These pears are skin off and have been lightly cooked for canning. The pickles and relish aren't cooked as long (10 minutes) so that you retain the crunch, and the dessert pears (a lot of people call them salad pears) are pear halves that are canned in a lightly sweetened syrup and used to make pear salad (hear in the south that is simply filling the middle of the pear with a dollop of mayonaise and then sprinkling grated cheddar cheese on top). I had a "dessert" pear with my lunch today as a matter of fact - crunchy and sweet!
I will have to ask the folks that own our house and who planted the tree the type of pear. They are HUGE - softball size - and very grainy in texture. The skin is a mottled green color. I'm addicted!