Xerocles
Songster
I never made pear butter. Or anything similar. I have a huge (40+ft) Pear Tree in my front yard. No idea what kind of pears. Big. Two hands full. Not round, but no real neck to speak of. Brown with lots of darker brown splotches. In mid September, still so hard that it could scratch diamonds. I took the internet's advice. Put a dozen in the refrigerator for 10 days. Took them out and put them on the counter for 10 days. Still like rocks. The chickens love them. While researching to see if I could find the variety, I stumbled upon pear butter recipes. Now I love apple butter, so I figured why not.
Introduction over. Now to the questions. I pureed first, then put in the Crock-Pot. I tasted the puree, and it was like pear flavored candy. Really really sweet. Here I go on a tangent. Sorry. I read a few posts that said you could blanch pears 15 seconds and drop into ice water and the peels would slip off. BS. I tried it. Nothing. Increase the water to boil. 30 seconds and then chill. Nothing. Brought the water to full rolling boil. Inserted pears for a full 60 Seconds. Into the water. Nothing. So I pureed Peels and everything, except the seeds. Sorry. Back to the question. Every recipe says add one cup of sugar per pound of pears. These pears would taste like cotton candy with that much sugar. Does sugar do anything for the butter except make it sweet? I put one cup of sugar in about two-thirds of a large oval crock pot. With nutmeg and cinnamon. It's cooking now. I can add more sugar, but is it necessary?
Next question. I like firm apple butter, so I assume the same will be true of pear butter. I hate store-bought stuff because it's just cooked applesauce. I remember my grandma's being almost like real butter it was so stiff. That's what I'm going for. I know it has to cook down, and reduce the moisture. So do I cover the Crock-Pot or leave it open? Seems like it would reduce faster open. But the recipes all say cover.
Thanks for any insight.
Introduction over. Now to the questions. I pureed first, then put in the Crock-Pot. I tasted the puree, and it was like pear flavored candy. Really really sweet. Here I go on a tangent. Sorry. I read a few posts that said you could blanch pears 15 seconds and drop into ice water and the peels would slip off. BS. I tried it. Nothing. Increase the water to boil. 30 seconds and then chill. Nothing. Brought the water to full rolling boil. Inserted pears for a full 60 Seconds. Into the water. Nothing. So I pureed Peels and everything, except the seeds. Sorry. Back to the question. Every recipe says add one cup of sugar per pound of pears. These pears would taste like cotton candy with that much sugar. Does sugar do anything for the butter except make it sweet? I put one cup of sugar in about two-thirds of a large oval crock pot. With nutmeg and cinnamon. It's cooking now. I can add more sugar, but is it necessary?
Next question. I like firm apple butter, so I assume the same will be true of pear butter. I hate store-bought stuff because it's just cooked applesauce. I remember my grandma's being almost like real butter it was so stiff. That's what I'm going for. I know it has to cook down, and reduce the moisture. So do I cover the Crock-Pot or leave it open? Seems like it would reduce faster open. But the recipes all say cover.
Thanks for any insight.
I'd like to know too. I think the sugar might be a preservative, but you could replace it with vitamin c crystals.
