How many different ways can you use fruit?

General Fruit Growing
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I’m going to post this with specific uses of pears but the thread is general purpose so feel free to add other uses for other fruits.

Fresh - Pick it off the tree and eat it fresh is the way I like pears best. Warren is a superb pick-it-fresh pear.

Storage - Pick it and store it for up to 9 months before eating.

Canning - Canned pears are similar to pear preserves but it is just pears with water and perhaps some sugar.

Preserves - I love the taste of pear preserves, perhaps with a few cloves to spark up the flavor.

Culinary - are pears cooked before eating, perhaps with wine, or made into pies

Drying - pears specifically selected for making dried fruits, Flemish Beauty is an example.

Juice - Is a pear specifically selected to make juice. Schweizer Wasserbirne (Swiss water pear) is an example

Perry - is a pear selected to be juiced then fermented. It is usually tart and acidic to promote flavor.

There are also uses in cosmetics, flavorings, scents/aromas, and pears have been used to make a type of flour. Jellies, jams, and marmalades are also common uses.

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Pears can be made into a marinade as well, as in Korean food

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I just had a royally good time reading up on ways to make pear marinade and why it works. The Ultimate Guide to Pears in Marinades was one source I found. Clark will turn purple when he realizes what a good use for pears he has been missing.

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I recently had sparkling pear cider and it was delicious! Maybe Pear kombucha to simulate for DIY.

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Dehydrated is one of my favorites- pears get a nice chewy texture. Some fruits (tomatoes) can be turned further into powder and used as a spice. I’ve never done it for pears but I suppose you could! Is that how you make pear flour?

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I made a pear butter this year with ginger and cardamom.

Now I am wondering about pears in baked goods, maybe a pear bread or muffins.

What about a pear fruit leather?

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Making extracts like lemon, lime, etc for baking and such. Drying then grinding bright colored fruits to add to recipes to use as food coloring for those of us that try to do no artificial food dyes in our homes

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Pears make yummy fruit leather. :slight_smile: we usually add a little lemon juice to prevent oxidation, and sometimes bananas if we have them.

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Ive been thinking on this a lot for my figs.

Fresh and frozen of course. Frozen is nice blended into a smoothie or put in some hot cereal.

Cooked: in tarts/cakes, on pizza. A lot of fruit goes better than you think on pizza with some hot peppers and goat cheese. I bet you could do pears too. Cookies etc.

Jams: spicy jam, single variety jam, mixed fig jam, mixed fruit

Hot sauces: I got big plans for a fig and habenero type pepper hot sauce. BBQ sauce too

Dried: classic or fruit leather. I think fig and tart cherry leather would go crazy.

does fig wine exist? google says i guess…. ?

Also donating extras to foodbanks is appreciated if you end up with a big surplus

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Someone on GF posted once about blending their apples and putting them in half-size jelly jars and freezing them. Then take them out as needed in the winter to thaw a bit and having slushy treats for the kids. I’ve done that with some apples and pears ever since I read that. I can’t find the post again to give proper credit.

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you can use the scraps to make vinegar. good to use to make salad dressings. vinegar used to be $1 5 yrs ago now its $4. its very easy to make. plenty of tutorials on youtube.

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I love pickled fruits and chutneys. The combination of sweet, tart, and spicy goes with meat, cheese, tofu, tempeh, or anything savory. I’ve not had enough pears yet to make either, but pickled figs are one of my favorites, and pickled peaches are great too. Every summer I make a huge pot of tomato/apple chutney and it’s my most appreciated Christmas gift.

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ooo pickled figs… interesting. do you have a recipe?

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This is my mother’s recipe, I don’t know where she got it. These were my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner when I was a kid. I don’t know what variety of figs she used, but they were on the small size, like brown turkey. I’ve only ever made them with smaller figs, but larger ones would probably work also. You leave the figs whole, with the stem end still on. The recipe calls for “pickling spice” and doesn’t specify an amount. I’ve always used a pickling spice blend from the grocery store, and maybe about a tablespoon - I don’t think the exact details are critical, but you do want some spiciness in these.

Fig Pickles

Make a syrup of 1 cup water to 6 cups sugar. Add 1 cup vinegar and a small cheesecloth bag of pickling spices.

Cover 3 quarts figs with 2 quarts boiling water. Allow to stand 5 minutes.

Drain figs and boil them in the syrup for 3 consecutive mornings: boil for 10 minutes each morning. Leave them standing in the syrup all 3 days. After boiling on the third day, while they are still hot, pack them in clean, sterilized canning jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

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do you do this with ripe figs or green ones? ive heard of green fig perserves and i think they could also be nice pickled in this way too to make a chutney out of them

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This recipe is for ripe figs. They come out very soft, but still hold their shape. I’ve also heard of green fig preserves, but haven’t tried them. I think the process is different to get rid of the latex in the green figs.

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Dutch Stoofperen

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Omas-stoofperen-953884-7-0-360x360-4281804167360×360 24 KB

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I used to make pear leather and wrap them around ricotta and other fillings like a blintz, then drizzle with a sauce. Let them sit a bit to soften before eating. These wraps also good, and very attractive when the pears are mixed with prune plums, and there are two drizzles: milk and dark chocolate. I haven’t done this in years, since none of my family is eating dairy now, and I can’t stomach the idea of using tofu, even silken tofu, for this yet.

I make a super smooth fruit sauce by putting the cooked fruit into a Vitamix, then can it and serve it all year to my elderly relatives who need it to swallow their pills. To entertain myself, I am constantly experimenting with fruit blends, herbs, and spices. I really like a recent ginger-pear-quince-cardamom mix.

I freeze a lot of chopped up fruit for later, and make a healthier version of my grandmother’s apple slice and apple butter cake after the season’s over. Hers was ridiculously unhealthy for all that fruit… lots of sugar, white flour, and shortening! I use butter, no sugar, and buckwheat flour. I like pumpkin apple pie, too.

I also do fermented drinks sometimes, when I have time, kind of like kombucha or water kefir, and gelatin made with my citrus and/or strawberries, allulose, stevia, spices, and beef gelatin. Sounds awful, but it hits the spot in summer.

I got a Cremi ice cream maker and make gelato or sherbet type desserts with fruit, no sugar, and almond milk in the summer.

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Pear ice cream sounds yummy. You have my curiosity up with ginger-pear-quince-cardamon blend. I love finding new uses for cardamon as it is one of the under-utilized spices that really boost flavor when used appropriately. Have you tried making it with cloves?

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I haven’t, but allspice and 5 spice together taste good with pears.