Get your Canner Ready, Place your water bath canner on the stove 1/2 to 3/4 full of water. Wash your bands, jars, and lids in hot soapy water. Add your clean empty jars to the water bath canner. Let the empty clean jars simmer in the water while preparing the pears.
Start your Syrup on the Stove, Measure water and sugar into a stockpot or pan. Heat and stir to dissolve the sugar, keep it warm but not boiling. It’s recommended to use a light syrup for pears. Get the measurements for each type of syrup here.
Wash the Pears, place the pears into the sink full of water. Rub gently and swish them. Then rinse them to make sure they are clean.
Peel the Pears, using a vegetable peeler or a paring knife to peel the pears. Or to save time, have a pot of boiling water on the stove. Add your pear to the water and let sit about 15 seconds. Remove from the boiling water to a bowl of ice water to cool down. The pear skin will slip right off.
Core and Cut the Pear, Once the pear is peeled, use a melon baller to scoop out the stem end and the blossom end. The small end of the melon baller works great. Cut the pear in half and then remove the core with the larger end of the melon baller. If desired you can cut each half in half again to quarter it.
Keep Pears from Browning, As you are preparing the pears and halving them or quartering them, place them in a fruit soak to keep them from browning as you are preparing the rest of them.
Get Your Lids and Rings Ready, Since your jars are in the canner heating up, you'll also want to get your lids and rings ready. Wash them, set them aside so they are ready to go. Be sure to check your rings for rust.
Drain the pears. Add a layer to pears into your hot syrup. Let them cook about 5 minutes to heat through.
Take one jar out of the canner. Add the heated pears into the hot jar. Ladle the hot syrup over the pears and remove any air bubbles. I use a rubber spatula to run along the sides of the jar to loosen any air bubbles. Leave a headspace of 1/2 inch. Wipe the rim of the jar to remove any syrup or pear debris with a clean cloth.
Place the lid on the jar and adjust the bands. Place the jar with the jar lifter back into the canner and proceed with the next jar. Until you have all the jars filled in your canner.
Process the Pears, Make sure the water fully covers the jars with at least 1 inch of water over the top of the jar lids. Process the pears in the water bath canner according to your altitude and jar size. You can find processing times for pressure canner and water bath canner here.
Once processing time is up, remove jars from water bath canner place them on a towel. Let them sit overnight and cool. Once cooled, check to make sure the lids have sealed properly.
Label your jars by writing on the lid the date and canner batch if you have more than one canner batch. Store in a cool dark area until ready to use.