Canning Asian Pears

I was asked about canning Asian pears. Since I am not familiar with this type of fruit I did a little research. Asian pears need to be acidified before canning. Learned something new today!

Prepare

Gather your canning supplies

water bath canner
canning jars
canning seals and rings
jar lifter
canning funnel
large pot or blancher
bowls

large spoons

sharp knife

towels and dish cloths

ladle

Ingredients

asian pears
lemon juice
sugar - for the syrup

Procedure

Peel, core and slice your pears in half. Cut out any bruised areas. I would slice them directly into my syrup to prevent discoloring. You may also cut them in slices if you prefer.

Syrup for Packing

Prepare light or medium syrup. I prefer light syrup. Simply heat water and sugar in a sauce pan until sugar dissolves.

Light - 2 cups sugar to 1-quart water
Medium - 3 cups sugar to 1-quart water

You can also make a syrup with honey if you don't want to use processed sugar.

light - 1 1/2 cups honey to 4 cups water
medium - 2 cups honey to 4 cups water

The other option is to place peeled and sliced pears into an ascorbic or citric acid solution. This commercial product prevents browning. Follow the directions on the package. When you have enough pears prepared, drain and rinse. Then place the pears into your hot syrup.

Cook pears 5-6 minutes in your syrup. Just enough to heat through. You don't want to over cook. Here is where Asian pears differ from most fruits. You need to add lemon juice to acidify the fruit. Add 1 T to each pint and 2 T to each quart.

Pack hot pears into hot jars leaving a 1/2 inch head space. Cover with the same syrup you cooked in, leaving a 1/2 inch head space.

Release bubbles, clean rims and process according to Water Bath Canning instructions.

Process

Process ~ Pints for 20 minutes, quarts 25 minutes. Don't forget to adjust for Altitude.

Altitude Adjustments for Boiling Water Bath Canner
Altitude in Feet	Increase processing time
1001-3000	5 minutes
3001-6000	10 minutes
6001-8000	15 minutes
8001-10,000	20 minutes