We have tons of pears. I mean almost an actual TON OF PEARS. What’s a girl to do? Preserve them, of course! So, my lovely mom-in-law and I decided to do just that. Here are two ways to stay we stayed on top of our bumper crop: canning and making sauce.
CANNING PEARS
I am not formatting this as a recipe because it’s really up to you how many pears you can. Using the water bath method, we canned our pears in water and a few jars with mulling spices. (Keep scrolling if you need to see that pear-sauce recipe now!!!)
WHAT YOU NEED:
- Pears
- Jars with lids and rims
- Baking sheet
- Medium saucepan
- Large bowl for lemon soak
- Large stock pot
- Extra-large stock pot with lid-something your jars can be submerged in
- Cutting board(s)
- A knife or two
- Hot pads
- Stirring spoons
- Tongs designed for grasping hot jars
- Lemon juice
- Lots of water!
- Spices (optional)
TO PREPARE:
- Place your jars on a baking sheet and put them the oven at 200 degrees F. This ensures you won’t shock your jars when you add the boiling water.
- In the medium saucepan, pace the lids and rims in the water and heat on medium. This is also to keep these pieces warm and make sure that the rubber is hot enough to seal properly.
- Fill the large stock pot with water, heat to a boil and hold there. This is the water that will be added to the jars to cover the pears.
- Fill the extra-large stock pot with water, heat to a boil and hold there. The jars will go in once they are filled and ready to be sealed.
- Fill a large bowl with water and about a ½ cup of lemon juice. This is to keep the cut pears from browning before placing them in jars.
DIRECTIONS:
- Wash and quarter all the pears, removing the inside core, stem and seeds, and let them sit in the lemon water until you are ready to put them into jars.
- Pull the jars out of the oven and fill them with pear quarters until they are ¾ full. Add a drop of lemon juice to each jar. Add spices during this step (optional).
- Fill the jars with boiling water, leaving a ½ inch of air space at the top.
- Submerge the jars in the extra-large stock pot and boil for 20-25 minutes—22 minutes was perfect for us.
- Once time is up, carefully remove the jars from the boiling water and tighten the caps (with hot pads!)
- Place them back on the baking sheet to cool completely. It is important not to move, shake, or in any way disturb the jars too much as it may disrupt the sealing process. Listen for the pop of the seal—a canner’s dream!
- Let them sit for a few weeks before digging in—they are good for quite some time if they are canned properly, but you will always get the best flavor during that first year.
AND NOW FOR THE SPICED PEAR-SAUCE RECIPE– so delicious!!!

Prep Time | 30 minutes |
Cook Time | 25-35 minutes |
Passive Time | 15 minutes |
Servings |
cups
|
- 8 cups pears, diced (about 20 small pears)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 TB. lemon juice
- 1 TB. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 TB. vanilla
Ingredients
|
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- Wash, core, and dice pears. Leave the peels on—that’s where the fiber is!
- Put all ingredients in the large saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Run the cooled pears through a food processor or blender until they reach your preferred consistency.
- Store in jars or freezer bags and keep in the refrigerator or freezer.
I could eat this on everything! I made a wine poached pears in my instant pot last summer and I decided pears make the perfect accompaniment! So jealous of your bumper crop!
Oh, wow! Wine poached pears sound like heaven. I may give that a try– still dealing with that bumper crop. 🙂
I’m really hoping that my pear tree will produce it’s first harvest so I can start trying these out!
For you, Jenn, I hope it does. There are endless to-die-for pear recipes out there.