Place 7 clean 250 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner. Cover jars with water and heat to a simmer (180°F/82°C). Set screw bands aside. Keep jars hot until ready to use. Preheating Bernardin® lids is not advised.

The sealing compound used for our home canning lids performs better at room temperature than it does pre-heated in simmering water (180°F). Simply wash lids in hot, soapy water, dry, and set aside until needed.

Preheating can lead to less vacuum being achieved during water bath canning, and to buckle failures during pressure canning. Wash and coarsely chop pears. Place in large, deep stainless steel saucepan. With a large spoon or potato masher, crush pears to release juice.

Bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat. Stirring occasionally, simmer about 20 minutes or until pears are soft. Pour cooked pears through a fine sieve, pressing with spoon to yield 10 cups (2.5 L). Purée pear sauce in food processor. (The purée step creates a silky smooth texture.

If a more textured spread is desired, skip this step.) Return purée or strained pears to saucepan; stir in grated orange rind and nutmeg. Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil; reduce heat and boil gently 45 minutes.

Add honey; return mixture to a boil; boil gently again about 20 minutes or until Pear Honey mounds on a spoon or reaches desired thickness. Ladle hot pear honey into a hot jar to within 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) of top of jar(headspace).

Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if required, by adding more pear honey. Wipe jar rim removing any food residue. Centre sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Return filled jar to rack in canner.

Repeat for remaining pear honey. When canner is filled, ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process -boil filled jars - 10 minutes.

When processing time is complete, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands. After cooling check jar seals.

Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.

Processing: At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process -boil filled jars - 10 minutes - 10 minutes.

Altitude-adjusted processing table: At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process -boil filled jars - 10 minutes