The Apple Butter Project

The Apple Butter Project

I have been meaning to write about some of my fall canning projects.  I haven't finished ... more about that later ... 

When I was out walking in the early autumn, I was dismayed at the number of people who were wasting the apples growing in their yard.  I saw countless apples rotting on the back alleys.  Such a waste.  I considered asking if I could pick some of the apples, but before I got up my nerve, my aunt asked if I'd like some apples from their tree.

There was no saying "no" after I had been visualising getting some apples for some home preserving projects.  My only momentary hesitation was when I saw how small the apples were -- more like crap apples really.  Not that there's anything wrong with crap apples; I got some of them to work with later.  The thing was, I intended to peel the apples to make apple butter, which as far as I could tell is more or less "apple jam".  And peeling those apples was going to be a lot of work with such small apples!

First off was washing the apples.  While I knew there had not been any chemicals used around the tree, they still needed a good soak before peeling. 

 I knew my hands would be cramping before I was finished, so I chose a variety of knives and peelers, to change up the size of the implements and hopefully prevent a painful flare-up of carpal tunnel pain.

After I finally got everything peeled, the apples went into a pot with a bit of boiling water.  I simmered them until they were tender, which really didn't take very long.

They smelled delicious while cooking! 

I decided to improvise with sugar instead of following a recipe.  I prefer things to be tart instead of overly sweet.  I believe I used about 1/3 of what the recipe called for.  I also added a touch of nutmeg and cinnamon.

The apples cooked until they were really soft.  I knew this by, one, stabbing them with a fork, and, two, by tasting a little bit of the cooked apples.  Yep, they tasted great and were well cooked.  I used my food processor to process the apples into a soft puree.  

Once all the apples were pureed, I returned the mixture to the pot and brought back to a boil.  I wanted it to thicken just a bit more before it was processed into the glass sealer.  My recipe, as well as my online research into making apple butter and apple jelly, indicated that apples have lots of natural pectin so they will jell easily.  Thus, I did not use pectic or Certo or any similar product.

Aha!  The finished product!

Well, the jars sealed easily after being processed in a hot water bath.  I can write about the canning process itself another time.  I was immensely impressed with getting this project accomplished.

And a couple days later, my husband made pancakes.  He opened a can of my apple "butter" jam, only to discover it had not jelled at all.  I was hugely disappointed but he announced he thought it was excellent applesauce.

Which it is.  Lovely applesauce.  Except of course I intended for it to be something else.

I considered re-boiling and re-processing the batch, with the additional of some Certo, but decided against it. I am going to enjoy having a bit of homemade applesauce tucked away for the winter.  It will be great on ice cream or served with cake.

On the other hand, next time, I will use Certo when I am trying to make jams and jellies.

I'd love to hear your canning stories - successes & surprises -- and any secrets you can share.  I still have a story about the crap apple jelly I made.... but that's a story for next time.