This one's delicious.

Caramel Spice Pear Butter

Makes 9 half pints

15 Barlett or other large, firm, ripe pears
2 cups water
6 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Wash and core, but do not peel pears. Slice and place in a 5 qt pot. Add water, cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes or until tender.

Let cool slightly, then force through a mill, sieve or whirl in a food processor until finely chopped; return to kettle.

In a wide frying pan over medium heat, melt 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, stirring often, until it caramelizes to a medium brown syrup. Pour immediately into pear pulp (syrup will sizzle and harden, but dissolves again as the preserves cook). Stir in remaining 4 1/2 cups sugar and spices until well blended.

Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and cook, uncovered for about 45 minutes or until thickened. To prevent sticking, stir frequently as mixture begins to thicken. Stir in lemon juice just before removing from heat. (This step can be done in a crock pot; low setting for 5-7 hours.)
Ladle into hot, sterilized jars leaving 1/4" headspace.

Seal and process in a BWB for 10 minutes.

Pear honey was my favorite last year. I also made pear sauce with cinnamon and ginger. Pear butter made just like apple was a huge hit for my mom and her friends. I am looking forward to getting a few pears myself.

PEAR HONEY

8 cups peeled, cored and chopped pears
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
8 cups white sugar

Directions
1. Place chopped pears into a large pot, and pour pineapple juice over them to prevent them from browning. Stir in sugar, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir frequently to prevent scorching. When the pears are at a full boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the mixture is the color and texture of honey. The longer you cook it, the thicker it gets. Cooking time is usually 2 to 3 hours.
2. Ladle into hot sterile jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the top. Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth, and seal jars with lids and rings. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
Amazing on a hot biscuit.
luvncannin

The search here using the word 'pear' pulls up all sorts of discussions about recipes for canning pears. Saves us having to re-type all the recipes over again.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: pear recipe discussions

What fun! Malna, this Caramelized Pear Butter sounds extraordinary. I can just imagine it on hot biscuits or toast on a cold night. Can I double the recipe?

I have never tasted mincemeat of any sort. How would it be in little tartlets, or how about puff pastry shells?

Luvncannin, my sister is particularly fond of pineapple, so this might make a thoughtful Christmas gift for her.

I sure am thankful for your gracious replies.
Deborah

From a canning standpoint, I don't see why you couldn't double it. The only reason I won't is I can't seem to caramelize more than 2 cups of sugar at a time without scorching it! And I don't get free pears either :-)

Well, sometimes it's very nice to have a thread containing mostly recipes instead of reading through 50 of them trying to find a few you'd like to try.

Ok then here are the recipes from just 2 of all the discussions lined above.

PEAR-GINGER CONSERVE

Time: 30 minutes preparation; 50 minutes cooking; 15 minutes processing.

4 Lbs ripe pears, peeled and chopped (about 9 C)
3 C sugar
1/2 C lemon juice
4 tsp grated lemon zest (no white pith)
1/4 C minced crystallized (or candied) ginger
1 cinnamon stick

Prepare 6 half-pint canning jars (run them through the dishwasher and leave them in the hot machine, or wash the jars in hot soapy water, rinse, and hold in hot clear water)

Combine pears with remaining ingredients in large saucepot. Cook, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly until thick, stirring to prevent sticking, about 30 minutes. Mixture will mound up on spoon. Remove cinnamon stick.

Pour into prepared jars, seal, and process: Fill jars with hot mixture, leaving 1/4 inch headspace between the top of food and lid
Run a wooden spoon around the jar between the food and the glass to release any trapped air bubbles.
Wipe the rim clean. Place lid on jar and screw bands securely, but don't use force.
Place the jars in a large stockpot or canning pot, leaving enough space between jars for water to circulate.
Add boiling water to cover jars by 2". Return to a full boil.
Cover pot and process for fifteen minutes.
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Pear Mincemeat...
for pies and cookies
24 large hard pears
2 (1 lb.) pkgs. seedless raisins
6 cups sugar
3 lemons
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cloves
1 tablespoon grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons ginger
Wash, peel and core pears. Squeeze lemons for
juice. Grind pears, raisins and lemons with
coarse blade of food chopper. Combine all
ingredients. Cook until mixture is tender and
thick, about 30 - 40 minutes. Pack into clean, hot
pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe
sealing edge, adjust lids and process in boiling
water canner for 10 minutes.
Yield: about 8 pints.
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Old Fashioned Pear Preserves from Carol (Readinglady)

