Canning Applesauce

So, my mom gave me this awesome birthday present. It's just what any aspiring Domestic Goddess would want, right?


I promptly went out and bought 3 half-bushel boxes of apples (and the salsa screen for next year's salsa making!!) By the way, you can also get the pumpkin screen, the berry screen, the grape spiral. Want a Victorio? See http://www.victoriokitchenproducts.com/

If you are in Utah County, they are sold at the Bosch Kitchen Store in Orem. If you are in the Ogden area, they are sold at Kitchen Kneads.



Using the applesauce recipe in the Ball Blue Book, first I quartered the apples, popped them into some water-filled pots, and cooked them until tender. By the way, I used a combo of Red Delicious and Jonagold and the sauce was sweet enough that I didn't add any sugar.


After the apples cooked, they were dumped into Kat's 45-quart bowl (Jealous? Want one? Kat will take care of you over at Ram Kitchen Supplies). Seriously, people, I love Kat and I love Kat's bowl.


Next came the ooey gooey part, which the family loved. Unless you are an octopus, it would be helpful to have the following helpers: The Crank Turner, The Plunger, The Chute Filler, The Scraper, and The Boss (that's me!)



The Crank Turner had to crank so much that his arms hurt. No pain, no applesauce, I guess.

The Ball recipe required me to hot pack the applesauce, which meant I had to put it back into a pan, bring it to a boil, and simmer 5 minutes. Then I packed the applesauce into clean jars, affixed hot lids and rings, and processed according to published instructions.

Sorry. There is not pic of the finished product. But I did get 15 quarts from the apples I had bought (although the family had eaten quite a few before we started, so I would have gotten more).

I can't wait to do it again.

P.S. Want a tip straight from the School of Hard Knocks? I learned that if you cook the apples until they are REALLY mushy, they go through the food mill SO much easier and you get a bigger yield. I think my first batch wasn't quite cooked well enough, which meant there was a lot of muscle-hurting crankin' to do. Live and learn, yes?