How to Can Pears {Step-by-Step Guide}

This easy recipe for canning pears lets you enjoy the sweet taste of pears all year long. In just a little over an hour, turn fresh pears into beautiful jars filled with sweet, syrupy fruit.

See below the recipe for notes on hot packing and adjusting the syrup sweetness.

Remember, if you ever get stuck, free help is a phone call away at your local cooperative extension office. Find yours here.

This is a classic, simple canning recipe you’ll turn to every year. And once you understand the basics of prepping fruit and canning it in a syrup you’ll see how flexible and useful this technique is.

Important tools and ingredients

Canning requires a few special tools, although there are workarounds. Any large pot will technically work if you don’t have an official canning pot! However, special canning supplies are affordable and very helpful.

Quart or Pint Jars: Essential for storing the canned pears and ensuring they are sealed properly. We prefer to can these in quarts.

Canning Accessories: Including a funnel, jar lifter, and magnetic lid lifter, these tools make the canning process smooth and efficient.

Large Pot with Rack: Necessary for processing the jars, ensuring they are sealed and preserved correctly.

Canning Lids and Rings: New canning lids are crucial for proper sealing; rings can be reused but must be in good condition.

Large Bowl and Lemon Juice: Used to soak the pears and prevent browning, ensuring fresh and vibrant canned pears.

 Granite Ware Enamel-on-steel 12-Piece Canner Kit, Includes 21.5 qt. Water Bath Canner with lid, Jar Rack, Blancher, Colander & 5 pc. Canning Tool Set KYOKU 4.5 Inch Paring Knife – Daimyo Series – Fruit Knife with Ergonomic Rosewood Handle, and Mosaic Pin – Japanese 440C Stainless Steel Kitchen Knife with Sheath & Case DII Heavy Duty Kitchen Towels Collection Long Lasting Quality, Cotton Dish Cloth Set, 13×13

 

Our favorite canning pears are Bartlett. They’re easy to find and have good flavor. But any pear will work just fine. It’s just personal preference!

The pears must be ripe and fresh, or honestly, what’s the point?! A few bruises here and there are okay (and inevitable), just cut them out as you’re prepping the fruit.

The lemon juice can be fresh or bottled. It doesn’t matter since it’s not affecting the finished product.

Tips for successfully canning Fruit

• Your fruit should be ripe, but not over-ripe. There’s a balance. Soft enough to be sweet and delicious, but still able to hold is shape when cut.
• A chopstick can be a useful tool to remove air bubbles from the jars without risking damage to the jar’s side if you don’t have a special canning tool kit.
• Keep inventory. Track your canned goods. Use older jars first and watch the shelf life to enjoy the pears at their best quality.
• Don’t over-tighten bands. Screw bands fingertip-tight to allow air to escape during processing. You place the lid on the jar and screw the ring on just until you meet resistance, using only your fingertips. It should be tight enough to hold the lid in place, but not so tight that air cannot escape from the jar during the canning process.

Choosing the right syrup

Sugar is the main preservative in this recipe, so you can’t leave it out. However, if you prefer a less-sweet final product, you can reduce it.

I’ve written this recipe for a medium-light syrup, which we love. But you can make your syrup sweeter or lighter!

There is no real benefit, per se, to a heavier syrup, just that it will be sweeter and some people prefer that.

Syrup Sweeteness	Water	Sugar	Sugar Percentage
Very Light	7 cups	1 cup	12.5%
Light	6 cups	2 cups	25%
Medium	5 cups	3 cups	37.5%
Heavy	4 cups	4 cups	50%

Hot PAck vs raw Pack canned pears

This recipe is raw pack (also known as cold pack), meaning the pears are put in uncooked at room temperature. We always can our fruit this way because it’s easier and you can get through it much faster.

However, hot pack (you heat the fruit and syrup up before canning), does have its advantages.

Hot Pack Method:

• Reduced Floating: It typically results in less floating of the fruit in the jar, as air is driven out and the fruit is shrunk before packing
• Time-Consuming: It is more time-consuming as it involves extra cooking steps.
• Heat Sensitivity: The extra heat can potentially affect the texture and taste of certain delicate fruits.

Cold Pack (or Raw Pack) Method:

• Simplicity: Cold packing is simpler and quicker. The fruit is packed into the jars without pre-heating.
• Texture Preservation: It may preserve the fruit’s original texture and shape better since it’s not exposed to extra heat beforehand.
• Possible Floating: Fruit may float in the jars, leading to uneven distribution and potential spoilage.

In short, if floating fruit doesn’t bother you, just do raw pack!

More Simple Canning recipes

We spend countless hours every summer processing fruits and veggies. Here are some of our favorite ways to preserve the harvest:

• Canned Apple Pie Filling
• Pear Butter
• Apple Butter with Brandy
• Crisp Pickled Jalapenos
• Six More Ways to Preserve Apples

Don’t forget to choose canning recipes you’l actually eat. 😊

Full Recipe for canned pears