Sweet pear preserves might turn you obsessed this season.
This easy-to-prepare homemade pear jam recipe, with vanilla and without pectin, is my favorite winter jam.
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You can make these pear preserves and use it in so many ways.
Read about its uses and get the detailed step-by-step picture recipe below.
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❔ Why you need to make this wonderful Pear Preserves!
The time might be right for you to let go after a long day at work.
You come home, have dinner and then decide you need a treat as a motivation helper.
You just want to enjoy, be in the now and this can be achieved with a few spoonfuls of jam preserve mixed in some fresh yogurt.
The traces of vanilla-infused pear jam mixing up into your creamy fresh yogurt will definitely make you forget everything that happened in the last hours.
The pear preserves is that insanely good!
The aromatic preserve is a little delicacy which you have earned yourself.
Either in the way I just overly exaggeratedly described, or you might consider helping your moody self in the morning by spreading some pear jam with vanilla flavor over your slice of bread.
Pear preserve is a useful way of storing all the fruity goodness past the winter season.
🔪 How to make it?
Follow the simple steps to prepare your own homemade pear jam.
The detailed jam recipe with ingredients and instruction details can be found at the bottom of the post.
Step 1
Peel and cut out the core of your pears.
Cut your pears into chunks and place into a large jam cooking pot.
Slit open a vanilla bean lengthwise, scratch out the seeds and add the whole bean with scratched out seeds into the pot to the pears.
Pour in your sugar too and mix all the ingredients well.
Step 2
Take the pot with the jam ingredients to the heat and bring to a rolling boil while stirring occasionally.
Keep on the heat so that the jam can reduce over time and the pears turn translucent and get infused with the vanilla flavors.
Step 3
Test if your jam is set, the thermometer setting temperature is 220 Fahrenheit/ 105 Celsius, or test by pouring hot jam on a cold plate to see if it's running.
When set, pick out the vanilla bean and reduce jam desired consistency with a hand blender.
Pour hot jam up to the rim into clean sterilized jars.
Close jam with lids.
🍐 Ingredients
My pear jam preserve consists only of three ingredients and is made without pectin.
It's more natural that way and you can store it for months without issues.
Pears
I use firm and juicy William pears (aka Bartlett) for this jam.
They are perfect for preserves because they are juice and easily fall apart when cooked.
Yet, feel free to experiment with other pear varieties such as Anjou and French Butter Pears.
Keep in mind to use a pear variety that gets soft when cooked, try to avoid pear varieties that hold their shape when cooked.
Vanilla
For the vanilla, you can try to get the best quality of vanilla beans like those from Madagascar or Reunion Island.
It's important that you use untreated pesticide-free vanilla beans because you will add the vanilla beans into your food.
You can also use vanilla paste from the jar if you prefer but don't use vanilla extract, it's just not the same flavor experience when used in this jam recipe.
Sugar
For the Sugar use regular all-purpose sugar.
You can also pep up things and use brown sugar.
Don't reduce the sugar quantity because the sugar helps in preserving the jam and besides you will only eat a teaspoon of jam at a time with bread or in yogurts.
Nonetheless, if you prepare a small batch of pear preserves and you intend to eat it soon, you can reduce the sugar in the recipe.
🧰 Jam making tools
- Jam pan (copper ones preferably)
- wooden spoon with a long handle
- thermometer - to check the setting of the jam
- sterilized Mason Jars with
lids - funnel with a large opening
- labels
- jar tongs to take out the sterilized jars from the water bath
👁️ More Fall/Winter Preserves 🍯
Dear Reader, how will you enjoy this pear preserves?
📖 Recipe
Pear Preserves - Pear Jam with Vanilla Recipe
Instructions
- Peel, quarter and cut the pears into chunks.
- Place the fruit pieces into a big jam cooking pot and add in the sugar.
- Slit open a vanilla bean and scratch out with a butter knife or small spoon the vanilla bean paste.
- Keep the pot with the fruits on the stove, cook on slow heat for about 45 mins, while stirring frequently, until you can see a rolling boil.
- Keep cooking pear preserves until it has visibly reduced and appears translucent.
- Test if the jam is set with a candy thermometer. The setting temperature is 210° Fahrenheit or 105° Celsius. Or drop some of the preserve on a cold plate or spoon and if it's not running it is set. If it runs, keep the jam for some more time to cook on low heat and repeat the test until you have the correct consistency.
- Take out the vanilla bean and discard.
- Reduce jam to a smoother consistency with a hand blender. I like to keep a few fruit pieces to give the jam some character.
- Pour hot jam into clean sterilized jars and fill up to the rim.
- Drop some vodka or rum into the lid to kill further bacteria. (optional)
- Close the jar with the lid and turn upside down to create a vacuum.
- Allow the jam to cool down, label and store in a cool and dry place.
Notes
- You can use other pear varieties too. for example Royal Riviera Pear variety.
- 1 serving = 1 Teaspoon. 70 servings comes to about 3 Jars.
