How to Can Apple Sauce
Fresh Picked Apples From My Dad's Tree
There is just something about Fall and apples.
The nice crunch and sweet burst of flavor. Mmm. I love apples.
And they are so versatile. Which is a good thing too because if you have an apple tree, chances are you have more apples than you can get though by just eating them plain.
Apples can be used in salads, rice pilafs, desserts like pie and cobblers, pressed for juice or made into my girls' favorite: Applesauce.
Making your own applesauce is so easy. It helps to have a few gadgets but I have made them without too.
This is an apple corer, slicer and peeler. You can take off the thing that peels it if you want to leave them on for more nutrition. (And a pretty color of applesauce.) You can also use it on potatoes.
Stick the washed apple on. Slide it up to the peeler and start turning the handle.
Isn't this the coolest thing ever? Look how it peels and slices as it easily turns.
Pretty huh? Notice the core stays on the machine and the part of the apple you want slides off.
Put the sliced and peeled apples in a ascorbic acid or vitamin C water bath to keep from turning brown while you work on more apples. (At this point you could put the slices on a dehydrator for a healthy snack)
Once you have enough apples to fill a pot fill it with a cup of water simmer until the apples start to turn soft. The apples will start to make their own juice but just make sure it isn't cooking too high and starts to burn.
These are soft enough.
Next, carefully blend in batches. It is very hot.
At this point you can start putting it back in a new pot and then season with sugar or cinnamon if you'd like but I think that the applesauce is amazing plain and that's how my kids prefer it so I just move on to filling the jars.
When you put hot food into the jars it is called a hot pack. This is what we do for applesauce so if you decide to make a big batch of applesauce one day and can it the next, make sure you heat it up again before putting in your jars. Fill to 1/2 inch of the top (headspace). Put on heated lids and rings. And process in a water bath canner for the time indicated for your altitude in the chart below.
| Table 1. Recommended process time for Applesauce in a boiling-water canner. | |||||
| Process Time at Altitudes of | |||||
| Style of Pack | Quart Size | 0 - 1,000 ft | 1,001 - 3,000 ft | 3,001 - 6,000 ft | Above 6,000 ft |
| Hot | Pints | 15 min | 20 | 20 | 25 |
| Quarts | 20 | 25 | 30 | 35 | |
Take out of canner and leave undisturbed on a surface free of drafts for at least 24 hours to cool. When cool, wash jars and store without rings in a cool, dark place.
Freshly canned jars have got to be one of the prettiest sights in the world. It always brings a smile to my face.
Enjoy!
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