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.
DIRECTIONS: Peel, core, and cut up the pears. You will need 4 cups of pears PER BATCH ready to go. (See notes below for very ripe pears)
Make a syrup of 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water. (See notes below for very ripe pears)
Boil about 10 minutes to dissolve the sugar and start the process of creating syrup, then cool slightly.
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, I like them to reach 220 degrees F. Watch for the pears to turn translucent and for the syrup to thicken to your liking)
Watch the boiling pears closely as they can burn very badly quickly.
Place hot preserves in clean, hot ½ pint canning jars, leaving ½" headspace.
Wipe jar rim and place 2 part canning lid and ring on top of jar, tightening only finger tight.
Lower jars into water bath and make sure water covers the top of the jars by 1" - 2".
When water returns to boil, process preserves 10 minutes. Then carefully remove from water-bath and place jars in draft-free location for 24 hours before removing the rings, testing the seal, wiping down and labeling the jars.
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.
(~TxH~ Note: add another 1.5 cups of pears per single batch for very ripe & juicy pears)
(~TxH~ Note: use only 1/2 cup water for very ripe & juicy pears)