Instructions

1. Wash pear thoroughly.

2. Peel the pear. Many recipes, like pear sauce and poached pears, require you to peel your Kieffer pear. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel before cooking. Work in vertical strokes from the top to bottom to remove the skin.

3. Core the pear with a spoon. Almost all pear recipes require that your core the pear. To core pears for baking, cut the pear in half using a sharp knife. Scoop the core out of the pear using a spoon. This method works well for most pear recipes, including those that require further slicing or chopping.

4. Core whole pears with a vegetable peeler for poaching. For recipes such as poached pears that incorporate whole, peeled pears, slice the bottom of the pear off using a sharp knife. Insert the end of the vegetable peeler into the bottom of the pear and follow the circular shape of the core with the peeler. Remove the entire core with the pear shape intact.

5. Slice the pear. Add thin slices of pears to salads for extra crunch. Incorporate thick pear slices into fruit preserves or compotes for savory meat dishes. Simply place a peeled and cored pear on a cutting board with the flat side down. Use a sharp knife to create long, vertical strips of pear slices.

6. Cut the pear into chunks. Chutneys and sauces often require that you create thick chunks or small dice from your Kieffer. Follow the same technique for slicing pears, but add a layer of horizontal slices to create a grid pattern of cuts.

7. Cook the pear. You may boil, saute, bake or fry Kieffer pears. This versatile fruit, though tasty and crunchy while uncooked, responds well to a variety of cooking methods.