Yu can also make Pear Preserves if you want chunks of pear suspended in syrup. By weight use equal amounts of pears and sugar. You also need the juice and seeds of one lemon. I wouldn't go over about 4 pounds of fruit because it takes too long to cook larger amounts. This takes several days, but it's mainly waiting and the results are wonderful. Here's what you do:

Day 1: Peel, core and cut firm-ripe pears into chunks or slices. Leave pieces large enough to retain character in preserves. Place pears in acidified water (Fruit Fresh or Ascorbic Acid).

Rinse and drain pears. Place in large bowl and add sugar equal in weight to pears. Add juice of lemon and place pips (seeds) in small bag. It's messy but I also add any of the pulp that was reamed out. Add to bowl. Stir gently
to distribute syrup and refrigerate overnight. Throughout evening stir occasionally to distribute sugar. (I usually don't do this more than once.)

Day 2: Place macerated pears and sugar syrup with lemon seeds in bag in large pan. Bring to a boil and cook about 10 minutes, skimming foam. Reduce temperature and continue to cook (about 20 minutes) until pears are translucent and candied. Turn off heat and leave pears and syrup overnight.
(This can be room temperature.) Cover pan with a cloth, not a lid (to prevent condensation).

Day 3: Using a slotted spoon lift pears from syrup and place in a strainer. Collect any additional syrup in a bowl beneath the strainer. (I drained syrup left in pan into a bowl and washed the pan because the syrup was
crystallized along the rim then I put the syrup back.) Bring syrup to a boil and cook to gel point stirring frequently. (Depending on how thick you want the syrup, this can be anywhere from 218-222�.) You can also use the frozen plate test.

The advantage is you get to thicken the syrup just the way you like without cooking the delicate pears to the point of disintegration.

Return the pears to syrup and boil 1 minute to reheat them. Pull off heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (This allows fruit to equalize with the syrup so it doesn't float to the top of the jar.)

Place preserves in sterilized jars and BWB 5 minutes or clean, hot jars and BWB 10 minutes.
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Poached Pears in Red Wine

For each quart:

2 cups red wine (I used a cheap cab)
1 cup sugar
Add a little cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg (I didn't have cardamom and omitted it)

Bring wine sauce to a hard simmer/soft boil
Peel, quarter and remove seeds from pears
Place clean fruit directly into sterlized canning jar
Pour hot wine over pears leaving 1/2" headspace
Process in a BWB 30 minutes for quarts or 25 minutes for pints.
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Cranberry Apple Pear Relish

3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 pears, peeled, cored and diced
1 1/2 cups golden raisins
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp. grated orange rind
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup orange liqueur

1. Combine cranberries, apples, pears, raisins, sugar, orange juice and rind, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large non-reactive pan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, or about 25 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in liqueur.

2. Remove jars from canner and ladle relish into jars to within 1/2 inch of rim. Process 10 minutes for half-pints and 15 minutes for pints BWB.

from Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard "Small Batch Preserving"

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PEAR BREAD (Really good!)
1 c. vegetable oil
2 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 c. peeled and chopped fresh pears (4 med.)
1 c. chopped pecans
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine oil, sugar and eggs, blending well.
Stir in pears, pecans and vanilla. In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients.

Stir dry ingredients into pear mixture, pour the batter into two greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 inch loaf pans, bake 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. (about 35 minutes for 12 large muffins).

Cool loaves 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool on the wire racks.
Makes two loaves.

