SINGLE-BATCH PEAR PRESERVES RECIPE
This delicious recipe yields 3 half-pints of pure bliss. I always double it! The recipe was shared by a dear friend and is RancherMan's absolute favorite preserve. I'm happy to make it for him every year.
Ingredients
- 1 quart (4 cups) peeled, cored & cubed pears
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 1 cup water I only used 1/2 cup for my very ripe pears
- 1 lemon sliced 1/4" with seeds removed
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract (optional - I added after pears were cooked but before adding to jars)
Instructions
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DIRECTIONS: Peel, core, and cut up the pears. You will need 4 cups of pears PER BATCH ready to go.
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Make a syrup of 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water. (less water for very ripe pears) Boil about 10 minutes to dissolve the sugar and start the process of creating syrup, then cool slightly.
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Slice lemon into approximately 1/4" slices and remove the seeds. Add lemon slices to the syrup when you start the process with the pears, three or four slices to each quart of pears.
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Add prepared pears & lemon slices and bring to a slow boil. Once boiling, boil rapidly until the pears are translucent and tender. This generally takes about 30 minutes to one hour. (note, my boiling process took longer. Watch for the pears to turn translucent and for the syrup to thicken to your liking)
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Watch the boiling pears closely as they can burn very badly quickly. When they are done pack the pears in hot, sterile jars and allow them to seal. Don't forget to wipe the tops so that the seal can happen. Most of the new canning books call for you to hot water process the jars. About 10 minutes in a SIMMERING processor is plenty. Get it too hot and the syrup begins to boil and escape from the jars.
Recipe Notes
Note from Ms. V: This recipe comes from my mother's Kerr canning book circa 1938. It is a slow process but so worth it.