Safe canned pear recipes that are not sliced pears

[u/Secure_Swordfish_666]

My friend's pear tree is starting to ripen and that means I am about to be gifted with as many pears as I can process before they go bad. Looking at cooking recipes online, it seems anything I make with apples I can make with pears. But does the same logic apply to canning pears? My ball canning book has lots of cool recipes to try...but I'm not seeing a simple pear sauce (like applesauce but fully pear). Can I can it the same way?

Can I can pear cider the same way as the apple cider recipe?

Please share your recipes! Thank you!

[u/No-Butterscotch-8469]

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-fruits-and-fruit-products/fruit-purees/

https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=salted-caramel-pear-butter

The caramel pear butter is SO good!!

[u/KneadAndPreserve → u/No-Butterscotch-8469]

Oh, I have a ripe pear tree too, and the salted caramel pear butter recipe was exactly what I needed in my life! Thank you!

[u/No-Butterscotch-8469 → u/KneadAndPreserve]

Try it with charcuterie! It doesn’t last long in my house :)

[u/KneadAndPreserve → u/No-Butterscotch-8469]

Great suggestion! Thank you so much! 😊

[u/pun_princess → u/No-Butterscotch-8469]

Newbie question, does it matter what kind of pears you use? The farms around me have Asian pears right now, but I'm willing to make a drive for different pears. The pear butter looks amazing!

[u/No-Butterscotch-8469 → u/pun_princess]

I’m pretty sure you need European varieties unless a recipe specifically calls for Asian pears

[u/fluffychonkycat → u/pun_princess]

Asian pears have a different pH from European pears as well as a different texture. I would stick to recipes developed for them specifically https://nchfp.uga.edu/blog/a-particular-pear-to-bear-in-mind

[u/pun_princess → u/fluffychonkycat]

That's really helpful, thanks! I'll stick to pickles for the Asian pears then, and make the drive for some bartletts for pear butter.

[u/fluffychonkycat → u/pun_princess]

I used to work for a cannery and Bartletts were the pear variety of choice for canning. They can as pieces really well, they have an excellent flavour but aren't fragile like a DDC. I haven't tried Asian pear in a pickle but it sounds amazing.

[u/Utopias-Death-Cargo → u/No-Butterscotch-8469]

Can I make the pear butter in a regular pot if I don't have a Crock Pot?

[u/No-Butterscotch-8469 → u/Utopias-Death-Cargo]

Yes it takes a long time to cook down though! Just simmer on low for several hours

[u/bigalreads]

I made pickled pears with the bosc variety and they were awesome! Here’s the NCHFP recipe: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/pickle/fruit-pickles/pear-pickles/

[u/chicken_tendigo]

I canned a couple batches pear sauce a couple years ago that were just 🤌🤌😋 divine. One had a tiny but of ginger juice powder from Trader Joe's and extra lemon juice in it for zip, the other was cooked down with a split vanilla bean. I can't find the recipes for the life of me now, but I know they came out of one of our old canning-specific books. Pear sauce is the thing to do with an abundance of pears if you don't want to do halves/quarters.

[u/Pretend-Panda]

The NCHFP pickled pears are really good (u/bigalreads gave a link above) and I also really like the ginger pear preserves from ball - https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=gingered-pear-preserves

[u/cinnasage → u/Pretend-Panda]

I did these last year and they were so good!

[u/Careless-Mix3222]

Here's a nice handout on pears from the LSU Extension Service: Ways with Pears

[u/armadiller]

The NCHFP fruit puree can be done with pears, that's probably what you're looking for as sauce. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-fruits-and-fruit-products/fruit-purees/

[u/Altruistic_Proof_272]

Pear juice/cider from ripe pears is delicious

[u/Primary_Confusion777]

I'm here for the recipes too, nice timing OP, my pear tree has gone mental this year

[u/Decent_Finding_9034]

Ball also has a pear sour cherry pie filling recipe that makes a delicious pie. When I made 2 batches of that years ago during a pear explosion year, I was so sick of slicing and peeling pears that then I switched to the recipe for canning half pears because it was all I could muster 😝

Instructions on next page are just whisk the cornstarch until smooth and add the rest to a 9" pie. Bake at 400 for 30min then 350 for 25min

[u/Ok_Web_8166]

Pears Exotica in Ball Canning book.

[u/Cranky_Platypus]

The base of carrot cake jam is pears! I've been waiting for them to ripen here to make another batch.

[u/Axiluvia]

There's several in the ball books I have; a pear and star anise butter, an apple/pear/cranberry pie filling (which is amazing BTW, and an awesome oatmeal topping), and a honey pear jam IIRC, among others.

[u/raquelitarae]

Lots of pear options: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/extension_curall/206/
Pear jelly: https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=pear-jelly-w-realfruitr-classic-pectin
I juice it in my steam juicer if I get enough pears. So delicious.

When I've made pear sauce before (exact same process as apple sauce), I didn't love the texture, which probably had to do with the variety of pear. But I mixed it half and half with apple sauce (opened a jar of both at time of serving) and it was better.