Deanna

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Old-time Pear Mincemeat
(Farm Journal's Freezing & Canning Cookbook 1973)
Makes 9 pints

7 lbs ripe Bartlett pears
1 lemon
2 lbs seedless raisins
6 3/4 c sugar
1 c vinegar
1 Tblsp ground cloves
1 Tblsp ground cinnamon
1 Tblsp ground nutmeg
1 Tblsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground ginger

Core and quarter pears. Quarter lemon, removing seeds.
Put pears, lemons and raisins through chopper.
Combine remaing ingredients in a large kettle.
Add chopped fruit mixture.
Bring to a boil over medium heat; simmer 40 minutes.
Pack at once in hot pint jars, leaving 1/2" head space. Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath 25 minutes.
Remove jars from canner and complete seals unless closures are self-sealing types.

I have the pear preserves recipe at home, I'll try to remember to post that tonight, and not a canning recipe, my my all time favorite dessert is this Maple and Pear Cobbler, although Iusually make it in one big pan instead of little individual ones:

Maple and Pear Cobbler
3 pounds ripe Barlett pears, peeled, quartered, cored
2/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon (generous) ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Topping
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
9 tablespoons half and half
9 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melted butter
Sugar
Ground nutmeg

1 cup chilled whipping cream
Additional pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 425�F. Cut pears crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Combine in large bowl with maple syrup, flour, vanilla extract and ground nutmeg. Divide among six 2/3-cup custard cups of souffl� dishes. Dot tops with butter. Bake filling until hot and bubbling, about 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, Prepare Topping. Mix first 3 ingredients in processor. Add 6 tablespoons chilled butter and cut in until mixture resembles fine meal. Transfer to large bowl. Mix half and half, 6 tablespoons syrup and vanilla in another bowl. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Working quickly, drop batter in three mounds, 1 heaping tablespoon per mound, atop hot filling in each cup. Brush topping with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg. Immediately return cups to oven and bake 8 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375�F. and bake until toppings are golden and just firm to touch, about 14 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes.

In medium bowl, beat 1 cup chilled cream with 3 tablespoons maple syrup to soft peaks. Serve cobblers warm with whipped cream. Drizzle additional maple syrup over.

Annie

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Bartlett Harlequin Jam - USAPears.com

You wouldn't think that the addition of maraschino cherries could change the complex flavors of this very easy jam. From a base of Bartlett pears comes a jam as pretty as it is delicious.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Bartlett USA Pears
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 package (2 ounces) powdered fruit pectin
5 1/2 cups sugar
1 jar (8 ounces) red maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
Directions
Peel, core, and finely chop pears. Measure 2 cups fruit into heavy kettle; add pineapple and lemon juice. Add pectin; stir well. Bring to boil; stir constantly. Add sugar; mix well. Cook and stir over high heat until mixture comes to full rolling boil. Boil 4 minutes. Remove from heat and skim. Carefully stir in cherries. Ladle into clean, hot half-pint canning jars to within ��-inch of tops. Seal according to jar manufacturer's directions.

Place jars on rack in canner. Process 5 minutes in boiling water bath with boiling water 2 inches above jar tops. Remove jars from canner. Cool away from drafts. Remove rings from sealed jars after 12 hours.

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PEAR BUTTER - Ball Blue Book

2 quarts pear pulp [about 20 medium]
(my notes - about 12 large)
4 cups sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

To prepare pulp: Quarter and core pears. Cook until soft, adding only enough water to prevent sticking. Press through a sieve or food mill. Measure pulp.

Add remaining ingredients; cook until thick, about 35 minutes. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Pour hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Yield: about 4 pints.

Also try Bernardin, the Canadian "Ball" canning site.
http://www.bernardin.ca/
I did a search for pears there and got quite a few hits, including an interesting sounding pear cinnamon jam I may have to try this year.

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That recipe with the cherries is similar to one my grandmother made. This is her recipe. You gotta love the complex directions, lol. It has alot more pears. I realize she reversed when the pectin went in - probably because these hard pears we have here need more cooking to soften and aren't really juicy. It seems to work though. I am making some today.
Pear Honey
8 cups grated hard pears
4 cups sugar
2 cups crushed pineapple
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, halved or quartered
Grate pears, cover with sugar. Liquid will form. Cook pears until almost done. Add pineapple and cherries. Boil another 10 minutes. Add 1 package sure-jell. Put in jars.

