You'll need a weekend or a couple of days at home so that you can get through all the steps. It's really easy just time consuming to get it started. Definitely read the recipe all the way through before you decide to take this on. You can use any mix of pears and flavor apple you like. This is pretty similar to my Apple butter recipe, I'll post that soon.
The stuff is really good on warm toast with butter or over cornbread or even made into a sauce for pork chops. Another way to use it is to roll it up inside of pancakes. My favorite use for this stuff is warmed up and poured over Bluebell homemade vanilla ice cream.
NOTE: It comes out really tasty, just be prepared to add more sugar. I think I will go back to using apple cider instead of vinegar next time to save on the sugar.
It goes something like this...
~5 lbs Bartlett pears
~3 1/2 lbs golden apple pears
4-5 crisp pink apples
1 medium navel orange
2 cups good apple cider vinegar with the mother
1/4-1/2 C lemon juice, bottled or fresh
6-8 C sugar, to taste
½ t nutmeg, fresh is better
1 T cinnamon, Heaping
1 t allspice
A pinch of salt
10-12 half-pint jars, lids, & canner
Lots of water
Very large mixing bowl
7-8 quart crockpot
Stick blender
1. Peel, core, and rough cut a butt load of pears and apples. Once they are cut, put them into a very big bowl of acidulated water, meaning add a couple of glugs of the lemon juice to the water.
2. Pour the Apple cider vinegar and juice the orange into the empty crockpot.
Optional, not optional: Once that mess is done, make potpourri by placing all of the peels and cores into a pot with water and cinnamon on the stove on low.
4. In the morning, stir it, stick blend it until it's smooth, and then taste it. This is where you decide how sweet it's going to be. Add all of the spices then add as much sugar as you think it will need and remember it's going to cook down and concentrate. I added 6 cups of sugar because mine was very tart and tasted it again in about four hours, at which point I decided it was still tart and added two more cups.
NOTE: It comes out really tasty, just be prepared to add more sugar. I think I will go back to using apple cider instead of vinegar next time to save on the sugar.
It goes something like this...
~5 lbs Bartlett pears
~3 1/2 lbs golden apple pears
4-5 crisp pink apples
1 medium navel orange
2 cups good apple cider vinegar with the mother
1/4-1/2 C lemon juice, bottled or fresh
6-8 C sugar, to taste
½ t nutmeg, fresh is better
1 T cinnamon, Heaping
1 t allspice
A pinch of salt
10-12 half-pint jars, lids, & canner
Lots of water
Very large mixing bowl
7-8 quart crockpot
Stick blender
Canning utensils and a stirring spoon
1. Peel, core, and rough cut a butt load of pears and apples. Once they are cut, put them into a very big bowl of acidulated water, meaning add a couple of glugs of the lemon juice to the water.
2. Pour the Apple cider vinegar and juice the orange into the empty crockpot.
Optional, not optional: Once that mess is done, make potpourri by placing all of the peels and cores into a pot with water and cinnamon on the stove on low.
3. Place all of the pears and apples, drained, into the crock pot on high for one hour. Add about 1 cup of the juicy water. After one hour, turn it to low and let it cook overnight. Have dinner.
4. In the morning, stir it, stick blend it until it's smooth, and then taste it. This is where you decide how sweet it's going to be. Add all of the spices then add as much sugar as you think it will need and remember it's going to cook down and concentrate. I added 6 cups of sugar because mine was very tart and tasted it again in about four hours, at which point I decided it was still tart and added two more cups.
5. Once it's cooked down to the consistency you like, this is where we get rolling. Add your canner to the stove filled with water to the appropriate line for the jars you're going to use and crank it up to high to get it boiling. Add the jars to the water to get them sanitized. You can also run them through the dishwasher by themselves. Ball says you no longer have to warm up the lids but I still do just in case.
6. Once your water is near the boil, set the crock pot to high to get a little bubble going on the stuff. Use a jar funnel and a ladle and pour the hot pear butter into the jars to the bottom rim or about 1 inch of headspace. Fill all of your jars and process them in the boiling water for 10 minutes at normal elevation. Higher elevation, use 15 to 20.
7. Let them sit on the counter overnight undisturbed and in the morning wash the jars, remove the rims, and label them. If you have any jars that did not form a seal, meaning you can pop the tab on the top, place that jar in the fridge and eat it! The sealed jars last on the shelf for one year. The fridge jars last only about a month or as soon as your family eats it all, whichever comes first.
Enjoy!
6. Once your water is near the boil, set the crock pot to high to get a little bubble going on the stuff. Use a jar funnel and a ladle and pour the hot pear butter into the jars to the bottom rim or about 1 inch of headspace. Fill all of your jars and process them in the boiling water for 10 minutes at normal elevation. Higher elevation, use 15 to 20.
7. Let them sit on the counter overnight undisturbed and in the morning wash the jars, remove the rims, and label them. If you have any jars that did not form a seal, meaning you can pop the tab on the top, place that jar in the fridge and eat it! The sealed jars last on the shelf for one year. The fridge jars last only about a month or as soon as your family eats it all, whichever comes first.
Enjoy!
