Help - Perry pears going soft

[Mark Evens]

I picked some Thorn pears 2-3 weeks ago but for various reasons have
not been able to press them yet. Because I'm helping to organise an
Apple Day, I won't be able to get to them until tomorrow evening. Now
a fair percentage of the pears are starting to go off from the centre
outwards (as pears do - they always catch you by surprise). Is it OK
to use pears that have gone soft in the middle? Does it make any
difference whether I use them to make perry or just (pasteurised)
juice? I understand that rotten apples contain patulin which you have
to be particularly careful of if making juice, whereas a certain
percentage is acceptable in cider. I don't know what the guidance is
for pears.
Many thanks for any ideas to avoid a big trip to the compost heap :(
Mark

[Cornelius Traas]

Those pears will be fine to use (for either juice or perry) because they are
not decaying, merely ripening. They are a little tricky to extract the juice
from when they get soft.
Con Traas

[Michael Cobb]

Personally I would check for any signs of mould and discard any that have
it. If it is just the pears natural rippening you may get away with it
but since you will get slush you will need something more solid to press
with - spent dry apple pomace after pressing mixed with the almost liquid
pear has worked for me in the past with a very good juice yield.

Michael Cobb

[Mark Evens]

Thanks for the comments. I've just milled them, throwing out any bad
ones and it is pretty mushy. I'm leaving them overnight before
pressing, so I'll try to press some apples first and then use the
spent pomace.
Cheers
Mark

[michael]

Mark,I make perry regularly from Thorn pears,and usually do not wait for them to go brown inside.However,you may get away with it without too many problems,if you use a reasonable amount of sulphite.

Andrew Lea recommends significantly more sulphite for perry pears than for apples,and with the condition of your pears,I suggest you do not use a reduced sulphite wild fermentation,but would add the full amount of sulphite recommended by Andrew( depending on pH) plus another 50-75ppm.Then leave for a couple of days and put in a yeast of your choice.

If you search this group for perry making you may find some old discussions on this point.

Michael

[Mark Evens]

Pressed the Thorn today. Put in some spent apple pomace and had no
difficulty with the pressing. I also had some Blakeney Red which were
not so ripe. Decided to turn the Thorn into juice as the tannin
dropped out readily overnight. The Blakeney Red will be perry as it's
a bit more tannic and has more flavour. Next time I'll make sure to
use Thorn within the recommended time period.
Thanks for the help.
Mark