The Process of Making Applesauce
It's that time of year again! There's a crispness in the air. The leaves are starting to change, and the apples (so many apples) are ready for picking! If you have an apple tree, you probably want to know what to do with all of those apples!
We have several apple trees on our property. Two of them were planted by us as a Mother's Day gift from my daughters. We moved in the Winter of 2023, and didn't realize exactly how many apple trees were on our property before we planted my Mother's Day gifts! This year happens to be a bumper crop and our go to is applesauce! We have three young girls, so applesauce is a favorite in our house, and tastes even better when it's our own!
As wannabe homesteaders we try to get as much food as we can, from the land, and not the store. We are limited on time but the two things we cannot resist harvesting are apples and Maple Syrup, because although the process can be time consuming, it is otherwise easy. Let me explain ...
Whatever complicated recipe you may have found on the internet that tells you to peel all of your apples, seed them, and slice them ... toss it in the trash! Applesauce is so much easier than that! Let me show you a simple, step by step process to making the easiest, and tastiest applesauce you've ever made!
Truthfully, your success lies in the quality of your apples. If your apple variety is dryer and more tart, these are the apples you'll want to peel, seed, and slice so you can make pie, but for applesauce you'll want a sweeter, more juicy variety like Sweet Sixteen or Honeycrisp.
There are just a few items, from your kitchen, that you'll need to make this a smooth process. I have some "specialty" items, but you don't need anything fancy to get started! You'll need:
- A crockpot or a large, 6 quart pot to use on your stovetop
- an applesauce sieve or colander
- a large bowl, pie or cake pan to catch the applesauce
- a wooden spoon or large spoon for scooping and mashing
- A Canner or a box of 1 quart, or 1 gallon, Freezer Safe, Ziploc bags (optional)
Once you have collected your apples, simply quarter them, seeds, stems, peels, and all, and throw them into your crockpot or 6 quart, stovetop pot. You can use as many apples or as little as you want, but to get about a quart of applesauce, you'll need approximately 8-10 medium apples. Add about a 1/4 cup of water to your pot, and if you are using a crockpot, cook on High for 4 hours. If you are using a pot on your stovetop you'll want to cook on High until your water starts to boil and then reduce to a simmer. Covering your pot, (stirring occasionally to keep your apples from burning) you'll cook your apples until they are soft, mushy, and easy to squeeze sauce through your sieve or colander. Place your cooked apples in the sieve or colander, and use your wooden spoon to mash the apples through the colander, into a pan or bowl. We do not add anything to our applesauce, but this is the time where you could add cinnamon to taste. Since our apples are so sweet, and we aren't into adding extra sugar to our food, we do not add extra sugar to our applesauce, but this is the time you could also add more sugar if you choose to. Generally speaking, homemade applesauce DOES NOT need extra sugar!
After you have removed all of the sauce from the peel, and added any extras, you can either enjoy immediately or store your applesauce, in the fridge, to eat within 3-5 days. If you've made a large batch of applesauce and plan to preserve it you can store your applesauce in a freezer safe, Ziploc bag, and put it in the freezer to thaw out later. If you are feeling brave, you can try canning your applesauce, but this is a whole other process! Up until this year, we always froze our applesauce, but because we used it for nothing else, and it was taking up space, we got rid of our chest freezer. This year my husband has been the one to try his hand at canning with his mom's Hot Water Bath Canner.
If you choose to can your applesauce the article below offers simple step-by-step instructions on how to use a Hot Water Bath Canner.
If you choose to freeze your applesauce to preserve it, a word to the wise, try not to overfill your Ziploc bag. This will make it difficult to store and make breaking the bag more likely. I always flatten my bags, after filling, so that I can easily stack them in the freezer.
If you've gotten this far, you may be wondering what any of this has to do with Yurts and Yurt Living? Well, a lot of things actually! Depending on which way you look at it, one of the "benefits" of living in a Yurt is that it brings you closer to nature. Truly, there's nothing closer to nature than literally getting the food you put in your body from it. Ours is a Yurt home. Two Yurts connected together. One thing you need for your Yurt, especially if you are cooking in it, is good ventilation. We built our Yurt Home for two main reasons: 1) It was affordable, and 2) there is nowhere for mold to hide. However, without good ventilation mold can still grow. So, while removing your steaming apples from a hot crockpot or stovetop pot, and possibly using a Hot Water Bath Canner with boiling, hot water, make sure to have a window open. Also, if you have a range hood, turn the fan on! This gives your steam somewhere to go, instead of collecting in the dome, or on the canvas walls.
Whatever preservation method you use, make sure to label your jar or bag (ex: "Applesauce '24), and feel proud that you have just made, and stored a healthy snack for your family to enjoy now, for the next few months, or even a year!
We use my Mother-in-law's Apple Sieve for making applesauce, but a simple colander will do the trick too!
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