Well I finally did it. I tried canning for the first time ever. And you know what? It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Canning 14 jars of pears only took about two hours from start to finish.
My parents have a pear tree at their house and tons of pears that were ready for harvest, so she and my Dad and 20 pounds of pears made their way to my house a few mornings ago. I remember growing up, my Mom would can peaches every year, it was nice to have her here with me to make sure all went smoothly.
I bought some supplies; a guide to canning book by Ball, jars, boiling water canning pot, jar lifter and sugar.
My Mom and I got busy peeling, coring and slicing pears. Mom does things old school and uses a paring knife for everything.
I, on the other hand use a vegetable peeler,
and a melon baller to core the pears.
We ended up with two bowls of sliced pears.
Then I made a light syrup to heat the pear slices before adding them to the jars. {see below} It only takes about 2-3 minutes to heat the pears through in an already simmering syrup.
Here's where you'll have to use your imagination, I don't have pictures. Lift the pear slices by the spoonful and place into warmed jars....I warmed my jars and lids in my dishwasher by running them through a cycle with a heated dry. After packing the pears into the jars, fill the jars with the extra light syrup to about 1/2 inch from the rim, remove air bubbles. Clean the rim of the jar with a clean, damp cloth and place the two part lid on, hand tight.
While filling your jars, make sure you have water boiling {or almost boiling} in the water canning pot. Place the jars on the rack and make sure the water level is one to two inches above the jar lids. Bring to a rolling boil, cover with lid and boil for 20 minutes {for pint size}.
Turn off the flame after 20 minutes and allow the jars to cool in the pot for 5 minutes. Lift the jars out and place on a clean towel on counter to let cool.
Hopefully you'll begin to hear all the lids popping to ensure a vacuum seal. This can take up to 24 hours but all of mine popped within the hour of removing them from the water.
Label with a date and you're done! I think I'll use some of these for a pie in the future. Doesn't that sound good?!
I'm moving on to jam next! Can't wait!
What do you like to can?
Supplies and Ingredients:
Boiling Water Canning Pot
Jar Lifter
Bubble remover
Sugar
2-3 pounds of Pears per quart
water
Directions:
Wash pears and drain. Peel skin, core and cut into halves or slices. Make a light syrup and keep syrup hot on stovetop. Cook pears one layer at a time in the syrup until they are hot throughout. Pack hot pears into jars, leaving about 1/2 inch headspace. Ladle hot syrup over the pears, leaving about 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, I used a butter knife. Clean the rims of the jars with a clean, damp cloth and place the two part caps on, hand tight. For quarts, boil jars for 25 minutes, covered with one to two inches of water over the lids. {for pints-20 minutes}
Turn heat off after boiling and let stand in pot for 5 minutes before removing with a jar lifter. Place on clean towel and allow to cool for 24 hours. All lids should have 'popped'.
Prep of Jars:
All jars and lids should be hot before canning. I just threw mine in the dishwasher with a heated dry at the end and that seemed to work perfectly. But you can also warm the jars and lids on the stovetop in a suace pan and stock pot as well.
Extra Light Syrup:
1 1/4 cups sugar and 5 1/2 cups water - heat on stovetop and keep warm on low.
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