Homemade Pear Sauce

Enjoy delicious homemade pear sauce year-round with this recipe that offers both water-bath and freezer canning methods for storing.

Recipe Ingredients:

9 pounds Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)

Cooking Directions:

1. 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.
2. Add lemon juice, and the sugar and cinnamon, if desired; bring to a boil. Simmer sauce, uncovered, until as thick as desired.
3. Fill hot, sterilized jars with hot sauce, leaving 1/2-inch head-space. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. If you like, you may omit processing and ladle sauce into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch head-space. for pints, 1-inch head-space. 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.