# What to do with ripe pears....



## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I got a bunch of pears from a neighbor. I want to either can them or freeze them for pies or make pear butter.
The problem is that a few are now ripe & the others are still green & hard as rocks.
What should I do with the ripe one's to keep them from going bad while I wait for the green one's to ripen?
It doesn't look like there all going to ripen at all close to each other.


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## Use Less (Nov 8, 2007)

You really can't do anything to get the ripe ones to hold till the others catch up. Just go ahead & eat them, or make a small batch of some kind of jam, preserve or conserve. I've tried pie & crisp from ripe pears, but it wasn't that yummy. Lacks the nice mix of sweet & tart in other kinds of pies. Maybe mix w/apples? DH peeled & quartered enough ripe pears to fill a canning jar, then covered w/vodka. In a few weeks, he'll drain & mix w/ sugar syrup for pear liquer. Sue PS My pears ripened a few at a time, then 8 or 10, then the last flat pretty much together, so that's what I canned. It's good to mix some not-quite-ripe when canning, to keep the acid up. Or add an acidifier.


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## Granny Sue (Jan 12, 2009)

You could try drying them. 

I make a pear conserve with a few of those candied cherries like you use in fruitcake and cinnamon and nutmeg. It's delicious and so pretty, a great gift at the holidays. Just add the chopped cherries when the jam is in the stir-and-skim stage so they don't lose color.

I have never frozen pears but I wonder if that's possible. We have a bumper crop this year so we're mixing some in with the apples as we make cider.


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## Our Little Farm (Apr 26, 2010)

Dehydrate them, they are delicious!


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## Ellen West (Sep 17, 2010)

Frozen pears turn to mush, but it makes a great thickener for berry pie.


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## bluebird2o2 (Feb 14, 2007)

I made fruit cocktail and canned in pint jars.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks everyone, I've been eating some & it looks like more are starting to turn. I may just do up smaller batches in the canner to get them done.


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## praieri winds (Apr 16, 2010)

my mom used to peel, cut in half, poach then put 2 halves in a freezer bag with a little poaching syrup and put them in the freezer that way she could do them as they got ripe


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

That's a good idea praieri winds, but I've never poached anything but eggs before. Can you tell me how to do it?


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## Kshobbit (May 14, 2002)

I make spiced pear sauce. It is exactly liking making applesauce only I add about a teaspoon of ground cloves for more flavor and can them too. It comes out with a nice pear taste with a little zing from the cloves.


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## mistymomom (Jun 13, 2010)

You can put your pears in a paper bag with a ripe apple and they will ripen faster. I actually like mine a little green for canning. They are closer to fresh after canning. I agree with others, I use the really ripe ones to make pear sauce.


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## crispin (Jun 30, 2010)

I just put up pears from my tree for the first time this year. 
I have a few pints of pear butter but it tastes grainy, I do not really like it.
I also cored and quartered pears and put them in a light sugar syrup.
WOW! I am very surprised at how good they came out. Soft and lightly sweet. Much better than eating them fresh. I think the slight cooking they got in the canning process really does something to soften the fruit.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Poached pears are so good, I also stew them 1/2 and 1/2 with apples a little maple syrup or honey and spoon over pancakes. Bartletts only for me. I dry a lot of them....James


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