How to Make Pear Jam 2

Here lately I’ve been preserving all kinds of yummy homegrown goodness around here – that’s one of the many joy about living in the country. In the past week I’ve made White Grape Jelly, Muscadine Jelly, Froze homegrown corn, and made pickles. Now I’m sharing the secrets of making homemade pear jam!

Some good friends of ours tried the White Grape Jelly and the Muscadine Jelly and loved it! So they asked if I could make some Pear Jam! He sent me a 5 gallon bucket FULL of homegrown pears! I only used half of the 5 gallon bucket for 2 batches of this recipe, but it technically calls for 3 lbs of pears.

First thing before you begin making Pear Jam you’ll want to have everything ready. I sterilized my jars, lids, and rings. I like to do this in the dishwasher because I know it’s sterilized, but you can also boil water and sterilize them that way for about 10-15 minutes.

Materials – I linked everything below, just click on the name of the item.

• Jars. I used 4oz and 8oz canning jars. I think these two sizes works the best for jelly and jams.
• Preserving Canning Pot – The one I linked is similar to the one I used. I linked a set because you’ll need the rack and jar lifters.
• Large sauce pan or boiling pot

Ingredients

• 3lbs of pears
• 5 cups of Sugar **EXACT AMOUNT**
• 2 tbsp. of fresh lemon – I used the juice from 1 whole lemon
• Sure Jell Fruit Pectin 

Directions

1. First thing I did was make sure all of my jars, lids, and rings were thoroughly sanitized. For both batches I ended up using (13) 4oz jars and  (9) 8oz jars for canning Pear Jam. It’s also a good idea to go ahead and have the correct amount of water in the canner already heating (be sure to remove the canning rack so you can drop your jars down in the water). The water has to cover the jars by 1-2 inches.
2. The most time consuming part of this entire process is preparing the pears. You’ll want to peel off the outside and cut out the core. Discard the core and the rind and then chop the pears into tiny chunks. I found the best way to do this is use a potato peeler to remove the rind and use a kitchen knife to slide away the good fruit from the core. I tried to use an apple peeler, but it just didn’t work well for me. you’ll want to end up with a total of 4 cups of chipped fruit.
3. Add the chopped fruit and 1 packet of pectin to the boiling pot. The recipe doesn’t call for it, but I added just a tiny bit of water. Turn on high heat and mix the pectin in well. Once the pectin is mixed, add the 5 cups of sugar and stir to a boil. If desired, add 1/2 tsp of butter to reduce foaming..
4. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat stirring constantly (a rolling boil is one that doesn’t stop when you stir it. Once mixture hits a rolling boil, boil for exactly 1 minute, again stirring constantly. This is where your Pear Jam will start looking like jam.
5. Remove pot from heat.
6. Immediately ladle jam into jars filling them nearly full (you’ll want to leave about 1/4″ space). Wipe the rims and sides of jars. Cover with lids and rings and tighten. Place the jars on the canning rack and lower rack into canner. The water has to cover the jars by 1-2 inches. Canning time differs by what altitude you live in. I live in Georgia and our altitude is around 5,000 so I cooked them for 15 minutes. I’ve added the chart below. After caning, remove jars and put them on a towel upright. After the jars completely seal, check each lid to make sure it sealed by pressing the center of the lid. If the lid pops back it’s not sealed properly and must be refrigerated.
7. Jars should sit at room temperature for 24 hours to set. If your jars sealed the jelly can sit unopened in a cool, dry, dark place for 1 year. Refrigerate any opened jelly or jars that didn’t seal for up to 3 weeks.
8. Altitude chart:
   1. 1,000-3,000 – 10 minutes canning time
   2. 3,001-6,000 – 15 minutes canning time
   3. 6,001-8,000 – 20 minutes canning time
   4. 8,001-10,000- 25 minutes canning time
9. When canning is complete remove jars and place on a towel to cool. Once cooled, check for any jars that didn’t seal. Refrigeration is required if any jars didn’t seal properly.

This is the first time I’ve ever made jam and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I’m planning on making pear jam again in the future.

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