“Grussmommy would come the night before and we’d all peel pears. Baskets of them,” one woman remembers. “Then the next morning Dauddy would bring Grussmommy over while those pears started cooking in our big copper kettle. We had a big wooden paddle to stir with, so the pears wouldn’t scorch. “When the pears got soft we put them through the fruit press.” That smoothed the sauce. “Then we poured it back into the copper kettle and added 100 pounds of sugar. The sauce just boiled for hours. Somebody had to stir it constantly or it would burn. When it had boiled down, Grussmommy would test it with a spoon to see if it had reached a jelly-like consistency.” It was the moment for a skilled judgment. If Grussmommy decided it was right, into the crocks it went. The line-up of crocks had all been warmed— quarts, two-quarts, and gallons. “After they were filled we took bread wrappers, cut them to fit the tops of the crocks, dipped the wrappers in water, then put them down on top of the butter. We didn’t have waxed paper then.” The butter was double sealed. “Next we took newspapers or brown paper and fit it down over the tops and outsides of the crocks. Then we cut rubber bands from inner tubes and tied them tightly around the paper. That pear butter would keep for a whole year. It didn’t get moldy and biting.” Here is a version more suitable for today’s schedule and living space.

This is, admittedly, a short-cut procedure that fits better in small kitchens and homesteads than the outdoor apple-butter business demands. One woman, who grew up helping to stir the cider for hours as it boiled down, discovered this method after much experimenting.

Today apple butter is considered a credit to the Pennsylvania German food tradition. Historically, however, it was sweetened only lightly, if at all, making it a spread children avoided rather than relished. One middle-aged woman remembers, “An apple butter sandwich was not considered a treat!” Pear butter was much preferred, “because it was sweet and more mild compared to apple butter, yet not all that flavorful either.” Varieties of fruit butters and preserves were regarded as medicines in Germany and likely influenced their handling in the New World. But with the increased influence of the neighboring English and the easier availability of refined sugar, apple butter grew in favor. Years ago, apple-butter making was an all-day affair. Generally it was an intergenerational family event. Here is one adaptation of such a day that requires a lot of outdoor space for production and substantial indoor storage for the finished spread.