Caramel Spice Pear Butter

Makes 9 half pints

15 Barlett or other large, firm, ripe pears
2 cups water
6 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Wash and core, but do not peel pears. Slice and place in a 5 qt pot. Add water, cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes or until tender.

Let cool slightly, then force through a mill, sieve or whirl in a food processor until finely chopped; return to kettle.

In a wide frying pan over medium heat, melt 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, stirring often, until it caramelizes to a medium brown syrup. Pour immediately into pear pulp (syrup will sizzle and harden, but dissolves again as the preserves cook). Stir in remaining 4 1/2 cups sugar and spices until well blended.

Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and cook, uncovered for about 45 minutes or until thickened. To prevent sticking, stir frequently as mixture begins to thicken. Stir in lemon juice just before removing from heat. (This step can be done in a crock pot; low setting for 5-7 hours.)
Ladle into hot, sterilized jars leaving 1/4" headspace.

Seal and process in a BWB for 10 minutes.

The recipe was tested only for the jar size indicated and increasing the jar size affects the density of the jar contents far too much to just "guess" at the needed processing time. This guideline applies to all food products.

Dave

However.........other than carmelizing part of the sugar, that's a pretty standard pear butter recipe.

What is the source?

I've linked to Oregon State Extension's publication on Pears. Most of the Land Grant colleges have some publications and they are a reliable source. The pear butter is on the last page. You can use pints or quarts and processing time are listed.

Deanna

Thanks for the link. I've used the Oregon site previously for pear ripening info (very valuable!). Like I said above, I normally don't increase jar size. But it really seemed do-able in this case. I use fruit butters in another Harvest Forum recipe called "Linda Lou's Cereal Bars", and I need more than 8oz for one batch, so the pints work very well. I replace the jam called for with fruit butter - so yummy!

That is my concern. Caramelizing the sugar is going to affect its water binding capability substantially. Caramelized sugar prevent crystal formation and so reduces H2O binding.

Makes the recipe sufficiently different from the normal recipes to possibly pose a safety factor.

Either way it is a do-at-your-own-risk practice. If I were doing it I'd up the processing time to the 20 min required for pints of pears.

Dave

To the OP,
I'm thinking pints would be fine. But like Dave said, I would go another 5 minutes just to be on the safer side. It shouldn't hurt the quality of the butter. It's good stuff - hope you like it as much as we do :-)