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Pear Jam - not low sugar.

1kg pears
1kg sugar
1 bottle pectin (250gr)

Prepare fruit. Chop it up. Cook it up. Add some ginger if you feel like it. Add sugar. Cook it up again. Boil 1 minute. Take it off the heat and add pectin. Skim and stir. Pot and cover.

Pickled Pears

1.5kg pears peeled but left whole
500g golden syrup
450ml white vinegar
1/4 cinnamon stick
8 cloves
1 strip lemon peel

Put all ingredients except pears in a pan and bring to the boil. Allow to cool. Put the pears into jars. Pour over the vinegar. Cover.

Enjoy your pears, Flora

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This is my favorite pear recipe. It's relatively low sugar. If you are using fairly ripe pears, you can get away with even more than 7-8lbs of pears with the amount of sweetener in the recipe:
Maple Vanilla Pear Butter

● 7-8 pounds pears, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
● 1/2 cup water
● 1 cup sugar, or more to taste
● 1/2 cup maple syrup
● 1 tbsp. vanilla
● pinch salt
● 1/4 tsp vanilla bean, optional

Directions:

Add about a half cup of water to the chunked pears (just to keep them from sticking to the bottom) and cook over medium heat until the fruit is soft, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a food mill or food processor, and process until fairly smooth, but not completely liquified. Add the puree back to the pot, and add the sugars, syrup, vanilla, and salt. Cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, until thick enough to round up on a spoon. Fill sterilized jars and process for ten minutes in a water bath canner.

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Dave

Brilliant, digdirt.

Thanks for taking the time to do that. Great future reference when existing pages start dropping off the the end and they no longer show up in the search.

Dehydrating a good flavored pear is my favorite eating treat. Truly like eating quality, good-for-you candy.

Thank you everyone for posting that nice variety of recipes for pears. I want to put up some pear goodies this year, if I'm not too worn out by my radiation treatments, and I found several on here just calling out to me. Now I just have to get enough pears to try them out.

About the dehydrating pears...

I have had mixed results with that and wonder what I'm doing wrong. What are your tips for that?

Are all of the recipes in this thread approved, safe recipes for canning. We have a lot of pears this year.

Yes!!! Im excited about all this as well!!! I, also, get discouraged from old posts, now that being ultra safe and up-to-date has become priority #1. I canned plain pears in a light syrup last year and they were amazing. Snow white and my kids absolutely loved them. And to think, they had sat in those buckets for darn near two weeks before I had touched them, given to me from a friend, and I had never done them before. Absolutely my kids favorite product from last summer. Pear Conserve???!!!! Oh yeah!! Thanks for posting and for all the re-postings!!

Pulling this up to the top to thank everyone - we are doing a canning demo at the library where I work, and thanks to Bountiful baskets we all have a plethora of pears to work with. you have given me some wonderful ideas to pass on!

Hello All. I've got to say that Caramel Spice Pear Butter, the Vanilla Pear Butter and Carol's Pear Preserves were my favorites. My family is begging for repeats for Christmas.

It turns out my sister already had the pear honey recipe, which she loves. Thanks All.

Deborah

One year I had an abundance of Bartlett Pears, I made pear sauce (just like applesauce, but with pears), I strained the juice off (instead of cooking it down with sauce) and made Bartlett Pear Jelly. My extended family loved it. Recipes were same as apples, but I used pears.

I *love* pears but haven't had much since I moved to Maryland...I miss them! I made a pear jam once& added vanilla bean to it...It was divine!

Can someone tell me how to remove the grainy/gritty texture from pear butter when using Bartlett pears in recipes? My family really doesn't like it. Am I doing something wrong or is there some way I can strain it to improve the texture? Thanks in advance. I'm doing apples, taters, and pears today.
Chris

The pears must be harvested before they are ripe. The gritty texture in pears is caused by letting the pears ripen on the tree too long. Pears should be picked before full ripeness and allowed to ripen off the tree in a cool room. I've been through that before and know where you're coming from on the grittiness. If I end up with a batch of our pears that ripened too long on the tree, I usually end up making pear juice instead of pear sauce or canned pears. We love the juice the most anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: harvesting and ripening pears

Has anyone tried the caramel pear butter? when I made it, the flavor was great. I did get a touch of graininess and I made sure to pick the pears early before ripe. It is still very good, did anyone else make this with no graininess?

