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.
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 amazing 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?
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Pear Preserves - Pear Jam with Vanilla Recipe
Ingredients
- 2.2 Pounds Pears peeled and cut into chunks
- 1.6 Pounds Sugar
- 1 Vanilla Bean
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.
This jam sounds delicious and looks amazing, thank you for sharing your recipe! For greater longevity, can I process the jars in a traditional hot water bath?
Hi Tracy, yes you can process them in a traditional hot water bath to add another layer of food safety and longevity.
I made this & whilst the consistency was perfect it just tasted of sugar! I had to add loads of cooking apples & lemon juice for it to be edible.
I'm sorry that yours didn't turn out properly, sounds like you used bad pears. Using quality flavorful pears is a requirement to have a nice fruity preserve. Fruits are after all the main ingredient in a jam. You didn't mention the vanilla, so it sounds like you made up your own recipe to a certain degree. The sugar helps in preserving the jam and is the required right amount in this recipe, if used the right way as per the recipe, your preserve won't taste just sugar.
Sounds wonderful but how to convert recipe to use cups rather than pounds? Have pears to work with!!!
Sorry Sandra, but for jams, jellies, chutneys, and marmalades I have a weigh-only policy. It's important to be exact when working with the fruit and sugar ratio when prepping preserves. Please weigh your ingredients for preserves, cups are not exact.
I made this recipe and it turned out beautifully. I love brandy with pears so I added an eighth of a cup of brandy and the preserves had a lovely rich depth of flavor.
Hi Gayle, that's a brilliant idea! I would most definitely make my next batch with brandy too 😀
So looking forward to making this. Just wondering how many pints it makes so I can pre sterilize the right number of jars. Thanks!
Hi Cynthia, please keep about 2-3 jars ready to use with this recipe.
But what size canning jars? Half pint 8 oz? Pint 16oz?
Hi Carey, you will need about 4 half pint jars.
Has anybody use vanilla paste instead of vanilla bean?
Hi Judy, you can use vanilla paste too instead of vanilla beans.
I can’t wait to try this! I am new to canning and making jams. Could I cut this recipe in 1/2 or even 1/4 to try?
Hi Joy, yes you can prepare a smaller batch. Just cut the quantities in half or quarter. The ratio will be the same.
Don’t know what I did wrong. I followed the instr. and my jam is the consistency of hard silicone. I can barely pull the knife out of jar!
Hi Heather, I think you overcooked the Jam. Don't worry, we have all been there. Did you try the setting test with a cold plate or cold spoon? A thermometer can be useful as well to reach the perfect setting temperature.
QUICK FIX for hard overcooked jam: Take your jam back to the pot add a small quantity of boiling water to it., mix and watch your jam getting soft again. Heat it up to get rid of germs. Take it back the clean sterilized jars as described in the recipe. Try to use your jam within a few months and keep it stored in the fridge because we have added water to it afterward.
When the jam is still hot, it appears super thin, but once it cools you can see that it's actually ready and set. That's when the cold plate test is required because you drop hot jam on the ice cold plate and that reduces the temperature of the jam instantly.
I hope your pear jam tastes great at least 🙂
Taking ages to reach 105 c using an open jam pan, Wondering if I should mash it and then continue to bring it up to temp?
Smells good!
Yeah, you can mash it too and then continue to bring it up to the temp. Did you use a copper open jam pan (because copper can cook the jam more evenly, hence the temperature increases more easily too)? My mum has a copper pan, I use stainless steel and at times I just tend to increase the heat a bit to speed up the process. As long as you can see the jam cooking slowly and not bubbling like crazy after the first rolling boil, you are good. Even if it takes it's time it's ok you know. My mum has a wood oven and sometimes the wood pieces aren't the best and the cooking time is prolonged to two hours. The result is the same anyhow. 🙂 Enjoy your pear jam!
I learned something from your article that I've never thought about before. . I am a big apple person and bake with them quite often. I didn't realize that just like apples, pears have varieties that are best suited for baking. Makes perfect sense though. I loved your idea of putting the pear preserves in yogurt, that sounds absolutely delicious !
This looks so good! I love pears but never use them enough during the short fall pear season. What a good way to help the flavor last all winter long.
The vanilla sounds so good!
This looks delicious! And much better than any store-bought version. My mom would love this recipe
I was just thinking the other day of making some pear butter or preserves, now that I've stumbled upon your recipe, I must!
I love the idea of adding vanilla to pear preserves! Also, at first glance I thought the title of this recipe said "Pearl Jam," and I was wondering what a band had to do with a recipe. 🙂
I haven't made jam in so long and I'm desperate to try this, hopefully with some free time coming up in December!
This is perfect, I have a pear tree and regularly have too many pears, if that's even possible. Saving for next Summer!
This sounds amazing! Absolutely love pears around this time of year. Definitely will need to try this recipe!
These pear preserves look delicious! We have a pear tree and I never know what to do with all of the excess fruit and for some reason, I have never thought of making jam! What a great idea! I've printed out your recipe and will try it next spring when I have loads of pears!
I've never made jam before! It doesn't look super hard though, and I LOOOOVE pears!
I love preserves. I make my own bread and having a simple piece of toast with pb and this kind of fruit sweetness is so so wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
I LOVE this recipe. I'm so excited pears are in season because I need to make this and eat this ASAP 🙂
This sounds a fab preserve to make for gifting, simple, but totally yummy. Loving the pear and vanilla combination.
OMG Helene that sounds DIVINE!!! I'm pinning this and will keep my fingers tightly crossed that by having taken that much action, a jar of it will magically appear in my fridge 😀
Jane x
My mom is a master of homemade jams and preserves but I never really make them. So whenever I see someone else's homemade fruit preserves my cravings (and longings for home) go through the roof!
Lately, I have been visiting a lot of different homestyle breakfast joints that have amazing homemade jams. I have been meaning to try to buy some but now that I found this recipe, I think I'm going to make it instead! 🙂 I love how its not the traditional berries jam too! Thank you for this! 🙂
Pear and vanilla is such a fantastic combination! Love that it only has three ingredients too. A must try!
I love the idea of pear and vanilla but vanilla bean is hard for me to find. Can I substitute vanilla extract?
Yes you can substitute with a few drops of vanilla extract. 🙂
Do you need to cool the jam/preserves before you put them in the jars and put the jar upside down?
Hi Paige,
No you don't need to let the jam cool. Just pour the hot jam into the jars and seal well as explained in the recipe instructions.
I miss a lot of the fruit I used to get in Goa, but I do get a good variety of pears. I also love making my own jam, so I must try this next.
This looks awesome and I love that you made this without using any pectin.
The fruit preserve looks awesome, I have made something similar with apples, would love to try this soon..
You sure make a beautiful jar of jam Helene! Love the addition of the vanilla bean in the pear jam! Need to find some local pears. I'd love to taste this. Thanks and welcome back!
Three ingredients and no pectin, I will be trying this recipe for sure. I do love no fuss and easy. Love how the vanilla bean adds that depth of colour, it would add a nice depth of flavour too.
Every summer my mom and I get together and make a huge batch of preserves. I can't wait to share this recipe with her and possibly arrange a fall fruit preserve-making session!
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This is absolutely gorgeous and I love the combination of pear and vanilla - Wowza!
I'd have to call your preserves both elegant and gourmet! Sounds and looks delicious.
Oh my gosh I love this! I first discovered pear preserves in Germany when we were staying with a host family. They had a few varieties, one with added ginger which I've been craving ever since! I can't wait to try this, then experiment with ginger too. Thanks so much for sharing!