October 19, 2023

Canning Applesauce

Yesterday I posted about my apple picking trip, so today I'm sharing the fruits (pun intended) of my labors from tree to applesauce. Chris took SoJo to his parents' house so I had a few hours to myself to get some canning done. And the good news is that so far, all 12 jars seem to have sealed. I just love hearing that "pop" that tells me one more jar has set. To top it off, the house smells wonderfully of apples, which is much better than any Yankee Candle.

I'll take you through my date with pots, jars and apples...
First I sterilized the jars in my big stock pot,

While that was heating up, I started chopping up the apples.
I didn't bother peeling them, since I honestly didn't have 5 hours to devote to this. Because these apples are organic, I figured that it was pretty safe to eat the skins, and in addition, the skins contain nutrients and added fiber. I intended to strain the sauce through a sieve, but when the time came, the skins were pretty soft. I ended up just using my immersion blender to chop up the skins, making a really smooth sauce that hopefully baby SoJo will like.

And the cores even went into our compost bucket, waiting to be thrown in the compost tumbler.

Once the apples were chopped, I cooked them on the stove with a cup of water and a little bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. I added a pinch of salt too to bring out the flavor of the fruit.
Check out my really cool Lazy Spoon, from Jonathan's Wild Cherry Spoons, that sits on the side of the pot. {Tune in this week for a chance to win one!}. It made tending the apples super-simple. No sticky sauce on the stove and I always knew where my spoon was.

The pot of applesauce, mid-way during the jar filling stage.
And a jar in the process of being filled. The wide mouth funnel was really handy.
Yes, the sauce kind of looks like crushed tomatoes or Thousand Islands salad dressing, but it is just the apple skins, which colored the sauce pink, even before I blended up the skins. And also, as I've said before, my ancient camera SUCKS, so the applesauce looks much more appetizing in real life.

The first jars fresh out of the canning pot.
And finally, the results. Lots of apple-goodness for the rest of the year, and hopefully beyond.
There were even some leftover apples and 2 cups of applesauce left over that I didn't can. We'll eat the sauce and apples over the next week or so. I just hope my baby likes it, otherwise Chris and I will be eating lots of applesauce. Or they will be given as gifts this Christmas.

I'm exhausted, so forgive me if I'm lax at answering emails or responding to comments this evening. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

6 comments:

  1. Wow, that's a lot of work! Very impressive...don't think I could have managed it myself!

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  2. It looks delicious! I can just imagine the smell....yummmmmmm....

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  3. I love the spoon! Thanks for the heads up! *wink*!

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  4. Looks really good! Now I'm craving applesauce. :)

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  5. We moved right at my apples were becoming ripe on my tree. Huge bummer as I LOVE to can applesauce. Yours looks delicious!

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  6. mmm i ahvnt had homemade spple sauce in so long! you have inspired me, i am going to do it! now i just need to go pick some apples..
    it looks really yummy, can i have a jar for christmas??! LOL.

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