I am finding that, not only is canning a wonderful and easy way to stock your pantry with the locally grown tastes of the season to enjoy year round AND a great way to preserve and create different flavors to enjoy...but it is also a really fun way to eliminate waste in the kitchen. Scraps and bits and pieces of things always find a tummy to call "home" around here between dogs and chickens and rabbits (and babies!) - but it feels like such a shame to let a bunch of perfectly fresh, whole veggies go to the animals because I can't think of what to do with them and don't want them to spoil.
I have discovered that it is just as easy to set yourself up for canning a quart or two of something extra you have hanging around in your fridge as it is to set up for canning a bunch of something you bought with the intention to can...and, so, canning has gone from being something I'm very interested in, to something I cannot see myself living without as I go forward.
I think a really easy, fun and delicious way to get started in canning, is to can applesauce. Now, if you love apples in Fall like I do, you are already making applesauce and just keeping it in your fridge. But let's see what happens when we make a whole bunch of it to preserve and enjoy all year round...my guess? We'll all be much happier for it!
First things first; some tips:
- You'll want to pick some apples that are sweeter than apples you may use for, say, pie making or dehydrating. You are not looking for super tart, here...it's all about sweet with applesauce. Apples like Fuji, Gala and Yellow Delicious or Paula Reds are very good. If you aren't sure about the name of an apple...just take a bite, is it sweet? Then it'll do. My preference for starting with sweet apples is born out of my love of making applesauce with no added sugar.
- Make your applesauce with a blend of a few apples, it makes for a much better flavor.
- Do not ever just walk up to a farm stand and pay "retail" for bushels of apples. A main reason for making your own applesauce, is that you can save so much money...unless you're paying tourist prices at the local farm stand. Always call ahead and ask the people at the orchard what they are charging for "drops" or "utility apples"...these are apples that are perfectly fine for baking, etc, but may be smaller or misshapen or for whatever reason not "pretty enough" to sell to customers at the stand...so, the folks at the orchard will let them go for very good prices. This doesn't just go for apples. Anything that grows on trees can be pretty or, not as pretty but just as delicious. If you are going to get in the habit of using fruits for more than eating straight from the bowl, you'd better "get right" with the uglies!
I used two blends this year to make my applesauce:
Blend One: (mostly)Paula Reds, MacIntosh(very few, just to add a bit of tartness) and Gala.
Blend Two: Green Gravensteins, Galas, Ginger Golds, Zestars and a few MacIntosh.
Blend One is, by far, the better of the two. The taste is much yummier and sweeter. Blend Two is a bit different in consistency and more tart. I like having two kinds because Colin prefers tart applesauce while I love the sweet stuff. Mixing the two together also produces good results.
So, we've picked some nice sweet apples that we got for a great price...let's get ready to hit the sauce!
Ingredients:
- Apples (I used two bushels worth - each basket pictured above is a half bushel)
- Cinnamon
- Water
- A bottle of lemon juice
Equipment:
- A large canner (I use a water bath canner, I plan to get a pressure canner soon)
- About a dozen quart jars with caps and rings
- A shallow pan for sterilizing the caps
- A jar grabber
- Spoons, ladles, etc
- Large pot(s) for cooking apples
- Canning funnel <-- helps to get things into jars without making a mess and keeps the rim of your jar nice and clean, important for creating a good fit on the seal.
How to make applesauce:
This is the way I've always made it. Different people have different ways of doing it...cooking it with the cores and skins and using a sieve later, etc....I have always had smooth, delicious applesauce doing it like this, so this is how I do it!
Note: Get your canner full of hot water and heating up on the stove top before you do anything else. It takes a while to get it going to a boil and you want to make sure you are getting things in the canner still hot! While you're at it, make sure your Ball jars are sterilized and ready to go and that your sealing caps are ready to heat to a boil (and keep there for about ten minutes) in your shallow pan, on the stove.
1. Core and peel the apples you are going to turn into sauce, taking care to remove seeds and pieces of core that might get into the mix. Apples can be cooked in the spirals that are formed when one runs them through a corer, or in simple wedges. The chunkier the apples, the longer they stay firm when you cook them...the more control you have over how chunky they are after you cook them.
2. Put a bit of water (an inch or so) in the bottom of a large pot(s) and cook the apples on the stove. Bring them to a boil first and after they really get going, simmer them until they are soft (it shouldn't take long) taking care to give them a stir here and there to prevent sticking or burning.
3. When the apples are soft, ladle them out of the pots and into a blender or food processor. Blend them, in batches, to the desires consistency...you can go smooth or chunky! It is while they are in the blender that I add some cinnamon...usually around a half tablespoon per blender full, but you can add less or more, depending upon how much you like to have in your applesauce. (note: If it seems like there is a lot of water/juice in the pot when you are ladling the apples out and into the blender, feel free to drain each ladle full...the apples are so juicy/soft that you don't need all of the water/juice that will be in the pot and using it will surely lead to very soupy applesauce)
4. Get your Ball jars in a neat row on one side of you and put at the bottom of each jar 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. This is a tip my friend Amy gave me, that keeps the color of your applesauce from turning bad and adds extra acidity for canning purposes without affecting the flavor at all.
5. Now, as you blend and add cinnamon to each batch, pour it out into your jars with your funnel, taking care to leave about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of head space at the top.
6. As each jar is filled, checking to make sure it's rim is clean, remove the cap from the water it was sterilized in and press it to the top of the jar and hand tighten the rings to the top.
7. Arrange your filled, capped jars in the basket of your canner and gently lower them into the boiling water of your canner. Let the water return to a boil, then start timing: 20 - 25 minutes.(Note: If you happen to be reading this and are at an altitude higher than 1,00ft, please look up the appropriate time for you to bathe your jars in the canner)
8. When the timer is up, remove the jars from the water and, without knocking them around or jostling them too much, get them somewhere out of the way in your home to cool...let them sit around a day before you call them "done" and test the seal by gently pressing down in the center of the caps...if you hear a "ping" noise and the cap can push in, your seal is not proper. How you proceed is up to you, some people re-heat, re-jar and re-can them...some people just stick it in the fridge and call it applesauce...I am not knowledgeable enough to advise you at this time!Look at that, you made some applesauce. :) This applesauce should have a shelf life of around a year. Keep it in a cool, dark place and enjoy. The more applesauce you have around...the more things you learn to love it on/with.
Stay tuned for more canning "tutorials"...coming up: Apple Butter, Dill Pickles and Spicy Garlic Dill Pickles...mmmm.
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