• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

our recipes + your inbox = the eatmail

Join now

Subscribe for new recipes + 3 fan-favorite ebooks

  • About
  • Contact

Live Eat Learn

Easy vegetarian recipes, one ingredient at a time

free ebook

Subscribe for new recipes + 3 fan-favorite ebooks

  • Recipe Index
  • Vegetarian 101
  • Travel
  • Meal Plans
  • Course
    • Breakfasts
    • Lunches
    • Dinners
    • Appetizers
    • Sweets
    • Drinks
  • Diet
    • Dairy Free
    • Gluten Free
    • Low Carb
    • Paleo
    • Raw
    • Vegan
  • Season
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Fall
  • Ingredient
    • Avocado
    • Bean
    • Cauliflower
    • Chickpeas
    • Eggplant
    • Mushroom
    • Tofu
    • Quinoa
    • View All
  • Collections
    • All Time Favorites
    • Air Frying
    • Budget Friendly
    • Comfort Food
    • High Protein
    • Meal Prep
    • Meatless Monday
    • View All
  • Visit our kombucha site
    Visit our dog food blog
Home Vegetarian Cooking 101 Ingredient Guides

Pears 101

Share
Share on:
By: Sarah BondUpdated: Jun 17, 2019 5 Comments

This post contains affiliate links.

Everything you need to know about cooking with pears, including a breakdown of the different pear types.

Everything you need to know about cooking with pears, including a breakdown of the different pear types.

Different types of pears on a white background

Until recently, I’d naively gone through life thinking there were just one or two types of pears. I mean I’d never really sought out pears for cooking, so how was I to know? But you know what? There are so many pear types. It made my brain hurt, just looking at them all sitting there at my grocery, me not knowing which to choose. So I bought them all (much to the love of the cashier), and did a little write up for each under “Pear Types”. Hope it saves ya the brain hurt.

Different types of pears on a white background

How to pick the perfect pears

Pears are in their peak harvest (in North America and much of the northern hemisphere) from August to November, but you’ll be able to find them through most of the winter months.

How do you know you’re picking a good one? Color at peak ripeness differs by type of pear, but look for one with few blemishes or scratches. To determine ripeness, apply gentle pressure to the neck of the pear. Pears ripen from the inside out, so a perfectly ripe pear will give a little bit at the neck. A pear that is squishy all around is probably too ripe.

Pear Types

Anjou (d’Anjou): These pears are short, fat, and great eaten raw. There are 2 varieties:

  • Green Anjou: Green and round, these are sweet and perfect for eating raw, though they also hold up well when cooked. These are popular in the U.S. and are pretty easy to find.
  • Red Anjou: Just about like its green cousin, but red and a bit sweeter.

Asian: This one is a bit odd, and isn’t really pear shaped, colored, or tasting. It remains firm when ripe, with an almost crunchy interior. You can work this into most baked dished calling for pears, it can be enjoyed raw, and you could even trying substituting it for apples.

Asian pear on a white background

Green Bartlett: Green-ish, gold-ish, juicy, and great for baking, pureeing, or canning.

Green bartlett pear on a white background

Red Bartlett: Similarly great for baking, pureeing, and canning, but this one is also pretty good raw as well.

Bosc: These are firm and hold up well under heat so they’re perfect for baking.

Bosc pear on a white background

Comice: Sweet and great raw. Try it with a soft cheese like Brie or Camembert!

Comice pear on a white background

Conference: Long and greenish/brownish, this one is good raw or cooked.

Concorde: Good for just about everything. The flesh of these doesn’t oxidize/brown quickly when exposed to air, making them great raw in salads or on fancy cheese platters.

Forelle: This crisp, tart variety is green with red-speckled skin. Try it with a drizzle of honey!

Seckel: Ultra-sweet and perfect raw. This is a smaller pear, making it great packed in your lunchbox or canned whole.

Seckel pear on a white background

Stark Crimson: Bright red and a bit perfume-y. This one is better off baked than raw.

