{canning} pears, pears, pears!

It's that time of year again! One of my favorite! Fall! The cooler temps, the need for a sweatshirt and jeans, the crunchy colorful leaves, apple crisp and of course, pears!

Apparently, pears were not as plentiful this year so it took some work to track them down, but I found some! Whew! We'd eaten all of the pears I canned last year and needed to get some more into storage.
So, over the course of 2 days I processed these 116 bears into 24 quarts. That's the most I've ever done but I'm so excited about them! They are so delicious and everyone at my house LOVES them!

Here's the pear recipe I use.

Pears

Prep time: approx 20 minutes PER quart
Processing time: 30 minutes, water bath canner OR steam canner
Yield: makes 2.5 to 3 lbs pears per quart

Note: You know your PEARS are ready when they are firm, but yellow with some green spots.

Prep work:

1. Fill steam canner to reach the grate, put on lid and bring to a simmer. 
2. Wash lids and rings in hot soapy water. Rinse. Assemble lids and arrange in a small saucepan. Fill with water until 1" above lids. Heat on med/low until you see steam coming off them (they should NOT boil), then turn them on LOW until you need them.
3. Run jars through the dishwasher and leave them there until you need them (to keep them sanitary). OR, wash them, then place them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven on LOW or WARM until you need them.
4. Wash pears, and lay them out on a towel on your counter to dry. (Jackson was a HUGE help with this. I think he liked helping me with our afternoon of pears. It was a lot of good time together. He's such a sweet good boy. I enjoyed the company with this task. We make a great team!)
5.  Make your syrup.

Light syrup: 
2 1/4 c. Sugar
5 1/2 c. water

Directions:

1. Combine sugar and water in a stockpot. 
2. Stir occasionally. Once it boils a little, turn it to low until ready to use. 

Prep work, continued:
6. Continue prepping your pears. Fill a BIG bowl with cool water. Add 1 t. Fruit Fresh to water. Peel your pears. (I found using a VEGETABLE PEELER works WONDERFULLY well! That way you keep as much of the pear as possible). Then scoop out the seeds with a melon baller (GREAT TRICK TOO!), cut out stem and blossom end with knife. Cut in half, and place in your water bowl. Depending on the size of the pear, you made need to quarter your pears so they'll fit in the jars.
7. When you are ready to pack your pears, remove them from this water bowl. (Don't add this liquid to your canning syrup. This fruit fresh water they've soaked in will turn your pears snowy white when you process them.)

NOTE: When this water bowl is empty of pears, add another 1 t. fruit fresh as you continue prepping your next batch of pears. Do this EACH time, with each batch of pears, to keep them snowy white. (I learned if I DON'T do this, my pears turn a bit pinky.)

RAW PACK:
8. Pack pears gently into hot jars, shaking gently to settle them and make more room at the top of the jar. Leave 1/2" headspace. ladle hot syrup over pears, leaving 1/2" headspace. Remove air bbble with a non-metallic know or bubble release tool. Wipe screw bands and rim. Adjust 2 piece cap. Process quarts 30 minutes (pints 25 minutes).
9. Turn canner to HIGH. When you see a stream of steam projecting 4" from the vent (steam canner) begin counting. Process then let cool 5 minutes in canner before you remove them to a towel on the counter to cool 24 hours. Cover with another towel to prevent jars from breaking by house drafts or a/c.
10. Once they are cooled, check to make sure they've all sealed. If not, put them in the fridge and DEVOUR within 2 weeks.
11. Store in a cool, dark, dry place. Best taste and color if used within 1 year.


For this batch of 116 pears, I made a quadruple batch of syrup (9 c. sugar to 21 c. water) in my BIG soup pot.