Making The Yummiest Applesauce

I've been having a fun, busy Fall Break with the girls this week...busy enough to fill up a couple of blog posts, I'd wager. This post, however, will begin with an announcement...I'm ALL DONE with my canning for the year! Rejoice, rejoice! How appropriate that my final canning project should be a food my kids are crazy about--applesauce!

I bought many many apples; they took up a lot of space on my counter

This week, I was flattered to hear a friend call my applesauce "legendary." It was very nice of her to say, but I think she is overstating the matter. I think anyone can make "legendary" applesauce, because applesauce is actually one of the easier foods to can at home. Sure, it's a bit time-consuming, but not at all complicated. So this post is mostly for canning "newbies," or just for people who like applesauce...because trust me, my applesauce is not special. I hope this mini-tutorial will show you how easy it is to do!

The reason I canned applesauce this particular week is that the Jonathan apples were on sale at the local Sunflower Market (69 cents a pound...hooray! A great deal for any apples, let alone Jonathans). I like to wait for the Jonathan apple sale to start my canning, because Jonathans make (in my opinion) the best applesauce hands down! Granted, I like my applesauce a little bit tart, so that's where I'm coming from. However, if you prefer your applesauce sweeter, then I recommend using Fuji apples. They are sweeter than Jonathans, but are also nice and crisp and thus hold up well under the boiling/canning process (plus, they're usually easier to find on sale).

The following canning instructions will be the same, regardless of what type of apple you use. First, wash off all your apples:

Here are all the apples I bought. I hoped to can about three batches (each batch is about 6 pints). First, you have to boil the apples and add some seasoning. To make boiling a little easier, I like to core and cut the apples.

Using my Pampered Chef apple slicer makes cutting the apples a lot easier. You'll notice the apples aren't peeled, contrary to what a lot of recipes recommend. I don't peel my apples for several reasons, the most important of which is that I'm lazy and peeling apples is time-consuming. When I'm canning other apple products (sliced apples, apple pie filling), I will peel the apples, but since I puree the cooked apples anyway, I figure leaving the skins on just saves time. In addition, the apple peel will add color to your finished applesauce; this is another reason I like using Jonathan apples, because their red skins give the applesauce a beautiful rosy color. On a nutritional level, leaving the peel on will probably add some needed fiber to your finished product. Either way, I've never peeled my apples for applesauce and my kids have never complained, so I'm not about to start now.

After cutting the apples, I throw them all into my deep cooking pot (it's 20 quarts). A full pot will yield one batch of applesauce; you'll need about 8 pounds of apples (18-24 apples or so) to make one batch.

When the pot is about half full, I throw in a bunch of cinnamon (my original recipe calls for a few "cinnamon sticks," but I never have those laying around, so powdered cinnamon it is!). I admit I rarely measure the amount here, but I'd estimate that about one to two tablespoons of cinnamon will be sufficient for the batch, depending on your taste. I like to add the cinnamon in the "middle" of the pot so it can distribute the flavor faster through the whole pile of apples. Sometimes when I'm feeling extra ambitious I even add a teaspoon or two of nutmeg, since that's what my mother always put in our applesauce when I was growing up. For this recipe, though, nutmeg is optional. Cinnamon is not!

After adding the spices, I keep piling the apples in there until they're just about to overflow the pot. Then, I put in about three or four cups of water, to keep the apples on the bottom of the pot from scorching.

Then I put the lid on the pot, and turn the heat onto medium high or so. You'll need to stir the apples regularly (at least every 5 minutes or so). It will take a while for the whole pot to boil down (45 minutes to an hour, depending on your stove). At this point, your house will begin to smell really nice...just like fall! This smell is one of my favorite parts of the applesauce-making process.

Keep stirring up the apples until all of them are evenly cooked (when not stirring, keep the pot covered). The apples should all be soft and slightly mushy (but not disintegrating or falling apart) when touched. There will be lots more liquid at the bottom of the pan when it's all done.

After the apples are all cooked down, it's time to puree them. I use my handy-dandy Ninja blender; before I got the Ninja, though, I still preferred my blender to my food processor. In my experience, the blender gives the applesauce a smoother texture. You may have to experiment with your appliances to see what works best. My original recipe recommended running the apples through a food mill or sieve. I only did that the first time I made applesauce and I have to say, I didn't like the results. I've preferred the blender style ever since. However, don't be afraid to try different methods, depending on what's available. What doesn't work for me may work very well for you!

Be sure to add some of the liquid to the blender along with the apples and blend away! You will probably have to blend the apples in batches. Pour the pureed apples into a large, wide container like this one:

After you've blended up all the apples, you need to add sugar. My original recipe called for about 3/4 cup to 1 1/4 cups of sugar. I usually use right around 1 cup, maybe a little less if I'm in the mood for tarter applesauce.

 I've heard you can make canned applesauce with no sugar at all, but I've never tried this method, since I feel sugar is helpful in preserving the applesauce for a longer period of time. For this reason, I also don't recommend canning with sugar substitutes like Splenda or aspartame either. Has anyone out there ever used Stevia brand sweetener in canning? Has anyone canned without any sweetener at all? If you have, please let me know...your input is very welcome!

Once you've stirred the sugar into the applesauce, it's time to pour it back into the cooking pot and start reheating the applesauce:

You will want to stir the applesauce constantly, so it doesn't burn. After just a few minutes, the whole mixture will be nice and bubbly (be careful the hot stuff doesn't splash all over you!); at this point, the applesauce will be ready to go. Time to get out your clean jars and lids!

Carefully fill your jars, leaving about a half-inch of space at the top of each jar. Once the lid has been tightly screwed on, it's time to process the jars in your canner (remember, mine is a steam canner; a hot-water-bath canner will also work well).

Pint jars need to be fully processed for 15 minutes; quart jars need to be processed for 20 minutes. A perfect time to clean off your counters and dishes from all the sticky apple juice laying around everywhere! After the processing time is complete, I like to leave the jars inverted for a little while, just to make sure the hot applesauce helps seal the jar. Probably not a necessary step, but I'm paranoid that way.

Look at that beautiful pinkish color! And the taste...mmm.

I ended up with four pint jars and nine quart jars; approximately 22 total pints. In other words, just a little more than a full triple batch, based on my original recipe. If I'd had more cans left empty, I would have bought more apples! However, I have Fuji applesauce left over from earlier in the year, so I think we're set on applesauce for the next several months, at least.

Here's how many apples were left over after making all that applesauce. Into the fridge they went, to be used for snack time later! And into my pantry went the jars of applesauce, to be greedily devoured sometime in the future. There was a little leftover applesauce that didn't make it into any jars...let's just say it didn't last long!

I hope this helps out any beginning canners who are frightened of making applesauce. It's a slightly sticky job, and may require a few hours to finish a couple of batches, but the results are very delicious. Let me know how your batches turn out!