Pineapple Preserves

It's July in the Midwest and it is hot. No actually it is HOT. It almost makes me miss winter. Almost but not quite. I like the hot more than the cold. For one thing, summer and hot means fresh glorious fruit. It is peak fruit season. That means that it is time to make preserves so I have a bit of summer to open this winter. The first set of preserves I made was pineapple. Why? Because I love cream cheese and pineapple on a bagel. Also it is great on ice cream. Yum! I think I am going to open one of the jars I just canned and have some preserves.

This time I did something a little different, I processed the jars in the microwave. Yes, that's right, I used the microwave to can. I thought my husband was going to have a cow. He kept telling me I was "crossing the streams" as he watched in fascination behind the wall separating the kitchen from the family room. He was convinced that I was going to blow up the microwave because I put the metal jar lids in the microwave. I think he was waiting to tell me "I told you so"  He didn't get to. I got beautifully canned preserves in a fraction of the time, without boiling a huge pot of water and without lugging that big pot canning around. It took two minutes in the microwave to process the jars. It was awesome!


Pineapple Perseveres

2 Lbs (.9 kg) of Pineapple (About 1 1/2 Pineapples)
1 Tsp of Citric Acid or 2 Tbsp of Lemon Juice
2 Cups (450 g) of Sugar

Place the pineapple in a food processor and process until you have the consistency of the preserves you want. Place the processed pineapple in a medium sized sauce pan and add the citric acid and the sugar. Bring to a boil and boil, stirring frequently until the temperatures hits the jelly stage (220F/ 104 C).

Making the pineapple preserves

This takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Place the preserves in hot sterile jelly jars. Fill the jars up to the brim. Place the lid and screw top of the jars and place in the microwave. There should be 1 1/2 inches between the jars. Cook in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on medium high.

Bottles of preserves in the microwave

Take out and place on towels to cool. The tops should indent when cooled.

Bottles of preserves

The bottom line: Will I make this again? Yes, I will. It was so amazingly easy.