Fresh applesauce made easily with the first harvests of summer.
Fresh Applesauce
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
I am back again today for #FarmersMarketWeek with a recipe for fresh applesauce. It really is quite simple to make and pop into the fridge to use right away, or I have also included some canning instructions. If you use the canning method, you can just multiply up however many apples you have, especially if you have them by the bushel. Alternatively, this sauce can also be easily frozen in freezer containers or bags.
You might think it early for apples to be coming in, but the season is actually underway. In mid July where I live, I am lucky enough to score my hearts desire of transparent and lodi apples, which are among my favorites for making apple butter and apple sauce. It’s my secret actually.
These types of apples are perfect for cooking, because you see, apples have different character for different recipes. Some of it is about how they hold up to heat. Some of it is about flavor. And some of it, especially if they are eating apples, how how crisp they are, so you don’t bite into something mealy. And the mealiest apples I know are red delicious. I really don’t care for them.
For cooking sauces, I like the lodi and transparents as I have said. But MacIntosh apples also break down readily for sauce. Which makes them wonderful for cooking, and also eating. But you would avoid those for baking pies. Unless you like an applesauce pie! Macs also don’t hold up well in recipes like fried apples. Not that we are making that today.
But while I am here I will say that for pies, I like a good solid tart apple such as winesap, granny smith or the like mixed with a gold apple, such as golden delicious or jonagold.
For my area, I refer to charts for whichever apples come in. In recent years there has been a resurgence of heirloom apples at the orchards and markets. You’d be best to google those for their particular use. Inquiring of the orchard clerk isn’t always particularly helpful.
I could list out many here, but really, there are so many varieties, it would overshadow the entire post. Because every area has tons of apples that grow especially well there, and not elsewhere.
Another thing I want to mention is that for making sauce- if you use the green types, you won’t need to peel those before cooking, but if you don’t peel the red ones, the skins will stain your sauce. If you are continuing from there to transform the sauce into apple butter, it likely won’t make a lot of difference, since the spices color the butter a bit. But even so, if you leave them in, you can tell in the end.
I also use a foley mill on my cooked apples. I find it indispensable. But I understand if you don’t have one and can’t get one. In that case you will definitely need to both peel and core your apples. With the lodi and transparent types, you can pretty much do those with a ricer or potato masher for a lightly chunky texture, but if you want it impossibly velvety smooth, the food processor helps, but the foley mill is always king in that regard.
If by chance, you are interested in the making of apple butter that I have mentioned, I have that recipe here.—> APPLE BUTTER RECIPE.
Fresh Applesauce with dinner, pictured: applesauce, garden cucumbers and sliced tomatoes, cottage fried potatoes, breakfast chops (click for recipe) with homemade steak sauce (click for recipe). This is a typical homestyle dinner that reminds me of the things my mother liked to make weekly. I can’t go too long without reaching into the past for some childhood food comfort.
What is your favorite childhood meal?
Join me tomorrow when I post another recipe for #FarmersMarketWeek, which will be my recipe for Santa Fe Pork with Peach Salsa, an undated version of a recipe I won a “Ready Set Cook” contest on Recipezaar back in 2002. It was a lot of fun creating among my group of friends there. I’ve changed some of the prep and spice over the years, but it is a recipe that stays with me still.
~Sue
Fresh Applesauce
Yield: 3 pints
Canning Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3-1/2 pounds fresh cooking apples
- 10 ounces apple juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pinch cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Method (No Canning):
- Rinse your apples and remove stems.
- You can pare your apples if you wish; I don’t pare the Transparent/Lodi apples, but be aware that if you use red apples, keeping the peel can turn your applesauce slightly pink. You don’t need to core the apples.
- Chop or quarter the apples and place ingredients in a saucepan and cook 10-15 minutes or until pulpy.
- Fill jars or container with applesauce and refrigerate until needed.
Canning Supplies:
- 3 pint canning jars
- appropriate bands and NEW canning lids for jars (do NOT reuse old ones)
- water bath canner or large enough stock pot
- canning rack
- canning jar funnel
- jar lifter
- bubble freer
- magnetic lid wand
- Foley food mill
Canning Directions:
- Assemble your equipment.
- Inspect all your canning jars for cracks or imperfections and lids and bands for little dents or rust. Don’t use any that have defects.
- Thoroughly cleanse all your equipment with soap and water and keep sterile by holding in hot water until needed.
- Rinse your apples and remove stems.
- You can pare your apples if you wish; I don’t pare the Transparent/Lodi apples, but be aware that if you use red apples, keeping the peel can turn your applesauce slightly pink. You don’t need to core the apples.
- Chop or quarter the apples and place ingredients in a saucepan and cook 10-15 minutes or until pulpy.
- Place apples in a foley food mill over a large mixing bowl and crank it until the apple pulp is pureed. Discard any remaining solids in the mill. You may need to do this several times, removing the solids so they don’t jam the mill.
- Heat enough water in your water bath canner to cover the canning jars by at least one inch. Heat it to very hot, but not quite boiling.
- Place the funnel on top of a canning jar and ladle in enough applesauce until you have a half inch of room (head space) to the top of the jar. Wipe off any spillage from the rim before adding the lid.
- Use the magnetic wand to put the lid onto the jar, then place the band/ring on the jar and tighten it up; repeat with remaining sauce and jars.
- Using the jar lifter, lower the jars into the hot water, making sure they are covered with an inch of water.
- Increase the heat on the canner and when it reaches a rolling boil, time your jars being processed. Watch the heat and turn it down just a touch to keep water from boiling over.
- How long should you boil them? For making apple sauce, the base time is 15 minutes for half-pint jars and 20 minutes for larger ones.Also, you have to add in extra time according to your elevation.
- Sea level-1000 feet elevation – no additional time needed
- 1000-3000 feet elevation – add 5 minutes to the base time
- 3000-6000 feet elevation – add 10 minutes to the base time
- 6000-8000 feet elevation – add 15 minutes to the base time
- 8000-10,000 feet elevation – add 20 minutes to the base time
So if you live at 5000 feet elevation and are using pint jars, the processing time will be 30 minutes.
- Once the processing is finished, remove the jars carefully from the canner and place onto a towel, and blot up any excess water.
- Allow the jars to cool. If they have sealed properly, the raised area on the lid will disappear and you will not be able to push it down with your finger. You may also hear it ping as well, but sometimes you may not hear it. All properly sealed jars may have the bands removed at this point, as they are not necessary, but you may opt to keep it on there to protect the lid from accidentally being pried off. Any jars which have not properly sealed must be reprocessed or refrigerated. Store properly sealed apple butter in a cool dry place.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
#FarmersMarket
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I adore applesauce. I guess I’ve never been patient enough to let it cook down this way. I going to have to try your method. Looks just like the jar from the store!
Homemade applesauce is the best! This looks so tasty and I love how you can adjust the flavor to your taste using different varieties of apples. YUM!
Homemade applesauce lasts 2 minutes at my house! even when I can it! It’s so good though! thanks for sharing at Celebrate 365 Blog Party’s Farmers Market Recipe collection