Canned Pears 1920's Style

This has not been my year for produce. Late spring, chickens, and 6 weeks of over 100 deg temps and no rain pretty much put an end to everything in the garden. :(

I did get my hands of 2 bushels of pears. They are wonderful and we canned some of them. It feels wonderful to have them on the pantry shelf, 42 Quarts and 14 pints. Happy Dance!

You might notice in the photo that I have skins on my pears.... Well... a few years ago I was canning my first batch of pears ever. I was peeling the pears and hating life. I didn't have time for that much fuss. My mom came in and heard me grumbling and said....

"Your Dad always liked them with the skins on."

Me: "What!? Can you do that?"

Mom: "Of course! That is how your Grandma Lucile always did them and it was the only way your dad liked them."

That was all I needed to hear. I stopped peeling the pears right then and there and have loved it. We tried a batch really quick to makes sure we liked it and found that they tasted better than the pears without the skins on. The skins have so much flavor and when you can them, the flavor is "infused" into the pears. If you don't, the skins do slide off easily after canning.

Why 1920's?.... well my dad was born in the 1920's and this is how his mom canned then and through the great depression.

Here is my recipe for canned pears.

Canned Pears 1920's Style

about 3 pears per jar

Extra Lite syrup - 5 1/2 cups water, 1 1/4 (1.25)cups sugar - bring to a boil

Wash pears.

Cut up pears and fill your jars to 1 inch from the top.

Pour boiling extra light syrup over the pears leaving 1 inch head space.

Soften the lids in boiled water.

Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean paper towel, place the lids on and put on the screw bands and finger tighten (that means you don't crank them down).

Process in a steam canner (or water bath) according to your altitude. For me in Southern Missouri I process for 35 minutes for quarts.

Let the jars sit in the canner for 10 minutes with the heat off and then remove and cool on a dish towel for 24 hours.

Remove the screw bands, wipe the jars clean (sometimes there is sticky syrup on them) and put away without the bands on them. Why?? (I asked that this summer.) Because.... it is easier to see that the seals are still good... and... the bands won't rust on you and cement themselves to the jars. Makes life much easier when you go to open the jars.

Strawberry Sale

So my local Stuff Mart had strawberries on sale this past week for $1.50 per quart. That is way better that $3.99 or worse so I told my Honey to pick me up a lot so I could re-stock the freezer with the kids favorite jam. Well ...... He DID! I brought home 22 pounds of strawberries. Yikes. That is a ton. So I spent the next day making said jam. I put up 56 pints of freezer jam. It is fabulous.

I would post a recipe BUT freezer jam is a tricky beast. You have to follow the recipe on the box exactly or you DON'T get jam and jells. You get runny stuff. Great on ice cream but not great in a sandwich.
However, I will post some tips I have learned over time in making jam.
*Freezer jam is the easiest jam ever. You just mash the fruit, add the sugar, add the pectin and wait and you have scrumptious jam.
*Measure, Measure, Measure. It is very important to measure your jam ingredients precisely. Freezer jam is a science, not an art. That means to measure exactly don't guess and dash. That makes it something that anyone can do. Not talent required. :o)
One pound (or quart) of strawberries will make about 3 pints of jam. We usually freeze it in half pints because that is enough for one meal (usually).
There are several kinds of pectin on the market. The kinds I have tried and liked are Sure*Jell, Ball, and Certo.

Canned Turkey

Looks kinda like some really odd science lab specimen doesn't it?! I have to tell you the truth, that I had a hard time using home canned meat the first time I canned some. However, when I finally did try it, I was blown away by the flavor and the quality. It was wonderful. My kids prefer home canned turkey or chicken to tuna any day. We use it in casseroles, sandwiches, meat pies and pasties. We love it!

When I get a screaming deal on meat I try to snatch up as much as I can and then can it. Winter and Spring are the best times to do the meat because it is cold outside and you aren't going to kill yourself with the heat of the pressure canner.

To can mean you HAVE TO use a pressure canner. Steam and water canning isn't safe.

What I do to can meat is .... cut it from the bone if there is a bone, and cube the meat. Then I pack it raw into clean pint or quart jars. Then I add salt, 1 teaspoon per quart and 1/2 teaspoon per pint. I do not add any liquid. Then I add new lids and rings and pressure can it according to the weight and time for the canner I have. Each type of canner is a little different and you have to check out the instructions for your canner. I have the rocker kind and love it.

You can also pre cook your meat. I wasn't sure about that at first but learned that if you pre cook your meat even for a few minutes. This keeps the meat from shrinking while you are pressure canning it. This is great but when you are canning 100+ pounds of meat at a time, time is the key and I don't have time to pre-cook the meat. When you pre-cook the meat you do have to add liquid. The liquid you see in these jars is just the natural juices from the meat. It is like liquid gold in your recipes.

