Go to the Recipe: Caramelized Apple Ketchup
Do you think this would work with pears? I’m allergic to apples but not pears and this does sound very interesting.
I think this would work reasonably well with pears, with some considerations:
1. Pears have lower acidity than apples, so you may need to adjust at the end with more malic acid to your preference
2. Pears often have a gritty texture due to stone cells (sclereids), and that texture can persist even after cooking and blending. Straining will help you here, but more than anything, I would be mindful to select pear varieties that have fewer and smaller clusters of sclereids, such as Comice or Anjou pears. I wouldn't use Bartletts here
3. Ripeness is a key factor in sweetness and smoothness. I'd go for riper pears here
4. Make sure to peel the pears for the best possible texture. The skin of some ripe varieties (like Anjou) blends up reasonably well, but unless you are using a red-skinned variety (for the added color), then I would omit the skins here
Hope this helps!
Is the pH low enough (below 4.6) in the final recipe, that this could be water bath canned?
This is a tough one! I never measured the final pH of this sauce, and I think it might even vary depending on the apple variety. So I can't say with confidence that this could be safely canned. To my knowledge, there's no way of accurately calculating or eyeballing the final pH based on the ingredient list. My hunch is that the amount of baking soda in this recipe, even adjusted with malic acid, gives a final pH that would be too high for canning.
At the end of the day, you'd need to measure the pH directly after making it before considering canning.
