Old Fashioned Pear Preserves Food

PEAR PRESERVES

Steps:

• In a stockpot, combine pears, sugar, water and lemon juice; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until mixture reaches a thick, spreadable consistency. , Remove from heat. Ladle hot mixture into seven hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight., Place jars into canner, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

PEAR PRESERVES

Steps:

• Boil 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water together for 15 minutes.
• Add pears and sliced lemon and cook 15 minutes.
• Add remaining sugar and water and cook until pears are clear and transparent and syrup is thick.
• Pack into clean hot jars and seal at once.

OLD-TIME PEAR PRESERVES

Steps:

• Peel and dice pears.
• Put in large pot and cover with sugar.
• Let set overnight.
• The next day, add lemon juice and bring to a rapid boil.
• Turn heat to low and let slow cook 5 to 6 hours, till it turns light brown.
• Bring back to a boil and quickly ladle into jars and seal.
• For a no-fail seal, invert jars for 5 minutes.

OLD-FASHIONED PEAR PRESERVES

Steps:

• Day 1:.
• Peel and core pears. Slice or dice into pieces of desired size.
• Place pears in a large bowl and add an equal amount of sugar by weight (e.g. 4 lbs of pears = 4 lbs of sugar) Add juice of one lemon. Zest is optional, but adds a nice flavor. Stir gently to distribute sugar. Leave in refrigerator overnight. Stir several times to coat fruit with syrup.
• Day 2:.
• Place pears and syrup in a large pot. Bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer and cook an additional 15-20 minutes until pears are translucent and candied. Turn off heat and leave pears in syrup overnight (no need to refrigerate). Place a clean dish towel under pot lid to prevent condensation.
• Day 3:.
• Remove pears from syrup, straining all syrup back into the pot. Bring syrup to a boil and cook to desired thickness (usually around 220 degrees). Test doneness by dropping syrup onto a frozen plate. It should gel almost immediately. When ready add pears back to syrup and remove from heat. Stir gently for approximately 10 minutes as preserves cool. This will keep the fruit distributed in the syrup and prevent it floating to the top of your jars.
• Place preserves in sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch of head space. If packing hot jars, process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes. For cold jars, process 10 minutes.
• Leave jars undisturbed for 24 hours to cool and set. Enjoy!

FRESH PEAR PRESERVES

Steps:

• In a stockpot, combine pears, sugar, water and lemon juice; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until mixture reaches a thick, spreadable consistency.
• Remove from heat. Ladle hot mixture into seven hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight.
• Place jars into canner, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool. Yield: 7 half-pints.

OLD-FASHIONED PEACH PRESERVES

Steps:

• Slice, peel, ripe hard peaches (about 10 large).
• Combine fruit and sugar; let stand about 12 to 18 hours (overnight is better) in a cool place.
• Sterilize canning jars.
• Bring fruit and sugar mixture slowly to bowling, stirring frequently. Boil gently until fruit become CLEAR and syrup thick, about 40 minutes.
• As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.
• Skim (if necessary).
• Pour hot preserves into jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space.
• Wipe jar rims and adjust lids.
• Process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.
• Makes about 7 half-pints jars.