My Weekend One - Cinnamon Pear Jam

M

mariadnoca

Moderator
Yeah, that's right just one, lol. AND I didn't get it finished till right now.

I did get to the FM on Sunday, so that's the one. I was disappointed to not find any pears at the FM, save one guy who had Warren Pears, which were outstanding, but at $5 per lb wasn't going to get my dollars to make jam. So off to WF I go. Their bartletts were not good, the asians I read someplace were not great for jam making, which left the concordes which were really sweet and tasty. My ankle is still giving me fits, so that was the extent of my standing/walking ability.

Cinnamon Pear Jam

makes 3 pints (fills six half pint jars*)

8 cups cored and chopped Bartlett pears (or any smooth, thin-skinned pear. There’s no need to peel. - I used Concorde)

4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

juice of 1/2 a lemon

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, combine chopped pears and sugar. Cook over medium heat until the fruit can easily be smashed with the back of a wooden spoon. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to break the fruit down into a mostly-smooth sauce.

Add cinnamon and lemon juice and stir to combine. Continue to cook until the jam looks thick and passes the plate test.

Process using water bath method to can.

*Notes:

My batch seemed to cook forever at the stage "until the fruit can easily be smashed with the back of a wooden spoon." Maybe an hour? So much so I pretty much cooked it down to a jammy state before giving up and using the immersion blender and moving on, and my pears were ripe. Because of this I think my batch made less than stated. Also because I may have overcooked it a bit because the sugar started to turn a light amber. So my results are dark like the picture on the blog even though I only used the one T of cinnamon, which was perfect. Also, because the pears were already so sweet I used approx 3 3/4 cups of sugar.

I ended up with 9 of the little 4 oz jars with a bit extra for me. This turned out quite yummy and is a keeper.

http://www.foodinjars.com/2011/11/pear-cinnamon-jam/

 
This sounds very yummy. I've been thinking about doing apple butter but maybe I'll try this

Maria, you're working too hard to get good fruit for your jams. Less-than-ripe and yummy actually works better. Those little hard as rocks and virtually inedible seckel pears actually make the best pear preserves. Inedibly sour & leathery mustang grapes and wild plums make the most fabulous jam & jelly. Underripe improves the texture and increases the acid & pectin level. Reducing sugar can also make your jam not keep well as the sugar content is part of the presertive. If it is perfect to eat it is not perfect for canning.

 
I know, I'm trying to learn this!

Or make myself learn this, but the bartletts I tasted didn't even taste like a pear at all. It tasted sorta like an apple, the dead kind with no flavor at all. These pears did turn out really well though. I kept a jar for myself and yum. It set up perfectly too. I've gotten better at eyeballing when it's setting up. The last couple of jams I've made without adding pectin. However, since these released so much liquid took by far longer. I did buy sorta under ripe, but couldn't make it till two days later so some some did ripen.

Also, I am trying to stick with buying organic fruit. So that limits me, also these wild fruits I keep reading about? I have no idea where to find them. I'd love to though!

 
I don't have acess anymore. Years ago when I lived in the country the

fencerows were all covered with the wild grapes. You could pick an outdoor leaf-size garbage bag full in a few hours. My Dad said he saw a loaded wild plum on his deer lease but I know I'll never be able to get him to pick them for me:).

 
Sigh, I wish...

I picture myself driving hither and dale looking for wild fruit, spending $$$$$ in gas, then stopping and picking only to find it's someones property/tree/bush whatever. And then they shoot me as a dat gum thief.

...those days of stealing cherries on my way home from school and being chased/shot at with salt pellets loom far to big in my memory.

 
Daddy still talks about stealing watermelons when they were kids

I can remember helping ourselves to persimmons & pomegranites on the walk home from school but those were from trees that the owners just let the fruit fall on the ground & rot.

I'm sure i could still find roads to pick the grapes but it was always variable as to when they ripened and it is way too far to drive only to discover that they aren't ready.

 
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