Canning Pears

When canning pears you need to choose fruit that is ripe but not too soft.

Pears are another fruit that we love. Home canning provides fruit year round that is so much healthier and less expensive than store bought fruit.

Pears may be processed in a water bath canner.

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

Ingredients

Pears
sugar - for the syrup (optional)

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

Procedure

Start by preparing jars, and get water in your canner heating.
(see Water Bath Canning for full directions)

Prepare your choice of syrup. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to just keep hot.

Peel, core and slice your pears in half. Cut out any bruised areas.

Place peeled and sliced pears into an citric acid solution. This commercial product prevents browning. Follow the directions on the package. Or use a lemon juice and water mixture.

I prefer the lemon juice just because I usually have lemon juice on hand. I believe the reccomendation is 3/4 cup to 1 gallon water... but I almost never need a gallon of pretreatment. I use 1 cup lemon juice to 2 quarts water... it is stronger than needed but my pears always stay nice and bright.

I've also seen it suggested to simply slice the pears directly into the jars and add lemon juice to the jars. 2T for a quart. I've not done this but I may try it next time.

When you have enough pears prepared, drain and add pears to your hot syrup. Cook pears 5-6 minutes in your syrup. Just enough to heat through. You don't want to over cook but a hot pack works best with pears.

Using a slotted spoon, pack hot pears into hot jars.

Cover with the same syrup you cooked in, leaving a 1/2 inch head space.
Wipe the rims clean, remove any air bubbles and place your lids.

For more details follow water bath canning instructions.

Process

Pints for 20 minutes, quarts 25 minutes

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