You do not need to cook pears before canning, you can use a raw-pack method, but here’s why I recommend using a hot pack method. Hot packing pears will give you the best quality end product, but it is unnecessary unless you’re only canning with water, not sugar.
Canning Pears Recipe Notes:
- If you would like to sweeten up your pears a bit, you can add honey to your boiling water mixture. You’ll need to play around with the amounts, depending on how many pears you are canning and how sweet you’d like them to be.
- Avoid mushy, over-ripe pears for this recipe. Firm, ripe ones are the best.
- If you aren’t going to peel your pears, I suggest selecting organic varieties, as the peel often holds many of the icky chemicals.
- Looking to can peaches without sugar too? Try my Honey Cinnamon Canned Peaches.
- Want another delicious option for canning pears without refined sugar? Try Canning Pears in Maple Syrup! (Yum!)
- If you don’t want to can whole pears, try making pearsauce instead.
- Why cold-pack instead of hot-pack? Many canned pear recipes call for you to cook the pears first. Although this is the method most often recommended, I found that many folks like to simply cold-pack their pears as well. The benefits of cold-packing are less mushy fruit and less work, although some folks complain that cold-packed pears are prone to shrink a bit after you jar them and float to the top. That doesn’t bother me much, but if you are concerned, simply cook your pears for 5 minutes in the boiling water before you place them in the jars. Proceed to fill the jars with the hot cooking liquid, and voila! You’ll have hot-packed pears.
- Does canning totally stress you out? Trust me, I have totally been there! Here are my best tips for no-stress canning.
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Can you cold pack pears for canning?
FAQ
How long to process cold pack pears?
Do pears have to be hot packed?
What is the best method for canning pears?
Should you pack pears hot or cold?
Every home canning pears recipe calls for hot packing. Neither Ball nor the USDA recommends cold or raw packing pears. Hot packing is not only safer; it also makes it easier to pack the fresh fruit into the hot jars. With hot packing, there is a lower risk of floating fruit than with the raw packed method.
Are pears healthy?
Yes, the pear is one of the fruits richest in fiber and phenolic compounds, there are several benefits of the pear for health, the main ones being the relief of intestinal constipation, cholesterol and blood glucose control and a well-strengthened immune system.
Can pears be canned?
Pears can be canned in several types of syrup. (This is the syrup that goes in the jars) It is actually optional, you could just use water, but if you use water the flavor will wash out of the pears and the results might be less than satisfactory. Pears are pretty fragile so some sort of syrup will also help the pear to maintain a better texture.
Do you need to cook pears before canning?
You may be wondering if you need to cook pears before canning. This is considered hot-packing pears, when you boil them slightly before adding them to your canning jars. You do not need to cook pears before canning, you can use a raw-pack method, but here’s why I recommend using a hot pack method.