Since I was a young child, this pear jam has been my favorite jam. When I was younger, my family moved around a lot, so my grandma would give us this jam to make us feel like we were still close to Grandma’s house. I enjoy it best on toast prepared from scratch or on peanut butter and jam sandwiches.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 64 |
| Yield: | 8 (1/2-pint) jars |
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups mashed ripe pears
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons powdered fruit pectin
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 7 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 8 half-pint canning jars with lids and rings, or as needed
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients.
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- Mix pears, lemon juice, fruit pectin, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg in a large heavy pot; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
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- Add sugar all at once, stirring, and bring back to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute.
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- Mix in butter to settle foam.
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- Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes.
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- Pack the pear jam into the hot, sterilized jars, filling the jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with lids, and screw-on rings.
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- Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil and lower jars into the boiling water using a holder. Leave a 2-inch space between the jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary to bring the water level to at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a rolling boil, cover the pot, and process for 10 minutes.
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- Remove the jars from the stockpot and place onto a cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press the top of each lid with a finger, ensuring that the seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Store in a cool, dark area.
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Reviews
Home grown pears are so sweet that I only needed 3-1/2 cups sugar and half the spices. Recipe is pear-fecto. Definitely a keeper.
It taste delicious! I had two bags of Sand pears from my son’s tree. My husband and I peeled them all and I ended up cutting up about 5 apples as well to add to the mix. I multiplied each ingredient × 6 except for the cloves and sugar. I used about 3 teaspoons of ground cloves and 11 cups of sugar. It made 39 (1/2 pints). Mine has the texture and taste of applebutter. But it is really tasty!
So horrendously sweet it is unusable. I even cut back on the sugar because my gut told me it was too much. I’m heartbroken about wasting some of the best pears I’ve ever had on it, in addition to an hour of my life. I even like really sweet sweets ~ I’m not a no-sugar nut. I suggest using 1/4 of the amount in the recipe. I also eliminated all spices except for a dash of cinnamon. If a fruit is really good, you don’t need to drown it in camouflage.
Super easy and delicious!
Wow!!! First time making pear jam ever! Followed the recommendations from others to half the spices and add. full packet of sure gel… PERFECT! Tastes amazing!!
This was a Christmas gift for my teacher friends! We are all teaching online and they need something sweet because this year has been sour!!
This was my first time making jam, or canning anything, hoenstly. Per the other reviews, I halved the spices, but I added three jalapenos (seeds and membranes included) for some heat. It didn’t firm up to regular jam consistency, so maybe I should have used the whole packet of pectin. But, that said, it is suuuuuuper delicious!
The spices overpowered the pear taste in my opinion. Very sweet
To much sugar cut in three cut the spoce on half
Can’t wait to taste this jam!! I also cut down on the sugar to 3 cups and I was also short of 1/2 of pears. I did use all the spices, so CHEERS!
Love the recipe and final produc
Excellent recipe! According to my daughter “tastes like Christmas!”. Only adjustment required – add only half the sugar.
I love this recipe. The kids, husband, and grandparents all love it as well. It tastes like fall. I did reduce the sugar to 4.5 cups, but didn’t make any other changes. Thanks for the recipe!
Waiting on the cooling process added apples to receipe.
I made this recipe with 3 times the everything but only twice the sugar and it turned out more like pear sauce than jam, but I have to admit that I don’t have proper canning equipment so i just pour the hot goop into ball jars and let them cool to vaccuum seal. This time I am trying it with more pectin – 1tbls per cup of fruit and a 16 oz package (approx 3 cups according to my pyrex cup measure) of organic Coconut sugar. Fingers crossed. 🙂
The taste is absolutely amazing!!! I was worried that the recipe didn’t call for enough fruit pectin. The jam is still a little warm and a little thin. HOWEVER, I put a small bowl of it in the frig and it set up wonderfully!! I’m being impatient. I would absolutely recommend this recipe to everyone. Best jam recipe ever!
Don’t substitute sugar with Stevia (Diabetics) unless you have a sieve for straining after adding it and boiling. Stevia floats around in clumps. I substituted 3 C. Stevia + 1 C. Honey because Diabetes IS an issue. Like another, the powder pectin called for wasn’t enough; used whole packet. Hoping it sets up better when jars have cooled.
I did like the others, I used 4-1/2 cups of sugar and half the spices. It was great, but next time I will use 4 cups of sugar and will use the the entire box of Sur-Jell, There was about a tsp or so left over when I used 3 tbs that the recipe called for. It wasn’t as thick as I would have really liked.
Mine turned into pear sauce????
Ohhh forgotten about also instead of 7 1/2 cups surger i decreased it to 4 1/2 cups. Used the oven sterilizing of jars and lids than turning jars upside down for 6min than rite side up till cool instead of boiling. Sorry for got to throw that comment in. Lol This jam is sooooo good!! Thank you for sharing this gem!! All my husband and I can say is…Mmmm!
Reduced sugar to 3 cups and cut spices in half which, along with having very juicy pears this year, meant that we got sauce instead of jam. Which is perfect on the Acadian Vanilla ice cream we get from a local ice cream factory. I did simmer for at least twice as long too. Mostly because I liked the smell. Our pear tree was very prolific this year so, I’m going to try for another batch.