Homemade Applesauce

Today I made and bottled homemade applesauce. I haven't done applesauce in a few years, and I had almost forgotten how much better it tastes than store-bought applesauce! Oh, it's heavenly!

This website here has TONS of great information about making applesauce: from choosing apples to making and bottling the sauce, etc. I'm not going to talk about choosing apples, since she already does all that. But I'll give instructions for how I made and bottled the sauce.

Things You'll Need:

• apples (You'll get 12 - 16 quarts of sauce per bushel of apples. A bushel weighs about 42 lbs.)
  
• cinnamon (optional, but I like it!)
  
• sugar (optional - I don't usually use any sugar unless the sauce just seems too tart. With the right apples, you shouldn't need any.)
• washed and piping hot mason jars with lids and rings
• water bath canner
• food strainer/saucer. I have this one here. If you plan to make a lot of applesauce, I highly recommend it! I hear you can make applesauce with just a plain metal strainer, too, but luckily I've never tried it. Sounds like a headache. :)

Instructions:

Soak your jars in hot water so they will be nice and hot when you need them. Put the lids in a small sauce pan of water to simmer. Fill your waterbath pot with water and start heating to a boil.

Wash your apples and cut them them in quarters. LEAVE THE SKINS AND CORES ON - no need to remove them! (YAY!) Just cut them into quarters or use one of those metal apple segmenter thingys to slice the apple quickly.

Throw the apples into a pot of water and bring to a boil. When it gets really going, turn the heat down to medium-high and let cook until the apples are nice and soft through and through. (This took about 10 - 25 minutes per batch.)

Now, if you have a food saucer like I do, just stick the soft apples in the top of your saucer, crank and voila! APPLESAUCE! Again, if you do not have a food saucer, you can still make applesauce, especially if you're just doing a small batch. Click here to read all about how to do this with no special equipment.

Now, if you want to bottle the applesauce, put the applesauce into a large pot. Keep the sauce hot. Season with cinnamon and/or sugar as needed to taste. Note - a little bit of sugar goes a long way! The sauce doesn't need to cook, it just needs to be kept hot until you have enough to fill your jars.

Fill the jars to within a 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe the rims well and put a lid and ring on each jar. Place in a waterbath canning pot and when the water comes to full boil, start timing. How long you keep them in the waterbath depends on your elevation. I processed mine for 30 minutes.

When done, remove the jars and set in a safe place to cool and seal overnight. You're done! Yay!

Bottled Pears

My canning adventures for this year aren't over yet! I just finished bottling pears this morning. We LOVE pears. Oh, yumminess... Here is how I do them.

Start with nice, ripe pears. I haven't given an amount of pears because -- if you're like me -- you can whatever amount of pears you want. This recipe is so easy you can adjust it to fit a small batch of 6 or 8 pears, or an entire 40 lb. box like I did.

Put a small pot of water to simmer on the stove top and put the lids in to simmer on a medium heat. Start heating the water in your big pot where you will process the jars so it can begin to boil. Be sure your jars are cleaned and ready to go, and keep them in hot water so they are nice and piping hot when ready to use.

Using a potato peeler, peel off the skin. Cut lengthwise in half, then use a melon baller or measuring spoon to scoop out the inner section with the seeds, the stem, and the section of the stem that extends into the pear. You'll see it when you cut the pear in half.

I put a skillet or bowl on the counter and fill it with water, then squeeze a lemon into it. This liquid is where you'll place the pears after you've peeled and cored them -- it keeps them from browning.

Prepare a very light, light, or medium syrup or pack pears in apple juice, white grape juice, or water. I chose to use a light syrup.

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 cups water
  

Mix the two together in a pot and stir them over a medium-low heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase your heat to high and bring this mixture to a boil. I usually start my sugar syrup when I'm about halfway finished with preparing my pears. The syrup will be boiling by the time I'm finished and ready for it.

Raw packs make poor quality pears - you need to cook your pears a bit. When the sugar syrup boils, put your prepared pears into it and bring it back to the boil. This won't take long -- and boil the pears for a few minutes in the syrup.

Remove your HOT jars, and carefully pack them with the hot pears. I use a slotted spoon to remove them from the hot syrup.

Using a funnel, pour the boiling sugar syrup over the pears. Make sure that the pears are fully covered by the sugar syrup, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Clean the rim of your jars well and then place a lid on top of it. Screw your bands onto the jar. Lower the hot fruit-filled jars into the hot water in your water bath processor pot. Bring to a boil.

Again, processing instructions and times vary depending on the elevation you live at. You can use the table on this website to see how long you should process your pears. I processed mine for 35 minutes. Start timing after the water comes to a full boil.

My latest batch is sitting on the counter top. I love how they look; bottled pears are SO pretty.

Strawberry Jam

I've continued with my canning efforts this week with some strawberry jam! Homemade jam tastes so much better than store-bought, not to mention that making a jar of jam costs MUCH less money than buying it.

Here is the basic jam recipe I use.

