For the past few months I’ve been spending a lot of time in my kitchen working on preserving food for the winter season. We grow a lot of our own vegetables and fruits. I also buy a lot of our fresh produce from local farmers and Farmer’s Markets. I’ve been home canning for almost 30 years and really enjoy it.

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Back in October I was able to purchase a half bushel of Bartlett pears from a local Farmer’s Market for a really great price. I made homemade pear sauce, pear jam and I canned a lot of them in a light syrup for use later on. The particular recipe that I like to use is from the Ball Blue Book and it will make eight pint-size jars or four quart-size jars.

If you enjoy home canning you’ll want to check out all of our easy-to-make canning recipes right here on the TwoClassyChics blog.

Pears in Light Syrup Recipe

8 to 12 lbs. Bartlett Pears (ripe, firm, peeled, cored, halved or quartered)
1 batch of light syrup

Light Syrup: 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar 5 1/4 cups of water)

Prepare your water bath canner, jars, lids, and canning supplies. I like to use a ladle, slotted spoon, clean cotton kitchen towels, my apron, a jar lifter, magnetic seal grabber, wide mouth funnel, etc.

In a large pan, over medium-low heat, warm up the pears, one layer at a time, in syrup until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, pack hot pears in overlapping layers into hot jars, leaving 1″ of space at the top. Ladle hot syrup into jar to cover the pears, leaving 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rip, place the seal on top along with the ring, adjusting it until its fingertip tight.

Place jars one-by-one as they’re filled into your water bath canner. Lower the rack into the simmering hot water, making sure that the jars are covered by at least 1″ of water over-the-top. Cover. Turn up the heat to medium-high and bring the water to a rolling boil. Process pint jars for 20 minutes, quart jars for 25 minutes. Turn off heat, remove canner lid. Wait an additional 5 minutes and then remove the jars from the canner. I place them on a clean towel covering my counter-top. Let them cool to room temperature. Once cool, label your jars and store them in a cool, dry place.

Tips: Lay out all of your home canning supplies before you begin the recipe. You’ll need your water bath canner, glass mason jars, seals & rings, and your basic canning accessories. To go along with them an apron, clean kitchen towels, a timer, sharp paring knife, cutting board, bowls, etc.

A lot of people will cut their pears in halves, I like to cut our’s into quarters. Since its just the two of us (we’re empty nesters), I like to process them in pint-size mason jars. A larger family would use quart-size jars. You can use different type’s of pears, but I personally prefer Bartlett’s. They’re sweet, juicy and hold their shape nicely when being processed.

Canning fruit can be a messy and sticky job! You’ll want to clean up everything as soon as you’re done. Toss items into the dishwasher or hand wash in hot, soapy water to get rid of all of the sticky residue. Don’t let the dirty items sit around for hours on end. Trust me, clean-up as soon as you can!

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Along with Fall and the cooler temperatures comes canning season, at least for me. During the months of September and October I’m busy with my home canning making homemade applesauce, apple pie filling, apple butter, pumpkin butter, pear sauce, and several other goodies to stock my winter pantry.

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Earlier this month I purchased a bushel of apples at our local Farmer’s Market and got busy with my home canning. You can find my recipe for home canned Apple Butter and Creamy Applesauce right here on the blog. This recipe will yield 6 to 7 pint jars. Please see my additional notes located below the recipe.

Apples Pie Filling Recipe

10 lbs.  fresh apples
Ball Fruit-Fresh Produce Protector
4 cups granulated sugar
4 cups water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Wash, peel, core and slice apples. Some people slice them into rings but I like to peel, core and cut into wedges. Treat with Fruit-Fresh to prevent apples from darkening.

Combine granulated sugar, water and lemon juice in a large stock pot. Bring mixture to a full boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Drain apples from water and then place them into the hot syrup and let stand for 10 minutes. Bring apples and syrup to a full boil over medium to high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove apples from syrup, keep hot. Return syrup to a boil.

Layer hot apples loosely into a hot canning jar. Ladle hot syrup into the jar leaving a 1/2″ headspace. Wipe rim, add seal and add the band until it’s fingertip tight. Place jar on the rack elevated over simmering water of the canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

Lower the rack into the simmering water. The water needs to cover the top of the jars by at least 1″ in depth. Adjust heat to medium-high and bring the water to a boil. Process the jars for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove cover. Let jars sit in the hot water for an additional 5 minutes. Remove jars from the caner and place them on top of a towel on your counter to cool. If properly processed they should keep for up to 1 year. Store in a cool, dry place.

Notes: This pie filling can be used a wide variety of different ways. I will drain out the syrup and use the apples to make apple crisp, apple cobbler, fruit pies, apple dumplings, etc. You can turn it into applesauce once you open the jar…by just tossing it into the blender and blending until smooth.  Once the jar has been opened you will need to store it in your refrigerator.

Purchasing Apples: I personally like to use a combination of apples when I do my home canning. I will use 1/2 sweet eating apples and 1/2 tart baking apples. I personally like the two type’s combined. Always purchase ripe apples that don’t have any damage, mold, or bruising. Quality counts!!!

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