Pear Sauce
A simple, single-ingredient recipe for pear sauce that's perfect for water bath canning.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs. pears about 5 or 6 medium-sized pears
- 1/2 cup water or apple/pear juice
Instructions
- Wash, peel, and core the pears and then cut into chunks.
- Add the cut-up pear chunks and 1/2-cup of water to a heavy-bottomed saucepan or a Dutch oven.
- Simmer the pear pieces over medium heat until softened, anywhere from 30-50 minutes.
- Blend the pears and concentrated juice with a stick blender or process using food mill — the pear sauce can be chunky or smooth.
- Carefully ladle the hot pear sauce into a prepared 1-pint jar, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
- Wipe the jar rim and apply two-piece lids until fingertip-tight; load the jar into the canner and process for 15 minutes (or see chart below).
- Turn off water bath canner and let the pear sauce rest in the hot water for 5 minutes before removing.
- Let the pear sauce cool to room temperature (about 12 hours) and then check the seal of the jar. Store unsealed pear sauce in the refrigerator and use within a week. Store sealed pear sauce in a cool, dark place away from direct light — enjoy within 18 months.
Notes
Feel free to increase this recipe to much larger batch size. Just multiply the ingredients by the number of pints you'd like as a yield. I've made this a super small batch on purpose so that you can adjust as necessary. It takes roughly 2 1/2 pounds of fresh pears to make a pint of finished pear sauce. Once prepared, that 2 1/2 pounds is equal to
about 5 cups of peeled, cored, and diced fruit. If you want a standard 9-pint canner batch, multiply the recipe by 9 and start with about 22 1/2 pounds of fruit. Similarly, for a 7-quart canner batch, you'd need about 35 pounds of fruit. Pears cook down considerably and have a lot of juice. That means you need a lot to start with to make near sauce, but you also get an amazingly sweet, concentrated flavor without added sugar.
about 5 cups of peeled, cored, and diced fruit. If you want a standard 9-pint canner batch, multiply the recipe by 9 and start with about 22 1/2 pounds of fruit. Similarly, for a 7-quart canner batch, you'd need about 35 pounds of fruit. Pears cook down considerably and have a lot of juice. That means you need a lot to start with to make near sauce, but you also get an amazingly sweet, concentrated flavor without added sugar.
Altitude Adjustments
- 0 to 1000 feet in elevation - 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet in elevation - 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet in elevation - 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts
- Above 6,001 feet in elevation - 25 minutes for pints, 35 minutes for quarts