Comments on: Fruit Butters (Peaches, Pears and Apples)

By: When Life Gives You Pears, Make Pear Butter!! | The Mildly Manic Mom

When Life Gives You Pears, Make Pear Butter!! | The Mildly Manic Mom — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:06:32 +0000

[...] is the original post on making fruit butters from Food In Jars. I’ve summarized it below and added a few of my own ideas but check out her [...]

By: Amber

Amber — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:59:27 +0000

Love these tips! I cooked down a batch of apple pear butter today for six hours and it was heavenly. One of my jars was still warm when I cracked it open to put on biscuits for dinner. Thanks for your wonderful site!

By: Katy

Katy — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:57:19 +0000

I’m on my second batch of peach butter and I’m shocked at how long it’s taking to cook down! My first batch cooked on nearly the lowest burner heat for about 8 hours before I gave up and canned it. It was beginning to get sticky like jam. I’m almost to 8 hours with my second batch. It’s just nowhere near “mounding up on a spoon” or leaving a trail when I pass a spoon across the bottom of the pan. I used nearly 4 quarts of mashed peaches and around 4 cups of sugar. They were quite juicy, but this is getting ridiculous! What am I doing wrong?

By: marisa

marisa — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:58:54 +0000

This recipe includes too much dairy butter for safe processing.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:51:52 +0000

I made a beautiful tasting butter. I got the recipe off the internet. It is called Vanilla Pear Butter. It also has some real butter in it. Highly recommended.
My only question is: Can you water bath something with butter in it? Will it seal?

3 1/2 lbs. ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored & quartered
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup butter
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Combine pears, sugar and lemon juice in a large, heavy pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, covered, 15 minutes or until pears are very tender and mushy.

2. Drain pears well over small, heavy bottomed saucepan, reserving liquid. Bring this liquid to a boil. Cook over medium heat, stirring alot, because it will burn easily, until it has reduced to 1/4 cup. Stir in butter.

3. Place pears in blender and process until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Add the hot reduced liquid mixture. Stir in vanilla. Store in jars in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

By: andrea

andrea — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:58:46 +0000

marisa, I am *grateful* for your site. I’ve been canning for a few years now (jams, pickles, tomatoes), and somewhere I read (quite possibly in the Ball Blue Book of Preserving) that one should only use “published recipes” or something to that effect. Then I read your lovely “some of this, some of that, the amount of sweetener is up to you” style directions and I wonder if the Ball Book is really just looking out for newbie canners to not stuff just anything in a jar, or are the ratios of the ingredients really critical for successful food preservation? Thanks!! And thank you for fielding so many canning questions!!

By: Karyn H

Karyn H — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:59:15 +0000

Thank you so much, Marisa! I will order it from Amazon since the small town I live in doesn’t carry much in the way of kitchen gadgets….the joy of living in the mountains in Arizona is evident in the seasons, but not in the shopping. No retail therapy here, I get my therapy from cooking, baking & now canning. I thank you for all the help you & your wonderful site have given me.

By: marisa

marisa — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:31:18 +0000

With that many apples, you might want to get one of these Victorio food strainers: http://www.amazon.com/Victorio-VKP250-Model-Strainer-Sauce/dp/B001I7FP54. It clamps to your counter and makes quick work of cooked apples.

By: marisa

marisa — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:26:44 +0000

Steph, there’s no formula I can give you for adding spices and honey. Cook the peaches down into butter and then taste it. Add honey and the spices until it tastes good to you. Sometimes you also need a bit of lemon juice to balance all the flavors.

By: Steph

Steph — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:20:15 +0000

Your site is amazing. I’ve learned so much from reading here. I made your skillet jam (peach) the other night and it came out fantastic. Nothing but peaches honey and a little lemon juice.

I’m also going to try the refrigerator pickles tomorrow.

I still have chopped peaches left… about 7 cups worth… how much of the spices and honey should I add (for peach butter)?

Thank you!!