After we finished canning all of the pears, we were ready - well, kind of - to make pear butter. We made some last summer for the first time and it was very good. The recipe is so simple. All you need is plenty of time to cook down the pears.
I saved the softest pears to use in the butter. When I was almost finished peeling them, Frank started the first half cooking. Jackie Clay has a simple, yummy recipe in her book, Growing and Canning Your Own Food.
The recipe calls for:
1/2 cup water
7 lbs. pears
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
4 cups sugar (we used 2 1/2)
Put everything in the pot and start simmering. We ended up with 11 1/2 pounds of pears so we adjusted the recipe accordingly.
We let the butter simmer all afternoon, but it still wasn't cooked down to the desired consistency. This is all a matter of preference. Here it is about half way through the day. So, into the frig it went.
Life got busy and a few days later, Frank started the butter simmering again and let it cook down for another afternoon. It cooked down to a beautiful, rich butter.
We planned to can it up that evening, but there just weren't enough hours in that day. So the next morning, after another night in the frig, it finally made it into the jars. We processed it in the water bath for 10 minutes.
Our 11/ 1/2 lbs of pears yielded 7 1/2 pints of butter.
We still have some butter left from last year, so here is a comparison.
Since we took more time to cook down the butter this year, it is a
darker color.
It is hard to tell in a picture, but this year's butter is also thicker with less liquid surrounding the fruit pulp.
We plan to go and pick more pears if there are any left. Sometimes I wonder at all of these plans we have, but we both feel a sense of urgency about doing all we are able. We will continue to can and preserve our harvest as time allows. Each new jar of food on the shelf adds to our peace of mind. What are you adding to your shelf today?
Until next time - Fern
I am making apple butter today. The neighbor across the street has a beautiful Arkansas Black Apple tree. The apples just fall and rot or get chewed on by squirrels. I couldn't stand the waste one more harvest so I went over an asked them if I could have some apples. I came home and got our ladder and got two boxes of beautiful DARK red apples. It is a secure feeling isn't it...to make and have your own food.
ReplyDeleteFern, I was wondering if you have all your storage and prep in foods you have prepped yourselves or if you also have purchased prepped food like freeze dried and dehydrated. I guess I am interested because I live in town and can't possibly do all that you are able to and didn't know if even people on farms needed to supplement their supply also. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWell, I can only speak for Frank and I. Yes, we have freeze dried and MREs as part of our storage. You never know about a harvest failure or one of us could have an accident. We feel it is wise to have a back up, and we have for many years.
DeleteGood question. Hope this helps.
Fern