Monday, August 6, 2012

Canning Pears

We have one pear tree in a back corner of our yard.  This one tree produces more pears that we can use, give away, and feed to the goats and chickens.  It is nice to have free pears but they only last for so long.  Canning becomes necessary to preserve them for the winter.
I started off by making pear jam (far right).  I used the Pomona's Universal Pectin so it is a lower sugar version.  Next time I would probably reduce the sugar even further.  The pears are nice and sweet on their own.

The middle jar is pear halves.  I put them in a bowl of water/lemon juice as I peeled prepared them.  They are in a light syrup of water, sugar, and Fruit Fresh.  I was thrilled with how fresh they look.

The jar to the left is apple-pear butter.  I have had apple butter, but I wanted to make use of the pears.  I made up my own recipe.  I used equal parts apples and pears.  I added some vanilla, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  I chose to cook it in the crock pot.  I used an immersion blender to get it all nice and smooth. 

Everything was processed in a water bath.  I used my $5 pot bought at a yard sale and the $0.25 rack my dad found me at a yard sale.  I know we will enjoy eating all three this winter when the fresh pears are a memory.

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