Applesauce and Juice Preserving
We’ve been blessed with an abundance of apples again this year. Of course, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to preserve them all! I made dried apple rings with those without worms and major blemishes. Thanks to my apple peeler/slicer, I can get them done quickly. I simply run it through the peeler, cut it down the side for rings, put in lemon water for a couple of minutes, and then place the rings in my dehydrator. It takes about half the day to dehydrate them enough. I can get about 10-12 medium-large apples at a time in the dehydrator. Instead of making apple-pie filling in jars this year, we’re just dehydrating the apples to use later for the same purpose. It saves the use of new lids and jars as well!
So, I sort-of made a tutorial for Applesauce and juice. I hope it’s helpful!
Applesauce and Apple Juice
Step 1: Pick apples from tree
Step 2: Wash Apples, throwing away rotten ones and any leaves
Step 3: Cut up apples. (Mine are golden delicious apples.) Large apples should be cut into 6-8 pieces. Smaller apples can be cut into quarters.
Step 4: Put clean, cut up apples slices into the colander part of the steam juicer. Steam for 12-15 minutes depending upon size of apples and fullness of juicer. If you don’t steam them enough, the applesauce will be too juicy. If you steam them too much, they will be to pasty; however, too pasty means you can add back the juice from the steam juicer. It’s harder to take the juice out of the sauce, so steam the apples more.
Step 5: Take steamed apples and put them in the victorio strainer and push down through hole and crank handle.
Each batch in the steam juicer (if filled fairly full) makes about 2 1/2 quarts of applesauce or about 5 pints.
I use a cake pan for the applesauce because it fits nicely underneath the strainer, but you can use what you want/have/like.
Step 6: Put 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice in each quart jar for acidity and color preserving. If using pints, use 1 tablespoon per pint.
Step 7: Using a jar funnel, scoop applesauce into jars on top of lemon juice. Fill to bottom of funnel or about 1/2 head space. Use a knife to help get large air bubbles out.
Step 8: Wipe top of jar clean and put on a warmed new canning jar lid. Put on ring. Your applesauce is now ready for the steam canner.
Step 9: Put jars into steam canner. Make sure there is always enough water. The water should be just below the rack. When steam is continuously flowing out of the holes 8 inches, start counting the processing time. Process for 20 minutes at sea level. (Adjust according to your altitude. Add 2 minutes for each 1000 ft above sea level.) Let sit for 2-3 minutes after turning off heat. Carefully remove lid so that the steam escapes away from you.
Step 10: Remove processed jars carefully from canner. I love my jar tongs! Place on flat surface, and on dry towels if you’re worried about the surface you’re putting the jars on. Never put the jars on a very cold surface. They will crack or break. Make sure your bottles are where you can leave them alone for 24 hours to cool.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor! Don’t they look pretty?
To help you get an idea of how many batches of apples I went through, I had to follow steps 2-8 twice to have enough to process 7 jars in the steam canner. As I finished each jar, I would place it on the canner until it was full. Then I would start the canner.
Apple Juice
Remember to carefully pour the apple juice out of the steamer into HOT jars. You simply unclamp the tube and pour into hot jars. Reclamp after you’re done. Sometimes I pour the juice into a plastic pitcher so that I don’t need to worry about changing out jars before the juice is gone from the steamer.
Put a clean lid and ring on them and process with applesauce or on their own (they take 10 minutes per quart, add 1 minute per 1000 ft above sea level). It won’t hurt to process them longer though.
P.S. Gotta love our “clamp” for the juicing tube. It’s not normally what would be used to clamp the tube closed during steaming, but we didn’t have the proper clamp, and my genius husband made one for me. Thanks, honey!
