Canning Pears


 My husband’s golf buddy offered him pears from their prolific tree to can…John looked at them, they were very small, but after tasting one he brought home several sacks of delicious little pears.  I canned them following the directions in the Better Homes and Gardens Home Canning Cook Book, and they are great. 
I used a melon baller to core the pears; they also must be peeled like a potato.  But we thought the work was worth the wonderful sweet flavor that you simply don’t get with commercially canned pears.
I didn’t do anything special to pack these small pears, but if you have nice, large ones - to make a fancy pack, place outside pears fat side down with a cherry in the core, then fat side up with cherry on outside of jars, fill center with plain halves, fill with hot syrup and process 5 minutes longer than plain pears (because they haven’t been warmed). 
If you are new to water-bath canning, check these hints:  Water bath equipment and Safe canning methods from the experts at Clemson..
                    Home Canned Pears in Light Syrup
  12  to 14 Pounds Pears (about 13 Cups Per Canner Load ) -- it requires more pounds of fruit for smaller sizes
  1                cup  Sugar
  2 1/3           cups  Water
  2        Tablespoons  Fruit Fresh -- see package directions

Prepare boiling water bath canner, jars and lids.
Peel, halve and core fruit, place in fruit fresh mixture until ready.  Use a stainless steel measuring spoon, 1/2 or 1 teaspoon size, to core fruit (or I used a melon baller successfully).  Fruit fresh requires 2 tbsp per 6 cups of water.
Measure at least 13 cups of fruit; fruit shrinks a lot.    Mix sugar and water for syrup in large open kettle, heat to boiling.
Drain pears.  In kettle of syrup, over medium-low heat, warm pears in syrup until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, pack hot pears, cavity side down and overlapping layers into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar.  Remove air bubbles; adjust ½” head space if necessary, by adding hot syrup.  Wipe rims of jar, seal with prepared lids and rings, place jars in water bath canner. 
Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 20 minutes, keeping water level 1" -2" over jars for entire process.   If cold fancy-packed, process 25 minutes.
Remove jars, set on towels to cool and seal.  Remove rings, wash jars and store.  Pears can also be pressure canned at 5# pressure for 10 minutes.
Any leftover syrup can also be canned and used in jello salads or as you would use pineapple or apple juice.
  "7 Pint Jars"

8 comments:

  1. These look great! I hope your kitchen is cooler than mine is!

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  2. Water-bath canning; now THIS I can do!

    A question: What does "cold fancy-packed" mean? I've not seen that description before.

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  3. "Cold fancy pack" means packing the fruit in a more elaborate arrangement around the outside of the jar, then filling in the middle with more fruit. Your fruit won't stay hot because of the time it takes to do such a fancy, competition arrangement, so it is usually processed 5 minutes longer for safety.
    Not all fair judges like fancy packs; they think it's not "normal" canning.

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  4. I am confused just a bit on your steps, in the large open kettle are you just heating the pears, nothing else? In the medium kettle are you just heating the water and sugar and then adding the pears from the large kettle? I really don't understand exactly, will you help me to clarify those instructions?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Linda,
      In the large open kettle, you mix your sugar and water to make the syrup, bringing it to boiling. Then you add the peeled and seeded pears and heat. The only other kettle is your water bath canner, and a small saucepan for heating lids in water, if you do them that way.

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  5. Do you add the fruit fresh to your syrup? Or is that just added to water to keep pears from turning while you cut and peel???

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    Replies
    1. I just add the Fruit Fresh to the water to keep the pears from turning while I cut and peel.

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  6. You just add the "fruit fresh" to the water to keep the pears from turning while you cut and peel. It is not added to the syrup.

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