Franklin County

   September 2009
 

Perfectly preserved pears every time

Pears are juicy and plentiful during fall months, and tasty eaten
out-of-hand. Extra pears are excellent canned, frozen, dried, pickled,
or as sweet spread products.

Best varieties of pears for canning include Bartlett, Bosc, Anjou, and Comice. Keiffer is acceptable. Seckel pears are suitable for pickled and spiced products.

Quantity. A bushel weighs 50 pounds and yields 16 to 25 quarts. Use about 171⁄2 pounds  pears for a 7-quart canner load, or about 11 pounds for a 9-pint canner load.  Plan to use 21⁄2 pounds per quart. An average of 11⁄2 pounds of pears makes 1 pint of frozen pears.

Quality. Pears are harvested before they are ready to eat. Unless refrigerated, they will ripen within 7 to 14 days. For best quality, sort pears often and preserve them as they ripen to an ideal maturity for eating fresh. Pears are best if canned by the hot pack method.  Raw packed pears are of poor-quality.

Canning. Choose ripe, mature fruit of ideal quality for eating fresh or cooking.  Pears may be packed in either a light or medium syrup, or pack in unsweetened apple or white grape juice.

Wash and peel pears Cut lengthwise in halves and remove core. A melon baller, or metal measuring spoon works well for coring pears.

To prevent darkening, hold pears in a mixture of water and ascorbic acid.  Mix together 1
teaspoon of crystalline ascorbic acid, or six 500-milligram vitamin C tablets in 1 gallon of water.

Syrup pack. For a light syrup, in a large pot, combine 2 1⁄4 cups of sugar with 9 cups of water and bring to a boil  to dissolve; for a medium syrup use  3 3⁄4 cups of sugar and  8 1⁄4 cups of water and heat until dissolved. Yields enough syrup for 9 quarts canned pears.

Place drained fruit in boiling syrup, juice, or water and boil for 5 minutes. Pack pears hot into jars (raw packs make poor quality pears).  Fill clean jars with hot fruit and cooking liquid, leaving 1⁄2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe sealing edge of jars with a clean, damp paper towel. Add lids and tighten screw bands. Process in a boiling water bath canner.

Process pints for 20 minutes, and quarts for 25 minutes in a boiling water canner at 0 to 1,000 feet in altitude. At 1,000 to 3,000 feet in altitude, process pints for 25 minutes and quarts for 30 minutes, in  a boiling water canner.

Freezing. Select full-flavored pears that are crisp and firm, not mealy in texture. Wash, peel and core. Slice medium pears into twelve sections, large ones into sixteen.

Heat pears in boiling, 40% syrup, for one to two minutes, depending on size of pieces. Drain and cool. Pack pears into containers and cover with 40% syrup. For a better product, add 3/4 teaspoon crystalline ascorbic acid to each quart of syrup. Leave headspace, seal and freeze.

For a medium syrup, heat together 3 cups of sugar in 4 cups water until dissolved.  For a light (30 percent syrup) use heat 2 cups of sugar with 4 cups of water until dissolved. Cool before using.

Drying Pears. Select ripe, firm fruit. Bartlett variety is recommended. Wash fruit well. Pare, if desired. Cut in half lengthwise and core. Cut in quarters or eighths or slice 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Dip in ascorbic acid or other anti-darkening/ antimicrobial solution for 10 minutes. Remove and drain. Arrange in single layer on trays with pit side up. Dry in electric dehydrator until springy and suede-like with no pockets of moisture. When dry, allow fruit to “condition” for four to 10 days before packaging for storage. See GH1563 Drying Foods at Home http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=GH1563 for storage and pasteur-
ization directions.

Source:  Let’s Preserve Pears. The Pennsylvania State University 2004, GH1502 Quality for Keeps: Freezing Fruits, University of Missouri Extension 1998, GH1455 Fruitful Canning University of Missouri Extension 2001

Return to the main Franklin County page
		University of Missouri Extension Franklin County Site maintained by: Billie Jo Brenner, brennerbj@missouri.edu Last revised: 07/02/08