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Pear preserves are RancherMan's favorite thing for me to make with fresh pears. #TexasHomesteader

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.

Course Jams & Jellies
Cuisine American
Keyword pear, preserves
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Water-Bath Canning Time - half pints 10 minutes
Servings 3 Half-Pint Jars
Author www.TexasHomesteader.com

Ingredients

  • 1 quart (4 cups) peeled, cored & cubed pears (~TxH~ Note: add another 1.5 cups for very ripe & juicy pears)
  • 1.5 cups sugar
  • 1 cup water (~TxH~ Note: use only 1/2 cup water for very ripe & juicy 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

  1. 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)

  2. 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.

  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Canning Pear Preserves

  1. Place hot preserves in clean, hot ½ pint canning jars, leaving ½" headspace.

  2. Wipe jar rim and place 2 part canning lid and ring on top of jar, tightening only finger tight.

  3. Lower jars into water bath and make sure water covers the top of the jars by 1" - 2".

  4. 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.

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.

(~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)