In the spring of 2012, I attempted to graft a Pear scion onto my apple tree using Winter Banana Apple as an inter stem. (All of he grafting i do is "Whip and Tongue" grafts wrapped in grafting tape. I then coat the wrapped union with grafting wax) The parent branch was a Winesap Apple branch with a grafted Winter Banana Apple scion from a few years before. (I actually have two of these paired branches.) I then attempted to graft two "Kieffer" Pear scions onto my two Winter Banana Apple inter stems. The "Kieffer" Pear scions started to grow, but died a few weeks later. This spring (2014) I attempted to graft this Apple / Pear union again using the same Winter Banana Apple inter stems. I had just enough branch on my Winter Banana branches to try this experiment one more time. This time around, I used "Sunrise Pear" scionwood. The grafting was a screaming success! (I had enough "Sunrise Pear" scionwood to graft two branches onto my apple tree, and two more onto an ornamental pear. All four pear grafts were a success!) I have no idea why this experiment failed in 2012 and was a success in 2014. I do not know if it had to do with the pear variety used, or if it had to do with environmental circumstances. I will re-post in 2015 with an update. There are a few different treads on this subject so I will be re-posting on those threats also. Below are pictures taken on 07/27/2014.

Apples worked great - 2 apples weren't quite 1.5C so I added a handful of raisins. 4.5C of sugar to start, took a little longer than 20 minutes (more like 30-35) to get the apples looking translucent, I was running out of liquid even with the pan covered, so I added a pint of homemade apple pectin and another cup of sugar. Brought it to 220 (actually was trying a little higher, my thermometer is off), but smelled burning sugar so pulled it off the burner and did a saucer test. Looked like a soft set. I'd been simmering the jars since they were cold out of the basement, so I processed for 10 minutes since jars weren't sterilized (would that have been necessary b/c of density with this jam, if I had had sterilized jars?). Made 4 half pints and almost filled a 12-oz jar that I didn't process since others were boiling by the time I got that one filled. That last one tastes caramelized but not burnt, is very thick and gooey - but good gooey, not like the strawberry-blackberry jam I made with Ball NS pectin. next time I think maybe some apple juice, less apple pectin? Or just less boiling? So, what do I do with this confection besides eat it by the spoonful right out of the jar (it's that good!)? Oh, I also put a few tsp of ground walnuts into the last 3 jars (stirred into the pot b4 filling). So technically those are a confit, not a jam, but I labeled them "jam" anyway b/c no one else in my family knows what a confit is.

Linked below is a Utah State Preserving Pears article. In the recipe for pear puree, they say "Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and sugar to taste to each quart of puree, if desired." It (probably) is more for color retention, basically keeping the pears from browning on exposure to air while processing, than safety reasons. Pears are closer to the 4.6 pH cutoff than most other fruits (Asian pears are a different circumstance), but I haven't found any Extension sites that insist on acidification for regular "Bartlett-type" pears (other than ascorbic acid/Fruit Fresh to prevent discoloration). Here is a link that might be useful: Preserve the Harvest - Pears

There are some on the thread from this board below along with some other ideas for using them up. Here is a link that might be useful: Pears