Here it is autumn and I’m wondering where summer actually was. Never mind, there still seemed to be an abundance of fruit which is ongoing – we still have plenty of plums and quinces that are ripening all over the countryside – down hidden laneways, out in paddocks, often with fruit falling to the ground for the heavily laden branches. People who own the trees are generally very generous with the excess fruit so I’m soon to head to the stove to make this year’s quince jelly and quince cheese from a boxful I was given a couple of days ago.
However, in the meantime there seems to be an abundance of pears about. I love to pickle and spice them such as I have written about in an earlier post, but many people have asked about preserving (bottling) them, so this post deals with the process for doing so. I love preserved pears for breakfast with cereal and yoghurt, for dessert with custard or ice cream or in a pear tart (with caramel sauce).
Pears can tend to discolour once they are peeled and cored and waiting to go into the bottles. You can help prevent this by soaking them in water that has a little lemon juice added. Try using 2 tablespoons lemon juice per litre of water. I find the best way to avoid this discolouration is to fill one jar at a time with the pears, covering them immediately with the preserving syrup. I then don’t need to bother with the lemon juice/water soaking.
Here is the method for actually preserving them:
- Peel and core the pears, then cut in half lengthways
- Place rings on clean preserving jars
- Choose and make the selected preserving syrup (see below), adding 1 teaspoon citric acid to every 8 cups of preserving liquid
- Layer the pear halves neatly and firmly in bottles
- Pour the preserving liquid over the pears right to the brim
- Place lids on jars and secure with clips, or if using screw top jars, screw lids on, then release half a turn
- Place in preserving outfit and fill the preserver with cold water to just under the lid of the bottle
- Bring to 90°C, making sure that this takes at least 45 minutes and hold at this temperature for one hour for jars containing up to 12 cups of product, an extra 30 minutes for larger
- Remove from preserver and place on a wooden board. If using screw top jars, screw lid on tightly now
- Leave to stand for 24 hours
- Remove clips (if used). Check that lids are concave (this means that they have been preserved effectively)
Preserving liquid
** The liquid can be water, fruit juice or sugar syrup. Sugar quantity in syrups can vary according to personal taste:
Light Syrup: one part sugar, four parts water
Medium Syrup: one part sugar to two parts water
Heavy Syrup: equal parts sugar and water.
I make this syrup up in a plastic jug. For a heavy syrup half fill the jug with sugar, add enough boiling water to dissolve the sugar, then fill the remainder of the jug with cold water, then stir in the citric acid. The syrup is then ready to use.
sallywise.com.au 
Hi Sally, have you recipe for preserving pears in the oven please ?
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Hi Katrina,
Food authorities no longer recommend preserving fruit in the oven, deeming it to be unsafe with an increased risk of spoilage and even botulism. So sorry, I don’t have an answer for you on that one.
Sally
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Hi Sally
I am searching for a recipe/method for preserving pureed pears. My children like this on their porridge every morning, so we go through a lot of them, and I’d prefer to bottle them already pureed and without sugar. I’m wondering if I need to add citric acid or perhaps even orange juice (I don’t think they’d like lemon). Also, my jars are 1 litre, so I’m not sure how long I’d need to preserve for.
Any tips?
Thanks
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Hi Fiona – I am flat out for the next couple of days, but by Wednesday I will reply to you with a comprehensive recipe for preserving pear puree (sugarless).
Regards
Sally
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Here you go Fiona. You can add sugar to the puree if you want.
Preserving Pureed Pears
Peel, core and slice or dice the pears and cook with just a little water until soft. Purée with a stick blender if desired.
(Optional) – if you don’t want the purée to discolour, add ½ teaspoon citric acid sor 2 tablespoons lemon juice to each 2 litres of puree.
Pour into preserving jars (put rings on first if using Fowlers jars). Put on lids and clips as appropriate to jars you are using.
Place jars in preserver, cover with lukewarm water and over 50 minutes bring up to 90 degrees C and hold at this temperature for one hour. If you have a thermostat controlled preserver, set temperature to 90 degrees C and leave for 1¾ hours.
Remove from preserver and then leave undisturbed for 24 hours
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Hello Sally,
Can I preserve quinces in fowlers jars without cooking them first?
Regards Judy
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You certainly can.
Regards
Sally
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Hi Sally
I have a huge pear tree with masses this year. They are mottly green, very hard and eventually ripen for eating (just delicious) I would like to preserve some. Have tried in past and they go mushy. As I don’t know their type can you tell me when I should bottle them ie hard, medium?
poached some whole for 45 mins when quite hard and they turned out really good. What do you think please?
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Best stage to preserve them is when they are still quite firm, medium at best. They will be absolutely delicious.
Regards
Sally
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I have a problem that the top layer of preserved pears becomes discoloured after they are cooled and stored in the pantry.
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Hi Sally,
I wish to preserve quinces in a syrup of
verjuice, honey, sugar, orange juice and spices. If I were to cook the syrup and pour over the quinces which have been packed into the Fowlers jars, would this be the correct process?
Would the cooking time be an hour at 90 degrees as you have described above?
Regards
Penny
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Yes, that would work Penny
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Sally, thanks for these very clear instructions. I am new to bottling and have an old-style stove top steriliser. I followed your method for bottling pears yesterday, but didn’t manage to keep the temperature consistent – it fluctuated between about 84 and 92. Is this OK or risky?
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Yes, that should be fine. Keep an eye on them though because 88 is really as low as they should go – a lot depends on how long it remained at the lower temperature. I would use them within the next few weeks to be safe. Regards, Sally
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Hi Sally, Would it be possible to boil in a large pot on the stove rather than a preserving outfit? Best, Sarah
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Yes that’s fine Sarah. You will need to put a rack onto the bottom of the pot to protect the base of the jars from the intense heat of the hotplate.
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I don’t have a preserving outfit yet and am water bathing in a large pot. How long would you recommend to do this for? I know it doesn’t have to be as long as a Fowlers unit because it is boiling at a higher temperature.
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I have a reference book here that gives instructions for the amount of time the jars should be boiled. I will look it up to make sure I have the details right in my head (and not just run on memory). I will get back to you within the next couple of days. Regards, Sally
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Apologies for taking so long to get back to you. I have sourced several references on this since I last replied to you. Although the jars will be boiling (simmering) there is not a great deal of difference in the length of preserving time. I have prepared a chart based on the Fowlers recommendations – size and capacity of jars and how long to keep at temperature. I can send that to you if you email me at sally@sallywise.com.au. Other sources say similarly – the simmering point they speak of is 95 degrees. I think the chart I’ve prepared is the best one to apply to your situation, keeping in mind that the time to get up to simmering point must be at least 50 minutes. Then the amount of time to boil should be easy to ascertain from the chart I’ll send. Hope this helps.
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