I knew it was going to boil down to not very much. I wouldn’t know how much not very much was till I got there.
I sterilized five jars and hoped I wasn’t being too comically optimistic…
…and to my shock that was just right. I ended up with four and a half jars of pear butter. Gave one to the goat people from whom I scrounged the jars. Plan to give another to Landlady if she wants it: She eats vegan a lot and I’m not certain this qualifies. That leaves me with 2 and a half jars.
And as for the product…
Not bad, really! A little sweet for my taste, didn’t need quite as much brown sugar as I used and I didn’t think I was using very much at all. But a nice change. It won’t rot on the shelf.
It didn’t take as long as I feared, either. I simmered the pears in a cup of water and a little lemon juice for an hour and a half then mashed them with a potato masher and my electric mixer, added cinnamon and brown sugar and simmered it for about another hour till I got the consistency I was looking for. Had to borrow Landlady’s big pressure canner for a pot big enough to sterilize five jars at once, and that took nearly a whole bottle of drinking water though I got double duty out of it for washup.
Altogether, a successful project! I should maybe look at doing this more, and would if new jars weren’t so damned expensive. Compared to buying canned goods from the dollar store it’s not cost effective.
I’m glad the pears didn’t all go to waste. Enjoy!
Any glass jar you get from the store, take a regular lid-n-ring and see if you can screw it down tight. You might want to get a wide-mouth lid-n-ring, also. This is how my mother got extra canning jars. She didn’t use them to pressure can anything, because most of those jars are thinner glass than canning jars. But they work great for tomatoes, pickles and fruit concoctions. And yes, I know, those jars are not USDA approved but they work for what myself, my mother, my aunts and probably my grandmothers used them for.
One other thought, since the pear tree was so prolific this year don’t be surprised if you don’t get much fruit setting next year. Pears in my experience produce every other year.
Okay, last thought, I learned to work my pears the same day I picked them. Because fruit I thought was sound, would be buggy if I let them go a couple of days. Enjoy your pear butter!
Cool!
“Compared to buying canned goods from the dollar store it’s not cost effective.”
Thank you for giving me the excuse to not try home canning, Joel!
I’ve gotten quite a few canning jars at yard sales, Goodwill, auctions, friends cleaning out barns & garages, etc. The problem now is getting replacement lids. I’ve started re-using lids, one or two at a time. New jars are a one-time purchase, so the cost is worth it.
Fortunately the crappy little town near me is filled with Mormons like creamy filling in a Twinkie, so canning supplies are seldom rare. I had no problem finding a box of new lids, I just balked at the price of new jars.
Joel, Why would your pear butter not be vegan?
I just don’t know what ‘vegan’ is and isn’t. Maybe sugar isn’t vegan for all I know.