Old Fashioned Pear Preserves Recipes

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.

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!

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.

GRANDMA'S PEAR PRESERVES

Steps:

• Sterilize jars and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Let simmer while making jam.
• In a large saucepan, combine pears, water, and lemon juice. Cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in pectin, and bring to a full boil. Stir in the white sugar, and continue boiling and stirring uncovered for 1 minute, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in brown sugar, allspice, and nutmeg.
• Quickly fill jars to within 1/2 inch of the top. Wipe rims clean, and top with lids. Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes to seal.

FIG OR PEAR PRESERVES...THE OLD FASHIONED WAY

Steps:

• Preparing the fruit: *For Figs...wash and slice. Small figs cut in half. Large figs cut into fourths. *For Pears...peel and slice. *Get out a large pot you plan on cooking them in. *Get out a medium size bowl for measuring.
• Measuring: Use the same bowl to measure fruit and sugar. Put into large pot three (3) parts fruit to one (1) part sugar. Be sure to use the pot you're going to be cooking them in. Cover with lid and let stand overnight (not refrigerated) or for 10 to 12 hours to allow the sugar to melt.
• Getting started: Remove lid and stir. Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of lemon juice and stir again. This just makes them a beautiful golden color but it's your choice whether to use it or not. I normally always use it.
• Cooking: Cook on medium-high without the lid. You want a steady rolling boil, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to bottom of pot. Boil for 1 1/2 hours to 4 hours, depending on amount of fruit you have. A smaller amount won't take as long so use your own judgement.
• Jar them: Laddle them into clean jars and seal tightly. If you want you can turn the jars upside down for 15 minutes then right side up but it's really not necessary. A lot of older people used to do this. (It is not necessary to do a water bath with this recipe). You should hear them "pop" within 30 to 40 minutes. If you have one that doesn't seal, just put it in the fridge.
• Tips: I start checking them after they have cooked for about an hour and a half or so. I put a small amount into a cup and let it get cool to see how runny it is. I keep doing this so I'll know when they're the consistency I want. In the meantime, I put my jars, lids and rings into the dishwasher on the rinse cycle. This way they are sterile. Be sure they are absolutely dry before filling. Also, I always carefully remove the rings before storing. You can reuse the rings but not the lids. Good luck.