I made and loved it. No graininess, but I'll not be of much help to you since I don't know the pear variety. They're my sister's huge, ancient pear trees. Some were ripe, some weren't.

Deborah

I made the caramel pear butter too. Very yummy, not grainy. Our pears are bartlett, picked before tree-ripening, stored in the fridge for a few days, then put out until they're just beginning to soften (first year we've done this, and it works great).

Hi All! I love to be able to brainstorm different canning recipes. It is a huge interest of mine.
The pear type I used to make the caramel pear butter was one called Rescue. It is a pretty cool pear that we have here. I did get a slight graininess to the butter, but the flavor is really good. Hope that won't bother folks I want to give it to!
Kathy

so none of the recipes above can be used for asian pears ? is it because however much acid needed ruins the taste? i'd love to try some of these but my neighbor has offered me a slew of asian pears ! i will dry and maybe can as per NCHFP, but i sure would like some jam or butter.

I'm confused by "firm, ripe" pear. I like pears (from grocery store, we don't have any pear trees) when they start to soften and are juicy - I wouldn't call them "firm" at that point b/c they "give" a little when pressed, though not mushy soft. I have to hide them from DH to get them to ripen though, b/c he eats them hard and crunchy like apples. So are they supposed to be used at the point when you bring them home from the store, or allowed to soften just a tiny bit and start to smell like something?

from what i've read it depends on what type of pear. i've never processed store bought fruits. do you have pick your own orchards around ? they'll tell you what types they have and how to pick or ripen them.

There are several pear recipes in The Joy of Jams.

I was just wondering how a pear can be ripe but firm at the same time. To me, a ripe pear isn't firm - or is a little give as I described, and some fragrance OK for these recipes?

Blue Chair Jam (not that I tend to use that book - the only reason I haven't donated it is b/c I'm afraid some people will try canning some of her recipes that might not be acidic enough, and/or do it in the oven) has some recipes for "very ripe" pears, but I don't know what the acidity of "very ripe" (mushy?) pears is either. I'd tend to use "just ripe" which is the way I like to eat them, if that's safe. I know pH goes up as fruit ripens. Might "very ripe" pears be over 4.6 like Asian pears are?

As far as ripening, I go by USAPears motto of "Check the Neck". As soon as the neck (or the stem end) gives slightly under pressure, the pear is ripe. The body of the pear will still be firm. But ripe :-)

From Oregon State University (SP 50-694 Preserving Asian Pears updated February 2013):

All home-canned Asian pears must be acidified to prevent growth of the bacteria which cause botulism food poisoning. Adding lemon juice before canning will bring the acidity of lower acid varieties into the safe range. They then may be safely canned using procedures for other types of pears. (Italics are mine).

OSU lists the same acidification directions as for tomatoes (Asian pears are listed as a pH of 4.7 so just over the line):

Add 1 Tablespoon bottled lemon juice per pint jar (2 Tablespoons per quart).

Many pear recipes already include lemon juice, but an extra bit of citric acid might not be a bad idea, if you don't object to the tartness, and it wouldn't add any extra "lemon" flavor. Normal amounts would be 1/4 teaspoon citric acid per pint; 1/2 teaspoon per quart. Most recipes are also loaded with sugar, which minimizes the tart factor.

thanks malna and sheila ! many ".edu"'s have helpful bits of info like that.....i wish they were all in one place. when would you suggest adding the extra lemon juice ? as i fill the jars? i wonder what a long cooking time does to that acid.

If you were canning AP slices in light syrup as you do pears, I might do it by adding to the jars just to make sure enough was in each jar, but you probably want to dip them in lemon juice or citric acid anyway as soon as you slice them so they don't brown. Jam, butter or pear sauce I would just add it to the pot (most recipes would have lemon juice in them anyway, you might want to add a little more depending on how much is in the recipe, using that 1Tbsp per pint as a guide, or the C.A. as malna suggested).