Pear Butter

A little dab of a fruit butter on a piece of toast or slathered on a homemade biscuit is wonderful.  I have picked a lot of pears from my pear trees along with the pears I gathered at my aunt’s house that I have a quite of bit of pears, so I decided to make pear butter.

First, I washed the pears, removed the skins with a potato peeler, and sliced up the pears. I sliced up enough pears that looked to fill 2 quart jars. Next, I added 4 cups of sugar, 1 teaspoon of grated lime rind (orange or lemon rind would have worked as well), 1/3 cup of orange juice, and ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

I make my pear butter outdoors.

Necessary Tools: Pear Butter Recipe, Ladle, Canning Jar Lifter, Canning Lids, Wooden Spoon, Oven Mitts, and Towel

My Outdoor Firepit

Canning Rims Boiling in Hot Water for Sterilization
(I will add the canning lids when it gets closer to time to actually can the pear butter.)

Canning Jars Boiling in Water for Sterilization

I cook the pear butter until the pears are soft. Check and stir pears regularly to prevent sticking and scorching.

When pears are done cooking, I use a hand mixer to pulverize the pears to a consistency resembling apple sauce. If you want to keep with the non-electric pioneer ways you could use a potato smasher.

I pour the hot pear butter into hot sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

I then wipe the jar rims.

I add the lids and tighten to only hand tight. Do not over tighten.

I add the filled jars to boiling water and boil for about 5 minutes. I begin counting the time when it reaches a rolling boil.

To get the water to a rolling boil, I reposition my coals and add more wood.

After 5 minutes in the water bath canner, I remove the jars and let them cool. After the jars have cooled I make sure that they have sealed properly. The jar lid should be curved downward in the center. The pear butter looks great!