We have a pear tree. Technically we have two, but one doesn't produce anymore (fire). Only two of us like pears (sadly, I'm not one of those two), and most years we end up wasting some of the fruit.
So rather than just painting them, I decided to try drying them. We have a dehydrator that we've barely used.
I cut the pears into a bowl of water + lime juice.
I dried two trays to try it out. But guess what, the girl liked them (Mikey likes it!) and even said they tasted like candy. And we had more pears, so...
We ran the dehydrator back on the porch so we didn't have to hear the fan all the time.
(Four trays)
I don't like dried fruit, but I have to admit, these are good!
I ended up drying 10 trays total. I figure I could fit about 3 pears per tray (I got better at squeezing them in), so that's 30 pears preserved! And way easier than canning. Those 30 pears fit into two of these (3 cup?) pyrex containers and are in the freezer to last an extra long time.
Mostly I just got excited that I found a fruit the girl WANTS to eat!