Canning pears is a perfect way to preserve them for later use. However, if you don’t have the time or desire to can pears, there are other ways to protect them so you can enjoy them for weeks (or even months) to come.
This blog post covers several tips about how to preserve pears without canning.
These methods will keep your pears fresh for several weeks after harvesting them. However, if you follow these simple preservation ideas, you might be able to store them for even longer than that!
In canning, the goal is to kill bacteria so that after a shelf-life of several months or years, your food won’t grow fungus or bacteria and make you sick.
Canning is a water bath process at high heat (around 212 degrees Fahrenheit) for quite a long time (about an hour). Cold pre-treatment of pH levels and enzymes is also used.
Thankfully, there’s more than one way to preserve pears. Here are our top five tips for preserving pears without canning them.
Storage Conditions
The first thing you should consider when preserving pears is the environment in which you are storing them. Pears are best stored in a cool and dry place, such as a cellar or a basement.
The ideal temperature for pears is 50 degrees Fahrenheit and lower. Therefore, you will want to keep them in a cool but not cold place. If you store your pears in a warm place, they will ripen quickly, and their quality will begin to deteriorate.
Additionally, you will want to make sure that you are not storing your pears in a humid environment. Pears do not like high humidity level, and they can quickly become too soft when exposed to it. Pears are best preserved in a dry and cool environment so they will remain firm and last a long time.
How To Preserve Pears Without Canning? Dehydrate Them!
Drying pears is a first great way to preserve them. Dried pears are much like raisins, with a chewy and sweet texture. Dried pears are also a great healthy snack for kids!
Dried pears are easy to produce and can be used in a wide variety of dishes, from baked goods to bread and even a trail mix. Actually, dehydrating pears is a great way to preserve them for long periods of time.
To dry pears:
- Slice them in half and remove the stem and core. You may also want to slice the pears in strips so that they dry more quickly.
- Place the pears on a drying rack in a warm and dry place so they can dry out.
- Stir the pears occasionally, so they all dry evenly. You can use a food dehydrator to speed up this process, though it is not necessary.
Depending on the thickness of the slices, pears will take anywhere from 4 to 10 hours to dry in a food dehydrator.
Freezing Pears
Freezing pears is another excellent way to preserve them for later use. Freezing pears keep them for about a year, although it is common for people to freeze pears even longer.
Pears are best when frozen as puree. Pears are a great fruit to freeze because they are easy to puree, and, guess what – puree freezes quickly!
To freeze pears, first, peel the pears. If you have decided not to go with a puree option, you can either leave the pears whole or slice them up. The slicing will make them easier to use when cooking later on.
Place the sliced or whole pears on a baking sheet and freeze them for at least 6 hours. This way, frozen pears won’t stick to each other. After the pears have frozen, put them in a freezer bag and put them back in a freezer for future use.
Chopping and Using Pears Immediately
Chopping pears and using them immediately is a great way to make use of your pears while they are still fresh. You can consider this at least for a small part of your fresh harvest. Vitamins are always good!
Pears are great additions to a variety of recipes, including baked goods, cookies, and even salads. Chopping pears and using them in recipes is a great way to enjoy them while they are still fresh.
Pears can keep for up to two weeks when chopped and kept in the refrigerator (without freezing them, as mentioned above in the second tip).
To chop pears, you can either dice them or chop them into small slices.
Vinegar (and Other Acidity) for Storage and Preservation of Pears
You can help them stay longer by adding vinegar to the storage container when storing pears. The acidity of the vinegar will prevent bacteria growth and help the pears last longer.
You can also add other types of food acids, such as lemon juice or lime juice, to help keep pears fresh. You can also add some sugar to help keep pears fresh longer. The sugar works as a preservative.
Another option would be to use a combination of these methods to make pears last even longer. Either mix the pear slices with some vinegar or another type of acid, or you can combine the pears with sugar and add a bit of vinegar or a different kind of food acid.
Pears are best preserved in a mixture of vinegar and sugar.
Wrapping and Storing Paired Together
Another great way to preserve pears is by wrapping them in something organic, such as corn husks or cedar leaves. Pears paired with leaves are a traditional Native American way to store fruits for long periods of time.
You can find cedar leaves at a variety of gardening or home improvement stores. You can also find corn husks at many grocery stores or online.
First, select the leaves you would like to use to store the pears with. The leaves should not have any insects or other diseases on them.
You can store pears with leaves in a variety of ways. You can wrap the pear slices in the leaves or simply cover the leaves around the whole pear. This traditional method also requires leaving your harvest in a cool and dry place.
Conclusion
When autumn comes, so does a variety of delicious seasonal fruits. Among the many types of fall produce, pears are among the favorites of many. When selecting pears, make sure they feel firm and are free of blemishes.
Sweet and juicy, they are easy to enjoy raw or in recipes. However, canning them takes up quite a bit of time and effort due to their low acidity.
Therefore, rather than canning pears using the standard methods, you might want to preserve them in another way. When it comes to preserving pears, there are a variety of options.
Each of these methods will help you keep pears fresh for more extended periods of time, even for a year! You can also use a combination of these methods to make sure your pears last as long as possible.
For example, put dehydrated pears in the freezer!
