great applesauce

Today was a very hard day, but before we talk about that, let's look at these pretty jars of perfect applesauce.

Even the demon spawn enjoys it -- spices and chunks and all.  Good job, Cathy!  Yay! 

The GrowingCurious Method is this: 

• cut up and (mostly) peel the apples into lemon water.

• drain off the lemon water. (maybe save it for your next batch?)

• put the cut-up apples in a big soup pot on low with the cover on.

• wait until the apples begin to release some juice, and then you can turn up the burner a bit to cook it more quickly (keeping the lid on).

• use a potato masher or heavy wooden spoon to break up the apple chunks if necessary while they are cooking.

• when they are at the consistency you want (I wanted chunky), add lemon juice (four tablespoons per 12 pounds of apples, as per the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, which I saw at our Costco last night in a hardcover version), sugar (I didn't use any) and spices (I used cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in descending amounts -- but not enough to compete against the flavor of the apples).

• put in sterile jars, RWB for 20 minutes.

I was sad to discover that 40 pounds of apples made only 13 quarts of sauce and quite a bit of compost.  I'm sure there's a way to make applesauce with more peel than I used here.  (I like peel, but I was trying to make this sauce yummy for D and E, who loved it this afternoon.)

For all four batches (I could only process 10 pounds at a time), I used mostly Empire apples -- with Pinovas, Granny Smiths, and Liberties mixed in.  This is a really lovely mixture.

In a few years, we'll be using the apples that grow in our own backyard:  Honeycrisp, Chahalis, Fiesta, Pristine, Ashmead's Kernel, Akane, Centennial Crab, Oregon Crab, Evereste Crab, Dayton, Pinova, and Spitzenberg.   I can't wait for that.

In fact, let's forget about the hard parts of today and just think about applesauce. 

Comments

[Sarah Head]

Thanks for a great recipe, Cathy. I always think Americans Canadians take applesauce to a veritable art form! I also have fond memories of my Candian cousins husband who used to sneak a dish of applesauce to eat in the evening while he was watching TV, to be fondly scolded by his wife for doing so!

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[ICQB]

Yay for applesauce! Yours looks yummy and tasty!