Grandma’s recipe for pear preserves is provided below. She always cooked them for the family and grew up in a rural area in NC. I sincerely hope you savor them as much as we have!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 12 hrs |
| Total Time: | 12 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 48 |
| Yield: | 6 half pints |
Ingredients
- 6 cups peeled, cored, and sliced pears
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 (2 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin
- 8 cups white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Inspect six 8-ounce jars for cracks and rings for rust, discarding any defective ones. Immerse in simmering water for 10 minutes. Wash new, unused lids and rings in warm, soapy water.
- Meanwhile, combine pears, water, and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in pectin, and bring to a full boil. Stir in white sugar; boil and stir until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in brown sugar, allspice, and nutmeg.
- Pack pear preserves into hot, sterilized jars, filling to within 1/2 inch of the top. Run a clean knife or thin spatula around the insides of the jars to remove any air bubbles. Wipe rims with a moist paper towel to remove any residue. Top with lids and screw rings on tightly.
- Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil and lower jars 2 inches apart into the boiling water using a holder. Pour in more boiling water to cover jars by at least 1 inch. Bring to a rolling boil, cover, and process for 10 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the stockpot and let rest, several inches apart, for 12 to 24 hours. Press the center of each lid with a finger to ensure the lid does not move up or down. Remove the rings for storage and store in a cool, dark area.
Reviews
Followed it exactly and with the powdered pectin as it states. It turned out perfect! Nothing syrupy about this recipe as some have said so possibly they aren’t using the proper pectin or bringing it to a full boil. It should boil aggressively.
reduced sugar to 4 cups and deleted nutmeg. Reduced the all spice to 1 tsp and added 1 tsp of cinnamon. Great flavor but way too liquidy.
This recipe is amazingly easy. Thank you .
None this was the way my mom always made them
This recipe makes a delicious preserve! Easy too! After reading quite a few reviews I did make a couple of adjustments. 1) Used 8 cups cut up pears because I wanted to use up what I had. 2) Used 5 cups of regular sugar and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar. 3) Only used 3/4 teaspoon each of the spices, adding cinnamon to the mix. I simmered the pears for about 25-30 minutes then mashed, leaving some small pieces of pear. This recipe made 7 half pint and 2 pint jars of the preserves. It is a thicker syrupy kind of preserve…..perfect for pancakes, muffins, toast, on ice cream, etc. Definitely a keeper!!
Love the spiciness! However, as others have previously commented, I had way more syrup than pears–which floated to the tops of the jars. I tried another recipe which used more than twice the amount of pears and half the sugar. I still have more pears so will play with both recipes.
I’m 62 years old and grew up canning everything…vegetables, fruits, etc. There is no way this recipe is correct. WAY too much sugar. All you get is syrup. I plant fruit trees and have several on my property. I couldn’t wait too can some pears from a tree that I planted 3 years ago. This was its first harvest so not many pears. I’m so disappointed that I used this recipe. Terrible to say the least. So sorry for the bad review. I’ve never done this before but you need to correct this recipe as it just can’t be right.
Great
Loved the recipe! Very easy to follow. I made a couple of changes. I reduced the sugar by 2 cups, using 6, instead of 8. I also halved the amount of allspice and nutmeg. They were still plenty sweet and they had the right amount of spice for my taste. They really taste like the pear preserves my Grandma used to make!
This recipe was great!! I did two batches; one with the spices and one without. Very easy to follow and we’re happy with the results. Donna
These are delicious as the recipe was written. My husband and I made 12 jars of Spiced Pear preserves and even canned the leftover syrup to use on pancakes and waffles.It is delicious!!!
Wow, this is amazing. So refreshing with the allspice in the background. Warm and refreshing tastem
I’m from a very small town called Phil Campbell,AL and folks my age are considered can openers not biscut makers but I’m different ima biscut make from scratch biscut makers so I had to try making this. Me,my family and my friends loved it . I did make one small change I didn’t have allspice so I mixed cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg together as a substitute for it . The preserves turned out amazing thanks for the recipe.
Tastes good but even using powdered pectin and trying mashed pears, it’s quite syrupy.
I just made this with a few tweaks. I used 8 cups of pears, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1/2 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon each of allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon, 1 1/2 boxes of Surejell. It came out great!
I like this recipe. Easy to follow. Great flavor.
Taste delicious!!! I enjoyed
I have made this, and it is DELICIOUS! I will definately make this again..
No I didn’t make any changes and yes I will make it again
I made this today and it is good but…..I had to tweak a few things. First I did not no way use 8 cups of sugar! I only used 2 1/2 to 3 cups sugar. Also, it doesn’t state it in the recipe but you definitely need to mash the pears some once they get soft. I like a few small chunks left but not big ones. One last thing, I think I should have used a little less Allspice. It was a tad over powering BUT THAT’S MY OPINION!! All in all though this is a great fall recipe to make with your pears.
I forgot to say what to do with the peels and cores: Cover with sugar, 1 tbs lemon juice, and refrigerate overnight. Cook as you would the pear preserves, but strain the syrup into pint jars and process as pears for pear honey.