# What to do with "Canning" or "Stewing type" Pears?



## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

Okay, I have 2- 5 gallon buckets of these things dad brought me.
Around here their referred to as Canning pears, I looked it up and their also called stewing pairs or cooking pears:bash:.The really hard ones that never ripen and are green.


I would like to do something with them, other than can them.

Does anyone have any idea how to process them... like cooking them down or something as a sauce or something to put in the freezer?

I know this is an odd request since they are referred to as canning pears, but I really don't want to "can" them, is there any way I can fully cook them and preserve without canning?


----------



## spruceglen (May 1, 2013)

add to apples and crush for cider.


----------



## mpennington (Dec 15, 2012)

My favorite way to preserve canning pears is to dehydrate them in slices. They are easier to peel if you wait until they are ripe. Store them at room temperature until the top, next to the stem yields to gentle pressure, then process or store in the refrigerator until ready to process. Peel, halve, core and slice in 1/4" slices. I run the halved (or quartered depending on size) pears through my food processor using the 1/4" slicing blade. Dehydrate at 135 until pliable. Depending on humidity can take anywhere between 12 and 36 hours.

Nothing works for me but hand peeling as the skin is so tough and the pears are so big (most of mine are at least a pound). I like to soak the slices in pineapple juice for about 5 minutes, drain, then spin in a salad spinner until dry before placing on trays. 1/8 teaspoon of citric acid to 3 cups of water works also, but we like pineapple juice the best. I refrigerate any drained pineapple juice and use again the next day.

I also dehydrate pears in 1/2" cubes to put in spiced oatmeal, granola or trail mix or use rehydrated for cobblers and crumbles during the winter. The slices are good rehydrated for pies, but we mainly just eat as snacks.

We also freeze a lot of the cubes in snack size bags to add to smoothies. If you don't have a dehydrator, any of the above suggestions can also be frozen; we are just trying to reduce use of our freezers due to hurricanes.

If the pears are mushy and don't slice or cube well, I cook peeled and cored for about 20 minutes then process in a high speed blender and make fruit leathers. The leathers can be eaten as it, powdered and used in muffins or rehydrated and used as pear sauce.

I also cook the peels in a bit of juice for 20 minutes, then blend and dehydrate as leathers. Powdered, this makes an excellent fiber addition for muffins, pancakes and any type of quick bread.



Sent from my BNTV600 using Homesteading Today mobile app


----------



## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

Thanks for all the ideas:happy2:.

Something I wound up making and trying was "Danish Stewed Pears" if made true to the old recipes, they are made with hard canning or "culinary" Pears. They use this dish as a side dish on day 1 at room temp. and put in the fridge and then use them cold on Ice Cream. They kind of tasted like cinnamon apples when done. We liked them and they made a nice topping for vanilla ice cream.


----------



## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

I just did 4 jars of them 'rock hard' pears in a great light syrup using a couple star anise, 4 cardamom seed and a cinnamon stick. It's a wonderful flavor. And they're great! Not tough at all, but slightly firm. Better than anjou cuz they hold up in the HBW. Not as flavorful tho, but very tasty nonetheless. You do need to cook them for about 5-10 minutes in the syrup to soften them a bit before canning. The recipe said to quarter them, but when I read the cooking in the syrup part, I decided to chop them in chunks for ease of transferring into jars when hot. 
Keeper recipe.


----------

