare pears by washing them well, core and slice.  It is not necessary to peel them.  I like to keep the skins on.  To keep the pears from turning brown, sprinkle with 1/4 cup lemon juice when you get a bowlful.  Then stir the pears to make sure all the surfaces have been coated.

3.  Hot pack works best for pears.  Put the cut pears into the hot syrup solution for 5 minutes.

4.  Fill the jars with the sliced pears from the hot syrup. 

5.  Pack the pears into sterilized jars and cover with boiling sugar syrup leaving 1/2 inch head space. 

6.  Run a table knife gently between the pears and jar to release trapped air bubbles.  

7.  Add more sugar syrup, if needed, up to 1/2 inch from top of jar.  Pears should be covered completely with syrup.

8.  Wipe rim and screw threads with a clean, damp cloth.  Add sterilized lid and screw band, tighten firmly and evenly.

9.  Put the sealed jars in the canner of boiling water and keep them covered with at least 1 inch of water.  Boil them for 30 minutes.

10.  Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight).  You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger.  If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed.  If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it.  Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok. 

A year ago…

grape jelly

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