If you haven't given canning meat a try, you should. It is a wonderful addition to your home storage pantry and a way to control what is in the food your family is eating. This week I was able to put up 63 pints and 19 quarts of turkey breast. I am so thrilled to have this in my pantry again. We have sorely missed it. My old children were pretty excited to see it. They remember it from when they were really little. I actually had 2 pints that didn't seal and they were pretty happy to make "turkey fish" sandwiches with it.

Canvolution 2010

Whether canning is the new trend or not it is something I have always loved to do.

My mom started me (and all my siblings) early. We would shell walnuts, pit cherries, mash berries, etc...... It was a family thing and we did it together from planting, to picking, to storing, to enjoying. Seriously, nothing beats home canned peaches or strawberry freezer jam.
One of my NEW favorite blogs is Everyday Food Storage. This girl has it going on. Back in January she did a spot on her local TV about the trend of canning this year. I love the idea of a Canvolution. I am posting this button on my side bar and will start listing what I am canning. I want to keep a record this year of what I have stored for my family. I am recording things I can. I would love to see what you are canning too. And don't forget to go check out Crystal's blog and get some great food storage and canning tips.
Now is the time to be planting your garden and getting ready by gathering supplies, jars, lids, sugar, salt, etc when they go on sale or when you can afford to slip an extra in here and there. I will also try to post recipes for some of my canning treats as I go along.
Check out My Square Foot Garden for simple gardening ideas. This girls gardening abilities are amazing. She has only been at it for 4 years and has done amazing things and taught so many people so much. She has two new e books that really help you get started. Yes I ran out and got both of them and am impressed. I have read them and recommend them to anyone interested in starting a garden but isn't sure where to start.

Apple Pie Filling for Canning - Tutorial - PPP

I have never tried this before. My friends Diana and Jill have talked me into giving it a whirl. Since I did have an abundance of fabulous apples this year I figured I would try.

So here are the ingredients you will need.
6 quarts of peeled and sliced apples (good sweet and tart apples)
1 1/2 cups Clear Jel
3 cups sugar
5 cups apple juice (can use water if you don't have any juice)
2 cups water
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt


Now for how to do it.

1. Start with good tart apples. Tart means tangy and sweet like Jonathan, Macintosh, Jonagold, or even Fuji and NOT sour like Granny Smith apples.



2. Peel and slice your apples. You can put them on an apple peeler, corer, slicer if you have it or do it by hand.



3. Place the apples in a large pot with some water and steam/boil them for 4 to 6 minutes depending on how soft your apples are. Take them right off the heat and drain them. Save that water to use as your water later in the recipe.

4. Mix the clear jel, sugar, juice, water, salt and cinnamon in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. This will get really thick really fast.

(Sorry my stove top was filthy with canning crud on it all day from making loads of apple sauce.)

5. Add the apples to the jel stuff and mix well. Pour it into clean, sterilized jars and process in a water bath canner or steam canner for about 25 minutes. It makes about 7 quarts pie filling.


There you have yummy apple pie filling just waiting to be poured into a crust and baked. I understand that this isn't enough to make a pie. You will need 1 1/2 jars to make one good sized pie. So I guess that means you would have to use three jars and make two pies. Hmmm.... What is better than a hot apple pie? Two hot apple pies. hee hee

Applesauce Tutorial

I have to record this so I will remember how I made it next year.

I started with good sweet and tart apples.

Jonathans and Jonagolds

Then I cut and cored them up. I did up enough to almost fill my 12 quart stew pot.

Then I added enough water to fill the pot at least half full. I basically poured water in there till I could see it coming up the side of the pot.

Next I put the pot on the stove and cooked them till they were soft.

It only took about 30-40 minutes. I took if off the heat and let it cool from a little bit while I got the grinder ready.

I happen to have a Victorio strainer. I love it and recommend it to anyone that wants to put up applesauce, tomatoes, berry and grape juice.




Then I take all that sauce and put it into another large stock pot. I add sugar to taste. With these apples I added about 1 cup of sugar. It can be brown or white. When I used the apples from my dad's trees I had to use about 3 cups because the little apples were so sour.

I also added about 3-4 Tbsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of salt.

I wondered about the addition of the salt and gave it a try and love it! It makes the apple sauce taste more mellow like apple pie. The kids are just loving it.



Oops! I almost forgot the canning part. I put all the applesauce stuff in that big stock pot and bring it back up to heat. I try to keep the stuff pretty hot. Don't boil it though, you will burn it and that is nasty.
I then pour it into quart jars that I have washed in very hot water in the dish washer on sanitize cycle. You can do this in the sink too. You can sanitize them in your canner.

I pour the applesauce in to the jars and then I put canning lids on them (follow the directions on the box). I processed them in my steam canner and in a water bath canner (so I could do two batches at the same time). I processed them fro about 40 minutes. (go check a canning website or book to make sure).