My Preserved Pears (Overflow Method)

Bottled pears are one of my favourite fruits..lovley with breakfast muesli, or as a crumble pudding in winter..YUM.

Last year I raided a friends tree, and preserved about a dozen jars, only using the final jar not so long ago. Then about a month back, my daughter Katie, and grandaughter Lily set of to Julie's for a visit and to pick the lovely Pakham and Winter Nells pears once again. But on this occasion, the pears warn't quite ripe.....but undeterred, Katie still climbed the ladder (like a good daughter) and filled a large bucket full, plus 2 buckets of apples, (which I still havn't done anything with !!!) lol.

It took several weeks for all of them to ripen, soI had to bottle them in 2 different batches. This last lot were almost over-ripe, hence the final product looking a little cloudy in the jar.... but the taste will still be divine :)

Heres the simple method I use:

1 x Large Saucepan with lid
Preserving Jars, Lids(Rings) and Seals
Large Bowl and Peeler
Pears
Lemons x 2
White Sugar

Method:

Half fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze in the lemon juice (to prevent discolouration of the peeled fruit). Peel and core the pears and cut into quarters. Work quickly as the fruit still seems to discolour if its left too long in the lemon water.

Turn the oven on to a medium heat and place the clean jars in their to warm. I also boil the seals and rings in a saucepan to steralize them, then everything is hot, the pears, jars etc.

In the large saucepan, make a syrup: 1 cup of sugar to every 2 cups of water. I think for the quantity of pears I had, which was about 4lbs (1 1/2 - 2 Kilos), I used 3 cups sugar and 6-7 cups of water.

Bring this mixture to the boil (covered).

Add the prepared fruit, bring back to the boil and then reduce slightly. Stir gently and cook until fruit is soft. As my fruit was quite ripe, it only took about 8 minutes.

Cover a chopping board with a tea-towel and Remove one of the jars from the oven. Ladle hot fruit in to fill the jar. Pour over enough hot syrup to come right up to the top of the jar. Wipe the rim with a clean cloth. Place a steralized seal and ring on top and screw down firmly. Wipe the jars and place in a draught free spot. The jars are sealed when the seals have sucked down. When the jars are cold, carefully remove the rims. Do ths gently, so the seal is not disturbed. Wipe the jars with a damp cloth to remove any residual syrup and store in a dark place...to enjoy during the winter months :o)