Every housewife at least once in her life has faced the problem of processing overripe, soft pears. Usually soft fruits are used to make compotes, make fillings for pies and add to desserts. But few people know that jam made from soft, overripe pears has a special taste and aroma. And if you add various spices to the delicacy, then such jam will become a favorite dessert in every home.
Features of making jam from soft overripe pears for the winter
Harvesting a large harvest of fruits from your garden plot is great. But most varieties of pears are not intended for long-term storage, so the fruit begins to overripe and spoil. To prevent crop loss, soft or overripe fruits are used to make aromatic jam, adding various spices to it.
How to select and prepare ingredients?
Pears need to be sorted; very soft and darkened fruits are not suitable for making jam.
The fruits are thoroughly washed and dried; if the fruits are large, they are cut into several parts and removed from the seeds; small fruits are left whole.
Preparing containers
To make high-quality, thick jam, you will need a suitable container. It is best to use dishes with low sides made of stainless steel or Teflon coated for preparing delicacies. Also, enamel dishes are used to make jam, but you will have to stir the fruit often so that the sugar does not burn to the bottom.
Ordinary aluminum pots and basins are not recommended for cooking fruits and berries. When fruit comes into contact with aluminum, the oxidation process starts, which ultimately leads to the preparation of a low-quality product.
In dishes with high sides, jam always takes longer to cook. But a basin, saucepan, or large bowl is perfect for making jam from overripe pears.
Fact! The lower the walls of the container for making jam, the faster the excess moisture from the syrup evaporates, the fruit is simultaneously boiled, and the delicacy takes on a thick consistency.
Cooking recipes
There are several excellent recipes for making jam or preserves from soft pears. But which one will suit your taste, the hostess will have to decide.
Pear jam in the form of jelly
To diversify winter preparations, it is recommended to prepare aromatic, jelly-like jam with the addition of lemon juice from overripe pears.
To do this you will need:
- Soft pears, 1 kilogram.
- Sugar is calculated based on the taste of the fruit. If the pears are sweet, then 700-800 grams of granulated sugar is enough. For pears with high acidity, the amount of sugar is increased to 1 kilogram.
- Half a medium sized lemon.
- Drinking water – 1 glass.
The fruits are carefully peeled and cut into small slices. Water is poured into the cooking container and the prepared fruits are laid out. Now you need to wait for the brew to boil and boil the fruits for another 5-10 minutes, and only then carefully add sugar and squeeze the juice from half a lemon. In this form, the jam is prepared for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or a special spatula.
After the delicacy has been cooked and thickened, it is beaten with a mixer or blender and placed in sterilized containers.
Soft pears in jam in whole form
To make jam from whole soft pears, you will need small fruits.
To make jam you will need:
- The pear is soft, small, in the amount of 1 kilogram.
- Drinking water – 1 glass.
- Citric acid – 0.5 teaspoon, or juice of half a lemon.
- Granulated sugar is calculated based on the sweetness of the pears. For sweet fruits, 700 grams of sugar is enough.
Initially, syrup is prepared from water and granulated sugar. At this time, the pears are washed, dried, and each fruit is pierced with a fork.In this case, fruit juice can easily get into the jam.
Place fruits in the prepared syrup and boil for 40-60 minutes. Remove the container with jam from the heat and leave for 2-3 hours. After the allotted time has passed, the bowl of jam is again brought to a boil and cooked for another 10-15 minutes.
Then, remove the container from the heat and leave for 1-2 hours. In the third batch, the jam is cooked for 10 minutes, and then put into sterile containers and rolled up.
With cinnamon and lavender
Cinnamon and lavender will add a unique aroma to jam made from overripe pears.
For 1 kilogram of pears you will need:
- 800 grams of granulated sugar;
- 50 milliliters of water;
- a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon:
- one sprig of fresh or dried lavender.
Initially, syrup is prepared from sugar and water. As soon as the syrup becomes transparent, add sliced fruits and cinnamon to it, boil for 15-20 minutes, skimming off the foam and stirring. Next, remove the container with jam from the stove and leave for 3-5 hours.
After the expiration date, add a branch of lavender to the jam, bring to a boil and remove from heat, remove the lavender. The hot delicacy is laid out in prepared containers.
Advice! For stirring the jam, a wooden spatula or spoon is best suited.
In the form of jam
Soft pears are great for making fragrant and aromatic jam.
Overripe pears are cut into slices and boiled in a small amount of water for 5-10 minutes. Next, the fruit is ground through a sieve or crushed with a blender. Pear puree is sent to a cooking container and covered with granulated sugar, based on 1 liter of fruit puree, 700 grams of sugar are added.
The fruit mass is boiled for 40-50 minutes, then placed in sterilized containers and sent for storage.
How and for how long can you store it?
The shelf life of pear jam depends on the canning method. If the prepared delicacy is placed in a sterile container and rolled up, then the shelf life of such cans can be extended up to 2 years in a cool, dark place. In other cases, it is recommended to store containers with jam in the refrigerator and consume them as soon as possible.
