Saturday, August 14, 2010

Apple or Pear Sauce (Canning)

9 pounds Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and sliced

1 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (optional)
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)

Combine pears and water in a heavy 8 to 10-quart pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring often, until pears are soft, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Add lemon juice, and the sugar and cinnamon, if desired; bring to a boil. Simmer sauce, uncovered, until as thick as desired.
Fill hot, sterilized jars with hot sauce, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Gently run a narrow nonmetallic spatula between sauce and jar sides to release air bubbles. Wipe rims and threads of jars clean; top with scalded lids, then firmly screw on bands.
Place jars, slightly apart, on a rack in a boiling water canner or other deep pan half-full of hot water. Add more hot water to cover jars by 1 to 2-inches.
Bring water to a simmer; then cover and simmer for 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts. Lift out jars and let cool on a towel away from drafts. Test seal of each jar by pressing lid; if it pops when pressed, there's no seal. Store unsealed sauce in the refrigerator and use within 1 month.
If you like, you may omit processing and ladle sauce into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace for pints, 1-inch headspace for quarts. Apply lids; then freeze for up to 1 year or refrigerate for up to 1 month.

Makes about 6 pints or 3 quarts.

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