by Texas Homesteader ~
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I’ve heard of people making something similar to applesauce but using pears instead – Pear Sauce! I love applesauce so I figured I should give it a try.
Using my slow cooker it was super easy too, the procedure is the same as when I made homemade applesauce. Check it out!
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Obtaining Fresh Pears
A sweet neighbor offered to let RancherMan & me come harvest from their huge pear tree. We took a ladder but only had to pick the sweet pears within our reach to bring back about 75 lbs of fresh pears!
I used an *apple peeler/slicer/corer to peel all those crisp pears and found I could peel, core & slice each pear in about 10 seconds!
I placed the peeled pears in a large bowl filled with water and about 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice to keep them from turning brown while I worked on the other pears.
The peels & cores were set aside & RancherMan took them to the wild hog traps. We’re hoping to Bibbidy-Bobbedy-BOO magically turn those peels into fresh PORK! LOL.
Cook The Pear Slices
Now I packed all those raw pear slices into my large slow-cooker. I didn’t count how many pears I put in there, but I was generous with it!
I stuffed as many peeled & sliced pears as I could in the slow cooker because they will cook waaaaaay down.
The pears will release much of their juice as they’re cooking so I didn’t bother adding any water. Then I turned my slow cooker on low and let those babies cook all night.
Now as long as you don’t allow them to burn I’m not sure you can overcook the pears, you’re wanting to cook them until they fall apart.
Depending upon your slow cooker they can usually be ready in about 5-6 hours. But I allowed my pears to cook overnight.
Drain The Juice
Now that the pears are fully cooked there’s lots of juice that they have released. Some people leave the juice in their Pear Sauce & just start blending away. But I find that by not removing the juice, the resulting pearsauce is a bit watery, so I opt to strain the juice away.
I took a sip of the juice I strained from the pears, but it didn’t seem to be near as sweet as it was when I strained the juice from my apples.
So I added a 1/4 cup of sugar to my 3/4 quart of juice and tasted again. No…. Maybe another 1/4 cup? Hummm… Maybe a hefty sprinkling of cinnamon?
After those additions the pear juice was sweet and flavorful enough I suppose. But I didn’t want to bother canning the juice without a specific use. So I just sat it in the fridge waiting for inspiration.
That night I served up a fruit cup for desert comprised of chopped frozen fruits. I drizzled this sweetened pear juice on top and let it run down and through all that fruit.
It was absolutely delicious that way! We have fruit cups for dessert often so we’ll see how much I can go through before it gets too old to enjoy.
Blend Into Pear Sauce
Back to that Pear Sauce! You’re now left with pears that are cooked to super-soft perfection. I think I’d like this pear sauce blended pretty smooth instead of chunky.
So I added sugar until I got it as sweet as I wanted, added a splash of vanilla extract & a hefty sprinkling of cinnamon.
The quantities depend on how sweet you like it, how strong you like the vanilla & whether or not you want to add cinnamon. Sweeten it to your personal taste and then blend it all smooth.
The easiest way for me to turn those cooked pears into pear sauce was to use a *stick blender on them right in the slow cooker. BOOM!
Freeze or Can To Preserve
It’s easy to section off single-serving portions of your homemade pear sauce into freezer-safe containers and pop them in the freezer. They should stay sweet and delicious for several months.
If desired you can also water-bath can to preserve your pear sauce. It’s super easy and quick and your sauce will be preserved in reusable canning jars for grab-n-go convenience.
I placed mine in 1/2-pint canning jars and canned it in a water-bath canner for 20 minutes.
FOOD SAFETY: Now I’m just sharing what I did, but you need to follow safety measures for your area. Since there are variables to canning such as altitude and equipment, for your specific circumstances be sure to consult your canner’s manual and also make sure you read and understand the USDA’s recommendations on safe canning and follow their directions closely.
Food safety is important!
Here’s the abbreviated version of how I made & canned my pear sauce:
Homemade Pear Sauce Recipe Made with Fresh Pears
- Peel, core & slice enough pears to fit into the slow cooker
- Turn slow cooker on low heat and allow the pears to cook until completely softened (about 5-6 hours or overnight)
- Drain juice from soft, cooked pear slices & set aside
- Blend pears with stick blender to smooth consistency
- Add sugar & cinnamon to taste (optional)
- Freeze in single servings or can in 1/2-pint canning jars in a water-bath canner for 20 minutes
~TxH~
Other Pear Delights:
Preserving The Harvest Posts
- Making Tomato Sauce
- Canning Fresh Asparagus
- Water-Bath Canning Pears In Light Syrup
- Canning Garden Corn
- Easier Dill Pickles
- One Quart At A Time Refrigerator Pickles
- Keeping Garlic
- Preserving The Harvest: Oregano
…And Much MORE!
