2 days after we got home from vacation, I went to the orchard to pick up 3 boxes of Pears to can. 3 boxes is more than we usually can, but they were having a buy 2 get one free sale, and I love a sale!
The pears ripened faster than I thought they would, which worked out well since my husband was headed out of town on a work trip! This is also the first year I had the older two kids help. This was A LOT of pears and I needed all the help I could get!
I used the Sanitizing wash on my Dishwasher to wash all the jars. I set the kids to work on peeling and I cut, jarred, put the sugar syrup, and processed the pears. My husband took care of the baby and little kids. When the baby took a nice nap, he pitched in and did more peeling/processing. All in all, it only took about 3 hours.
Oh.my. So much crying from a 13-year-old boy who had to help! He was fine at first, but then we let him have a break and he was literally in tears about having to help more. Yeah. That was fun. Our 15-year-old daughter did great helping. After much whining and crying, he finally pulled himself together and helped finish peeling. Maybe now they’ll appreciate all the hard work that I have always put into canning pears! They love eating the pears all year long, they can learn what goes into canning them! Always good to know how you get your food.
We realized that we didn’t have enough Jars, so I had to run to the store at lunchtime to get more jars. Washed them and placed them in the oven to sanitize.
It was quite a bit of work, but so worth it! It was about 255 Pears or 51 Quarts – not counting the ones the entire family ate all day long! This was the most we have done in one year! (usually, I only do a box or two). Once you have had homemade canned pears, you will never go back to the store bought. There is no comparison.
