Canning Pears Question

[larry_stewart]

This is the first year my pear trees produced . Not a whole lot, but a couple of dozen.
I ate one fresh from the tree, it was crisp and relatively sweet, but it seems like it would be better cooked to soften it up a bit.
Not sure of the variety, but I'd love to can them using minimal to no added sugar.
Anyone with experience canning fresh pears, I'd love tp hear from you.

Thanks

 

[blissful]

Our pantry is full for pear sauce which is essentially apple sauce made of pears, nothing added but lemon juice or vitamin C. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-fruits-and-fruit-products/fruit-purees/
We used an apple peeler/corer/slicer, cooked it down in an electric roaster, to a sauce consistency, canned it in the waterbath in quarts. We use it for baking or granola or smoothies.
Most of our pears this year went to the neighbor nextdoor (5 kids) and she does the same thing.
If you want to, but I haven't, you can can pear halves. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-fruits-and-fruit-products/pears-halved/
Or for asian pears a separate instruction. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-fruits-and-fruit-products/pears-asian/
Pickled pears, pear relish, pear preserves. https://nchfp.uga.edu/blog/preserving-pears

 

[bethzaring]

I always seem to have access to others' pear trees. My favorite way to can them is as pear butter. My last notes are; cook down 10 pounds of whole quartered pears. When soft, stick blenderize them. Put through a china cap to get the seed coats out. Put in slow cooker to reduce. I had 14 cups of pulp, added 2 cups sugar. Try to add a bit of orange flavor, a tiny bit of orange oil, or, orange peel

 

[blissful]

@bethzaring that sounds delicious.

 

[dragnlaw]

china cap

Wha'sat?

 

[bethzaring]

Wha'sat?

https://www.amazon.com/New-Star-Foo...=1727821627&sprefix=china+cap,aps,169&sr=8-17


I've had the same china cap for decades, I see what I have is not made any more.

 

[dragnlaw]

OMG plus a big LOL!
Never knew that was another name for it. Thanks!

 

[taxlady]

OMG plus a big LOL!
Never knew that was another name for it. Thanks!

What name did you know for it?

 

[dragnlaw]

Never thought it had a speccific name. Just a "fine mesh cone strainer/sieve".

 

[blissful]

I don't know when the chinois was introduced to americans for cooking. Maybe the immigrants or maybe julia child.
Google: The chinois is a cone-shaped strainer with a tightly woven mesh for filtering impurities from stocks, soups and sauces. (This utensil's French name is derived from the pointed hats worn by 19th-century Chinese immigrants.)

 

[dragnlaw]

That's it bliss! Thank you - chinois is the name I was thinking of!
I think Julia Child calls them that in her cook books.

 

[blissful]

That's it bliss! Thank you - chinois is the name I was thinking of!
I think Julia Child calls them that in her cook books.

I don't have her cookbook (s) but she inspired so many people, even people I knew here in the midwest. People loved her very much. While she didn't write books on chinese cooking because she had so much respect for them she didn't feel she could do them justice. She was inspired by chinese cooking and I think that is why I thought maybe her influence?

 

[dragnlaw]

In one of the early books of Joy of Cooking, (which I can't find! hopefully it is just in storage somewhere) there were small drawn diagrams showing a lot of different things. I stand corrected as it was in one of those books I remember seeing the diagram of one and the name chinois for the sieve.

 

[larry_stewart]

Not sure if it was successful, but they're do look good !
**One of the most satisfying sounds is hearing the tops of the jars ping when cooling off**

 

[blissful]

Pretty successful! They look nice!

 

[larry_stewart]

Probably give them a taste tonight or tomorrow just to see if it was worth the effort. I hope so, cause my pear production has been increasing exponentially each year , so assuming it keeps going in the same direction, this is a perfect way to store them.

 

[blissful]

Please if you don't mind, let us know how you served them and liked them.
They would make nice gifts, a little ribbon and bow around the neck and chef quality.

 

[larry_stewart]

Please if you don't mind, let us know how you served them and liked them.
They would make nice gifts, a little ribbon and bow around the neck and chef quality.

Today was a trial day.
This pear variety is not the greatest raw. The skin is a little papery ( if thats a word), and the consistency is crispy/ Jicama like. Although Im not a fruit in salad kinda guy, I can see how this julienned in a salad would work.

The canning process totally transformed the texture ( in a good way). Soft, but not too soft. Still able to maintain its shape. I canned then in a light syrup. Personally, I would have gone sweeter, but my wife prefers its this way. I also may add a hint of cinnamon or some type of spice next time for added depth off flavor.

Still thinking about how I may serve/ use them next. Tonight was just a right out of the jar taste test.

 

[blissful]

@larry_stewart awesome!
Ours get very soft if we wait for them to ripen, but like you said almost like Jicama, crispy when not ripe and raw.
Even in sauce, crisp pears will soften and sweeten as they cook.
In the crisp unripe state they can be peeled with a gadget, that doesn't work with ripe pears, at least the kind we grow.
I'm glad you mentioned the texture. Thank you!
Our pear tree gives us some pears if we do some pruning but it produces large crops every 2 years. I'm certain you'll get more, like you said, exponentially more. (until you beg people to take buckets and buckets of them)

 

[larry_stewart]

I wish my pears were better fresh eating pears, but im glad I found something else to do with them. I left them as long as I could on the tree, hoping it was just a ripening thing. Some turned yellowish, but none ever softened. Some of the yellow ones started to rot on the tree, so I figured that was about as ripe as they would get and just harvested everything. Luckily it worked out and now I know for next year ( even though I'll probably forget, and have to find this thread again). And if I write it down, I'll just forget where I put it lol.