Pear Preserves, 2018

As I have previously noted, the pear crop failed in north Georgia last year due to a late frost.  So this is my first opportunity to do anything with pears since 2016.  I have two Kieffer trees that are too young to bear, but a nearby farmers' market, Jaemor, sells them.

Back in 2016, I made preserves. I repeated the process this time around and noted again that the eight cups of pear bits didn't break down much when mashed with the potato masher, so I was essentially heating pear dices with very little liquid in them.  Per instructions from the BBB and SureJell site, I added the lemon juice and pectin initially, as well.  It had been long enough since the last time that I had forgotten this is how it was before, as well, and I put in another four tablespoons or so of lemon juice.  More acid never hurts, though it might inhibit the set. When the pot boiled I dumped in the sugar--all 10 cups' worth--and the mixture eventually turned sort of syrupy.

I cut up about 8.5-9 cups of pears and got 6.5 pints.  I happened to have a half pint jelly jar from someone who gave me some jam once, so I went ahead and used that in addition to six pint jars.  Normally I don't bother with half pint jars; they're too small.  Everything turned out well.

Pear preserves are nice, but they don't have as strong of a fruit flavor as peach preserves or (maybe) even as much as blueberry preserves.  But they're a worthy addition to the canning mix.  Over the two years since I made them last time, I've used up all but two of the pints I did back then.  That says something.