Well, the first thing that went wrong was that the food processor stored at Ian’s place, which I dragged back to the Lair, flat didn’t work when plugged in. So I ended up dicing all those pear sections I’d previously spent so much time quartering. I reduced them in two batches – which took hours…
…and then when the small batch, which naturally took less time, was getting nearly ready I consolidated the batches and reduced them more. Which took hours.
It’s really kind of discouraging how little actual material you finish up with. Last time it was only worth the effort for the learning experience but this time…
…I got eight jars plus a bit. Which isn’t nothing, but I’m still not sure I’d want to do this frequently. Seriously, the whole thing took like nine hours from start to finish…
…and I’m pretty sure postwar Vietnam was in better shape than my kitchen at 8pm. It’s not often I wish for a bigger kitchen, but this really did get overwhelming in such a small space.
I used every big and biggish pot in the Lair, plus…
…Landlady’s pressure canner I brought down to sterilize jars.
That cost me a whole bottle of drinking water, but happily the hot water did double duty for cleanup…
Because I couldn’t leave that devastation for the morning. I have to cook breakfast in the morning. Speaking of which…
As a spread on toast – not bad! A nice change, anyway. I remembered that last time I got it too sweet and didn’t repeat the mistake this time.
I’m going to take a jar over to D&L’s. I don’t think they do much toast but D likes ice cream and I’ll bet this would make a great topping.
And speaking of happy neighbors…
All those pear cores didn’t go to waste.
Very nice Joel. I’m sure that D&L will like this on whatever they put it on. As for the time/effort for so little gain, you should see the amount of time and effort that goes into making maple syrup. It would blow your mind. And, yet, every fall and spring I tap our maple trees and go through the process. 🙂
I’ve found that frozen, pureed fruit, when softened a bit, makes a passable frozen-treat. Not quite ice cream, but tasty. Works with mixed fruit, pineapple, applesauce, etc. Should work with pear butter as well I’d think.
Food processors have a bunch of safety shutoffs. If you haven’t put them together EXACTLY right, they won’t work. Which is probably a good thing given the size of the blades. I would ask the owner of the processor if it works. (I bought a new coffee grinder, because I hadn’t put the old one together exactly right, and I though I had burned out the motor.)
I’ve used a crockpot to reduce apples for apple butter. Didn’t have to worry about burning or scorching and constantly stirring. It works great and sure makes the house smell good. Enjoy the fruits of your labor Joel.
Marla
Plus one on the crockpot. It makes great apple butter, and I’m sure it would do the same with pears.
Great job Joel! Inspired by your pear butter industry, I picked all my remaining apples yesterday and have apple butter slowly reducing. I added the usual cider, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. It has perfumed the entire house and will be ready to can by this afternoon. Next month, I’ll be repeating the process with the apples from the ranch. This morning, I am taking a land owner out to show her where the big petroforms are on her land. Glacial till was gathered and used to form an outline of these figures. There is a 30 meter-tall Shield Bearing Warrior on a high bench above the road. She is pretty excited about it, but cannot, at 87 years old, climb the cliff face (I sometimes need to gear up for the climb) but I can show her where the site is, there above our heads. There are also solar event alignments of boulders. This afternoon, I’ll can my apple butter.
Plus two on the crockpot. I make applesauce and pear sauce yearly with one. Quityer ithen Joel its just how its done….😉