Recipe: Canned Pears in Sugar Syrup
Published: October 18, 2026
The summer of 2012 I found myself working at a local garden centre. To date that was one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had. I’m thoroughly convinced I’m supposed to work outside and I’m definitely supposed to work on my feet.….. Too bad those wages seem to max out where starting salaries begin in the insurance and finance world… BUT I DIGRESS. While working there I bought myself a pear tree.
Why I was drawn to this bartlett pear tree I have no idea. I just loved taking care of it at the garden centre and one day it had made it’s way to the back of the row of trees and when I didn’t see it on it’s usual shelf when I was watering, I was convinced someone had purchased it. When I found it just hiding among some apple trees my coworker made the point that for a moment I’d been devastated when I thought it had sold and I HAD to buy it myself.
Planting the tree with the help of my dad back in July 2012. I would have been 21.
So despite still living with my parents and probably making minimum wage at the timex~z I bought this pear tree. I think I had to call my parents to come get it in the truck
A couple of years later, I bought a second pear tree so the family could hopefully reap some fruit from these beauties.
At this point I was moved out and on my own but I had my parents hooked on the idea so pear tree #2 was planted just a few feet from the first tree.
Me standing with my freshly planted pear tree circa summer 2014.I would have been 23.
Fast forward to 2026 the trees are thriving and produces enough fruit for both my parents and myself to enjoy the literal fruits of our labour. (‘our’ is not really the right word- my parents take on the majority of their maintenance and care.. But they are planted in their yard lol)
This year I got nearly 10 lbs of pears so I pulled out The Canning Kitchen cookbook and got to work.
I didn’t want to default to just making sweets. I wanted an opportunity to enjoy our home grown fruit all year
Canned Pears in Sugar Syrup
Sliced pears canned in sugar water
Me present day 2026 with The Canning Kitchen Recipe Book
This recipe is from The Canning Kitchen by Any Bronee which I think I found at Lee Valley Tools one day.
One of my favorite things about this recipe book is the small batches. This recipe made 6-500ml jars of pear slices. Perfect household amounts with the option to share or trade their harvest.
Ingredients:
12 cups water, divided
1/3 cup lemon juice
6lbs (2.7kg) ripe pears
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine 6 cups of water with the lemon juice. Peel your first pear. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the core (a melon baller does a great job at this), the stem and any other leathery bits. Slice the pear lengthwise, adding the slices to the lemon water as you go to prevent browning. Prepare the rest of the pears in the same manner.
In a large, heavy bottomed pot, combine the remaining 6 cups of water with the sugar. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Drain the lemon water from the pears. Carefully add the pears to the light syrup and bring the works back up to a boil, gently stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Using a slotted spoon (I used a spaghetti spoon), scoop the pears into 6 sanitized 500ml mason jars, topping up with syrup to leave a 1/2 inch headspace. Poke a non-metallic utencil inside each jar a few times to remove any air bubbles (I used a little rubber spatula), topping up with more syrup if necessary. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 20 minutes.
Notes
When I got the pears up to boil, I let it cook for 3 minutes stirring the entire time.
All those pear peels were great for my home compost ❤️
The pears going into the boiling sugar water can splash. Do be careful. Sugared boiling water burns worse than regular boiling water. (We heard some STORIES in college you don’t forget)
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