I have a HUGE pear tree in my back yard, but know nothing about them. Does anybody know anything about canning them or even how to care for the tree? Any advice would be more than what I know now. LOL
I do not know anything about canning pears, but when I saw the title to your post, I decided to send dh out for canned pears for me! Now I am craving them! LOL
First I guess I would need to know what kind of pears they are? are they large sweet pears or are they the more tart sickle pears?
I haven't tried them myself, but a friend tried them and said they were more tart than sweet. This was a few weeks ago though, and they might not have been ripe enough to eat. I did take a picture of them if that helps! This is the tree!
I don't really know anything about pear trees, but it looks like the pear tree in DH's Grandma's yard, which his mom makes HoneyPear Jam out of. that stuff is so yummy. I'd get you the recipe, but there's probably a good one on Recipezaar, and since she doesn't have internet, I don't know how long it would take to get the recipe from her anyway. I don't like anything she cooks, except that jam!!! googling for Jackie Clay might give you some good info on canning pears. She's amazing with all things canning!
Ok marcia without testing the pears first I'm thinking that looks like a sickle pear tree. The pears appear ripe in the picture and if they are more tart like they are definately sickle pears. So to can them you will need to sweeten them up first. They do make great honeyPear Jam like the PP suggested though I don't have a recipe for that. You could also slice and core them and then "stew" them in a simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water bring to a simmer and add the pears, simmer till the pears are tender and sweet). After you sweeten them somehow you just put them into CLEAN (sanitized as well) canning jars fill to the top with liquid, add a lid and ring,then place in a pan of boiling water for maybe 3-5 minutes and then allow them to cool on the counter until every jar "pops" (this is how you know they are sealed) you can now store them on a shelf until the end of time (not really but they last pretty long)
Thank you so much for this. Looks like I need to dig out my mom's old canning jars and give this a whirl.
Have fun! I love canned poached pears, I used to serve them with ice cream all the time, but out here we don't get nice fresh pears.
My favorite to make is Pear Honey(I saw someone else mentioned this too). It is pears mixed with pineapple and sugar. My husbands favorite is the pears with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. You should be able to find Pear Honey on the internet. You can't really taste the pineapple if you were wondering, it just gives the preserves a different flavor. It is actually my favorite of all the preserves I make.
Hold On Sabrina! you mean there's no honey in the Pear-Honey stuff I devour at MIL's house? hmm, I'm going to have to ask now. very surprising. I like your pineapple idea. MIL's is more like what you describe for your husband.
