Slow Cooker Pear Butter (Canning Or Freezing)
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Enjoy the tastes of fall with this easy to make pear butter recipe with vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Keep reading to see how to make pear butter in your slow cooker the easy way.
Pear butter is one of my favourite spreads. I think it’s really easy to make to, especially if you use your slow cooker to do most of the work.
It’s great on toast, pancakes, muffins or over ice cream and makes a wonderful gift!
Earlier this fall, we took the kids to a local pick your own farm and had fun picking apples and pears. So I knew that I would want to make some pear butter to enjoy this winter.
How To Make Slow Cooker Pear Butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 a bushel of pears to make 7 quarts of pear sauce
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tbs. lemon juice
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 cup of sugar or to taste
Supplies
- large stock pot
- food mill or stick blender or hand mixer
- jar grabbers
- jar funnel
- Crockpot/slow cooker
- large spoons & ladle
- 1 water bath canner
- canning jars & lids
To make pear butter, you need to start by making a pear sauce. This is the same way you can make applesauce.
You can either peel and core the pears first, or if you’re going to process the cooked pears through a food mill, you can skip that step. Just wash the pears and cut them into quarters.
Cover the pears with water and cook until they are tender.
Process the pears through a food mill to remove the skins, seeds, and stems.
Pour your pear puree into your crock pot. I have a large crockpot and this fills mine right to the top.
Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and sugar. I tasted my pear sauce before adding the sugar and found it was very, very sweet. So I only added 1 cup of sugar to help with the flavour.
If your pear sauce isn’t as sweet as you like then add more sugar, up to 6 cups.
If your crockpot doesn’t have enough room to hold that much sugar right now, you can add it after the sauce has cooked down some.
Yes, in this pic, I didn’t have the lid sitting ajar yet! Don’t forget to do that, or your sauce will not reduce.
Cover the crock pot but leave the lid ajar to let it evaporate. You can tilt your lid or lay 2 wooden spoons across the top and set your lid on that.
Turn the crockpot onto low or medium heat. If after 12 hours the sauce isn’t cooking down enough you can turn it up to high. Just keep an eye on it using the high setting you don’t want to burn your sauce.
Depending on how hot your crockpot cooks it can take 8 to 12 hours to cook down to a nice thick spread.
I like to make mine up in the evening and let it cook overnight, it’s normally done by the next afternoon. Just cook it until it’s the consistency that you like.
Taste your pear butter. If you’re not happy with the taste, then adjust the sugar & spices as needed.
If your butter has gotten too thick, you can add a little pear juice to thin it out.
Freezing Pear Butter
If you’re freezing your pear butter, let it cool, then ladle it into containers and freeze. Make sure to leave an inch of headspace for it to expand.
Canning Pear Butter
If you’re going to can your pear butter ladle it into half pint or pint jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.
Run a spatula around the inside edge of your jars to remove any air bubbles.
Wipe the rims of the jars clean, place lids on the jars and tighten the rings finger tight.
Place jars into a water bath canner and process.
When the time is up, remove the jars from the canner and place them on a towel. Let them cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours.
Then check the seals, any jars that have not sealed should be reprocessed in the canner or placed in the fridge. Remove the jar rings and wipe the jars clean, label and store in a cool dark place.
Slow Cooker Pear Butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 bushel of pears or 7 quarts of pear sauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 to 6 cups sugar to taste
Instructions
- If you're starting with fresh pears, you need to peel and core the pears before cooking. If you are using a food mill, then you can skip that step. Wash the pears and cut them into quarters.
- Cover pears with water and boil gently until tender.
- Process the pears through a food mill to remove the seeds, skins, and stems. If you are not using a food mill and have already peeled your pears before starting to blend them with a stick blender or hand mixer.
- Pour your pear sauce into your slow cooker. Then add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. If your pears are very sweet, you will need less sugar. I use 1 cup, but adjust to taste up to 6 cups.
- Cover your slow cooker leaving the lid ajar to let the steam out. Cook on low or medium for 8 to 12 hours or until reduced to your liking.
- If freezing, allow the pear butter to cool and ladle it into containers, leaving 1 inch of headspace for expansion in the freezer.
- If canning, ladle your hot pear butter into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headroom.
- Run a spatula around the inside edge of the jar to release air bubbles.
- Wipe the jar rims clean and place lids on finger tight.
- Process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes or according to your altitude.
- Remove jars from the canner and place them on a towel. Allow to sit undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, then check the seals. Any jars that have not sealed can be reprocessed in the canner or placed in the fridge. Remove the lids from the sealed jars and wipe them clean, label and store in a cool, dry, dark place.
These values are from a nutritional database and automatically calculated, and should only be used as an approximation.
Process Time at Altitudes of
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | 0 – 1000 ft | 1001 – 6000 ft | above 6000 ft |
| Hot pack | half pints & pints | 5 min | 10 min | 15 min |
| quarts | 10 min | 15 min | 20 min |
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Kim Mills is a homeschooling mom of 6 and lives on an urban homestead in Ontario, Canada. Blogging at Homestead Acres she enjoys sharing tips to help you save money, grow and preserve your own food.