Stark crimson pear on a white background

How to store pears

  • Unripe: Stick your unripe pears in a brown paper bag and store at room temperature to speed up the ripening process. This helps to raise the concentration of ethylene gas, the compound contributing to ripening in many fruits.
  • Ripe: Ripe pears should be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Pear nutrition information

per 1 medium pear (178g)

  • Calories: 103
  • Carbohydrates: 28g
  • Fiber: 6g, 22% Daily Value (DV)
  • Protein: 1g
  • Fat: 0g
  • 12% DV of Vitamin C: A water-soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant to fight against potentially damaging free radicals (molecules with unshared electrons that float around wreaking havoc) and an important cofactor in collagen synthesis.
  • 10% DV of Vitamin K: A fat-soluble vitamin that allows for activation of enzymes in the clotting cascade, which is responsible for blood clotting. Also builds bone by modifying osteocalcin so that it may bind calcium, thus building the bone matrix.
Green pear on a white background

You may also like...

  • These Dutch Poached Pears (or "stoofpeertjes" as they call them here in the Netherlands) are a delicious wintertime classic. Just stew peeled pears in wine and spices for a half hour and serve!
    Dutch Poached Pears
  • Grapefruit
    Grapefruit 101
  • What is cinnamon?
    Cinnamon 101
  • Everything you need to know about cooking with beets…seasonality, variations, ways to cook them, and nutrition information.
    Beets 101
Previous Post
Next Post

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Have a question? Submit your question or comment below.

Rate this Recipe:




  1. Tom says

    Posted on 6/20 at 1:55 pm

    You might want to mention that Asian Pears contain the meat tenderizing enzyme “calpain” and that the pear is always used in Korean barbecue recipes’ marinade for Galbi and Bulgogi.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      Posted on 6/20 at 5:51 pm

      Thanks for the tip, Tom! 😀

  2. Valerie J Baker says

    Posted on 9/17 at 10:49 am

    Hi I have a pear tree in my garden. I don’t recognize it my son brought it in a garden center. Last year I had a bumper crop. They are really big, are big at the bottom and taper at the top like the green barltlett in your picture but fatter at the bottom. It grows with a furry film over it and when ripe goes yellow. and the film comes off. It’s still hard and tastes sharp and not that nice. Is it a cooking pear do you think?. Last year I threw them all away as they didn’t go soft as I would expect from a normal pear. Thought I’d ask as don’t want to waste time cooking and using ingredients if they are not nice.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      Posted on 9/17 at 5:34 pm

      I’m not honestly sure, Valerie! They could be pears that are better for cooking. For those you would just need to cook them for longer (like poached pears). Best of luck!

    • Don Rudd says

      Posted on 8/19 at 3:50 pm

      Just read your post and it sounds like you have A quinch tree not a pear tree.

Primary Sidebar

Hello

I'm Sarah

A flavor-loving nutritionist and sensory science specialist showing you how to make easy vegetarian recipes, one ingredient at a time.

Let's Meet

Freebie alert!

3 reader-favorite cookbooks delivered straight to your inbox.

Get in now!

Subscribe for new recipes + 3 fan-favorite ebooks

Air Fryer Recipes

Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower

Plate full of crispy chickpeas with a wooden spoon.

15 Minute Crispy Air Fryer Chickpeas

Personal size mozzarella pizza cooked in an air fryer

Air Fryer Pizza

Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks

Brussels sprouts on a plate with wooden serving spoons.

The Best 15 Minute Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts

Kale chips on a white plate.

10 Minute Air Fryer Kale Chips

Dinner This Week

Vegan tikka masala with naan and rice in a white bowl

M

Chickpea Tikka Masala

Roasted Chickpea Gyros

T

Roasted Chickpea Gyros

Vegan Thai red curry in a bowl on a red background

W

Thai Vegetarian Coconut Curry

Vegan nachos on a black plate on a white background - These vegan nachos are piled high with easy mushroom BBQ "pulled pork" and a cashew-based queso cheese sauce that will knock your dairy-free socks off.

R

BBQ Mushroom Pulled Pork

Roasted Cauliflower Street Tacos

F

Roasted Cauliflower Tacos

Lemon risotto in a bowl with basil on a yellow background

S

Lemon Basil Risotto

As featured on:

3 bonus books!

Join our Eatmail newsletter to get free copies of our top 3 cookbooks, new recipes, exclusive meal plans, and more!

Follow Along

  • Easy Vegetarian Facebook Group
  • Kombucha Brewers Facebook Group
Back to Top
  • Web Stories
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Collaborate
© 2023 Live Eat Learn
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled Support by Foodie Digital
446 shares