Can i freeze sliced pears to use later for making Pear Butter?

[redhen]

I have access to a ton of free pears, and i HATE to see ANY of them got to waste,...
So far i have made 2 crockpots full of pear butter/sauce...
And i also have 11 gallon freezer bags of frozen pears that were on the ground for my animals to eat during the winter months.

Anyways, i can still go get a LOT more pears from this tree... but i hate to freeze them all for the animals(because these are still on the tree and good to eat)
So can i peel and slice the pears and freeze them for later "pear butter" cooking and canning? Thanks for any help!

 

[BettyR]

Yes, frozen fruit works well for making "butters" with.

 

[redhen]

Thank you!

Do i need to toss them in some lemon before freezing to stop them from turning brown though?? Or will it matter..?

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
I put my fruit in plastic tubs and fill the tubs with water. The fruit is then frozen inside a block of ice...there it is protected from anything a freezer can ever throw at it. When I thaw them out I either leave them sitting in the sink to thaw or but them in a bowl and place them under a tiny stream of running water. When frozen in this way they are almost good as new when you thaw them out.

I buy those cheap plastic tubs they make to put leftovers in...they work well in the freezer but they do get very brittle when they are frozen so you do have to handle them with care or they will split.

 

[redhen]

Excellent idea!! I bow to you...

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
LOL...Your welcome.

I got the idea from my mom, my dad fished a lot and she used to save gallon milk jugs and cut a small hole in the top of the jug. She would then drop the fish fillets down into the jug and add enough water to just cover the fish and put them in a secure place in the freezer so they wouldn't tip over until they were frozen solid. If the jug wasn't full then she would just add more fish the next time he went fishing until it was full.

When we wanted fish she would thaw out what she needed by splitting the jug open and put the block of ice in a bowl and run water over it until she got as much fish as she needed. The she would drop the rest of the block of ice in a plastic bag and throw it back in the freezer. We ate a lot of fish when I was growing up and I really miss it. DH doesn't fish so if we have fish I have to buy it and it is really expensive so we don't have it very often.