Pear Ginger Jam Recipe – The Perfect Flavor for Fall

This yummy pear ginger jam teams up the sweetness of pears with the warmth of fresh ginger. This recipe uses less sugar and makes a unique gift.

Our neighbors have a large pear tree that is over 50 years old, and each year my sons and I help them with the harvest.

This year, they found a boom lift from another neighbor, so we were able to harvest more pears than ever before. We have enough pears for both our families, plus we were able to share the harvest with several other neighbors.

We can some pears in halves or quarters, but each year I also like to experiment with different pear preserves. This year our new flavors are pear ginger jam and maple pear jelly.

Pear Ginger Jam Recipe

This pear ginger jam combines pears, ginger, and lemon for a delicious jam that goes great on toast, stirred into yogurt, or spread onto pumpkin muffins.

We process the jam in a hot water bath canner, but you could also use a large pot with boiling water. (See instructions for adapting a large pot for canning here.)

This recipe is adapted from Preserving with Pomona's Pectin.

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 pounds of ripe pears
• 1 tablespoon peeled, finely grated ginger root
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 4 teaspoons calcium water
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 teaspoons Pomona's pectin powder

Instructions

1. Prepare your jars, lids, and rings. Fill water bath canner with water and heat it. Sterilize your jars.
2. Peel and core pears and mash or finely chop in a large bowl.
3. Measure out 4 cups of mashed pear into a large saucepan with ginger, lemon juice and calcium water. Mix to combine.
4. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and pectin powder. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
5. Bring pear ginger mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Add sugar-pectin mixture, stirring constantly, until sugar is completely dissolved. Bring jam to a full boil for one minute. Remove from heat.
6. Ladle jam into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims with a damp cloth. Put on lid and ring, tighten to finger tight.
7. Lower jars into canner, making sure they are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water. Place lid on canner, return to boil. Process jars for 10 minutes.
8. Turn off heat. Remove jars from canner and place on a kitchen towel on the counter top. Allow to cool for 8 – 24 hours.
9. Check seals. Remove rings, date, label and store in a cool, dry location.

Substitution: In place of the sugar, use 1/2 to 1 cup of honey. If you prefer more lemon flavor, add 1 teaspoon lemon zest to fruit mixture.

Adjust canning time for altitude if you are above 1000 feet above sea level.

It is okay to make a double batch of this recipe if you are using Pomona's pectin. (I have not tried it with other low sugar pectin brands.)

Best if used within 18 months. Refrigerate pear ginger jam after opening.

Choosing the Perfect Pears for your Pear Ginger Jam

The neighbor's pear tree is an old Bartlett, and works well for canning, jams, jellies and wine making.

Other good pear varieties for jam include:

• Bosc
• Comice
• Anjou

If your favorite isn't on the list, don't worry. As long as it softens when it cooks, it will likely work fine for jam.

Asian pears are less acidic than European pears. The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per pint to canned Asian pear halves, so this recipe should be safe to use with Asian pears.

What is calcium water?

Pomona's Pectin uses calcium to gel instead of sugar. (Most other low sugar commercial pectin and natural pectin in fruit gel with the addition of sugar.) This means you can make jam with only small amounts of sugar, or no added sugar at all.

We add calcium to the recipe by using calcium water. Calcium water is made from water and the calcium powder included in every box of Pomona's Universal pectin. (Get Pomona's Pectin here.)

Each box of Pomona's Universal pectin contains 2 packets:

• 1 Pectin (tan powder)
• 1 Calcium powder (monocalcium phosphate – white powder)

One box of Pomona's pectin makes several batches of jam or jelly.

To prepare the calcium water, simply mix 1/2 teaspoon of calcium powder with 1/2 cup of water. I mix mine in a one cup mason jar.

Store the calcium water in the refrigerator between uses. It lasts for several months. Discard the calcium water if it discolors or you see mold.

You can learn more about Pomona's Pectin and how different pectins work here.

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