See All Preserving The Harvest Posts
Dehydrating Posts
- Preserving The Harvest: Dehydrating Fresh Carrots
- Dehydrating Fresh Pumpkin For Easy Storage
- Dehydrating Spinach To Enjoy All Year Long
- Using A Dehydrator To Preserve Fresh Onions
- Dehydrating & Storing Cabbage
- Bell Pepper Dehydration
- Using A Solar Oven To Dehydrate Garden Produce
- How To Make Dehydrated Blueberry Powder
- Dehydrating Plums
See All Our Dehydrating Posts
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I found you on the hop and made a bee-line for your pear posts. I have two young pear trees and hope to need your recipes in the near future. What a generous gift from your neighbor!
This sounds great! I wonder why I haven’t thought about making this before. I use applesauce all the time and I bet this would be just as tasty! Thanks for sharing on the Waste Less Wednesday Blog Hop!
Yum, this is such a great idea. In Greece they take the pears and turn them into desserts by boiling and then adding a syrup made of sugar cinnamon and clover. It’s basically the same except in solid version.
Also try pear pie! Just make it like apple pie but add some lemon juice for tartness. We have always preferred pear sauce to apple and not I think I should start looking for some pears! I cook mine until just done and leave it chunky. Yum!
Your pearsauce sounds wonderful. I’m thinking of trying it on a simple bundt cake! Thanks so much for joining the DI & DI Link Party.
I tried this too. I didn’t use a my apple peeler wouldve been afraid of breaking it. I actually don’t peel my apples for applesauce. But with the pears I found the Kitchenaid attachement I use wasn’t getting the skins off sufficiently the way it does for tomato and apple sauce. I ended up hand peeling the rest. Thanks for sharing on Family Joy Blog Link-up. Please come back and join us again! Remember to leave your host a comment to increase the chance of being featured.
I worried about the same thing Charlotte, but I figured it would peel a potato so it surely could peel a pear. It worked great. ~TxH~
Looks delicious! We do t have a pear tree, but the local fruit farm is selling pear seconds, so I may have to pick some up just for this…and the pear crisp!
That would be perfect! ~TxH~
This is the first years since we have lived here that we have not had pears. I actually have 3 pears on 2 trees. I usually make pearsauce and my children always loved this so has they have grown and moved out I have given them many quarts of pearsauce, but will not be doing that this year. I don’t have any apples on our 4 apple trees. We had warm weather early and then a heavy frost. Your pearsauce looks wonderful.
Ugh, how frustrating Cynthia! It’s always a fear that the spring will warm up early and then pop us with a frost. Here’s hoping for a bumper crop of both apples as well as pears next year! ~TxH~
I also use almost the same recipe but cook the pears to just done on the stove. I then add sugar, cinnamon, vanilla,butter . I then make a topping with oatmeal, brown sugar, butter, walnuts and mix very well. Pour pears into a baking dish and then the topping. Bake at 375 degrees for around 40 minutes (different ovens cook differently). We like it so much better than apple crisp.
That sounds amazing. I still have a few pears left in the fridge, I may have to give this a try… ~TxH~
I’m so glad you posted this. I canned applesauce for the first time this year, and I’ve wanted to try canning vanilla pear sauce. As soon as I can find some pears for a good price, I will. Yours looks great!
I wonder if you have considered leaving the peels on yours pears or apples. I canned some with peels and one without. Surprisingly, I prefer the variety with peels. They grind up very fine in the processing, so they don’t adversely affect the texture. It just makes a thicker sauce, and you get to keep the nutrition in the peels. Not sure your critters would be too happy if you kept those for yourselves though!
I’ve left the peels on apples before but wasn’t really happy with the result when using the apples I had. I didn’t consider it with the pear sauce since the pear skin has an unpleasant feel to the tooth. But I may try it in the future if they grind up very fine. I do like using peels when I’m cooking and perhaps I can experiment with this. Thanks for the tip, Miss B. ~TxH~