5 cups hulled mashed strawberries
7 cups sugar
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 49g package powdered fruit pectin

1. Place 8 or 9 8-ounce mason jars in a large hot water bath canner (or pot). Cover with water and bring to a simmer.
2. Simmer center lids in separate saucepan full of water.
3. Place mashed strawberries and lemon juice in a separate pot. Stir in pectin until dissolved. Bring strawberries to a strong boil.
4. Add sugar and a pat of butter (measure beforehand so you can add it all at once), then return mixture to a full (violent) boil that can’t be stirred down. Boil hard for 1 minute 15 seconds.
5. Skim foam off the top.
6. Remove one jar at a time from the simmering water. Pour water back into the pot. Using a wide-mouth funnel, fill each jar with jam, being careful to keep the liquid/fruit ratio consistent. Fill jars so that they have 1/4-inch of space at the top.
7. Run a knife down the side of the jar to get rid of air bubbles.
8. Wipe rim of jar with a wet cloth to remove any residue or stickiness.
9. Remove center lid from simmering water and position it on top.
10. Put screw bands on jars, but do not overtighten!
11. Repeat with all jars, then place jars on canning rack and lower into the water.
12. Place lid on canner, then bring water to a full boil. Boil hard for 10 to 12 minutes.
13. Turn off heat and allow jars to remain in hot water for an addition five minutes.
14. Remove jars from water using a jar lifter, and allow them to sit undisturbed for 24 hours.
15. After 24 hours, remove screw bands and check the seal of the jars. Center lids should have no give whatsoever. If any seals are compromised, store those jars in the fridge.

Otherwise, fill your pantry with your newly canned goodness.

Bottling Peaches

I spent my afternoon yesterday bottling peaches. I LOVE bottling fruit. It gives me such a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. Every year I have to look up the times and amounts again, so this year I thought I would post step-by-step directions on here. Maybe this will help someone else who wants to can their own fruit, but if not at least I'll know where to find all the info easily next year. :)

Also, for those of you trying to eat on a budget, if your family likes to eat canned fruit, this is a MUCH cheaper way of providing that for them.

Supplies Needed:

• fruit (peaches)
• sugar
• water bath canning pot
• clean mason jars and rings
• new lids for the jars
• wide mouthed funnel (optional but nice!)
• pots, bowls, ice, and other kitchen tools such as measuring cups, ladle, washcloths, etc.

1. Fill the water bath canning pot about 2/3 full with water and start heating to a boil.

2. Put the new jar lids in another small pot with water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Leave this pot gently simmering throughout the process, making sure the water doesn't get too low.

3. Fill a clean sink with HOT water and put your clean jars into the water to soak. (Your glass jars need to be hot when you put them into the boiling water bath or they will break. You may have refill this with hot water occasionally throughout the process as the water cools.)

4. Take a third large pot of water and start heating to a boil. (This is to blanch the peaches in.)

5. In a fourth pot, begin making your syrup.

RECIPES FOR SYRUP:

I grew up on my mom's medium/heavy syrup recipe, which I must say is delicious! She uses 7 cups of sugar to 5 cups of water. Since I've been canning my own peaches, however, I've been using a light syrup to help reduce the amount of sugar I give my family. I do a ratio of 1 cup of sugar to 2 cups of water. I still think this is plenty sweet, and we like it this way. However, if you are used to a heavier or sweeter syrup, you may prefer my mom's ratio. Stir the sugar and water together, heating over medium heat, until it begins to simmer and the sugar is completely dissolved. Then turn the heat down to low and stir occasionally until you need the syrup.

6. Prepare a large bowl (use the largest you have!) by putting in cold water and some ice.

7. Wash the peaches. Be sure the peaches are ripe and at their best. :)

8. Dip the peaches a few at a time into the boiling pot of water meant for blanching. Leave them in there for 1 minute. Fish them out and put them directly into the bowl of ice water. (I use a ladle for this.)

9. Peel the skins off the peaches. They should peel right off easily. If you are having trouble peeling the skins, try leaving them in the boiling water for a few more seconds. Remove the skins and pit (I put this waste into an empty bowl next to the ice water) and then slice the peaches to desired size. Leave the slices in the bottom of the ice water bowl for now. Repeat steps 8 & 9 until you have enough peaches prepared to fill a batch of jars.

10. Remove your jars from the hot water one at a time. Put the funnel in the top of a jar and load peach slices into the jar until pretty full. Then, ladle some of the prepared syrup over the peaches until there is only about 1/2 inch of space left at the top.

11. Carefully wipe down the top rim of the jar so that it is clean and the seal will work properly.

12. Fish one of the new lids out of the boiling pot of water (they are in the simmering water to help the rubber get ready to seal) and carefully place on the jar. Secure the lid with a ring.

13. Repeat steps 10 - 12 until you have 6 jars prepared. Place them carefully into the rack in the water bath canning pot of boiling water. Gently lower the rack and place the lid on. Check over the next few minutes to see when the water resumes it's full boil. Once it is boiling, begin the timer.

HOW LONG TO PROCESS

Process is the canning word for "boil in the canning pot."

The amount of time you leave your peaches in the canning pot depends on the type of food, size of your jar, and your elevation. Because I am at a high elevation, and because I was doing quart-sized jars this time, I let my peaches boil (process) for 35 minutes. Here is a link to the the National Center for Home Food Preservation website, where they have a chart to look up how long to process your food depending on all these factors.

14. Once the peaches have processed for long enough, remove the lid (CAREFULLY - there will be lots of hot steam!) and lift the rack up. (I like using 2 forks to lift the rack up.) Carefully remove the jars using canning tongs or an oven mitt. Place the jars on a clean, dry bath towel in a spot where they won't be moved or touched. Allow them to stay there undisturbed for about 24 hours. The lids should seal (you may hear them pop). Press on each lid after the next morning (I usually can't wait this long :) to be sure they all sealed tightly. Label them with the date and store away! If you had any seals not pop, eat them immediately or put in your fridge to eat soon.

15. Enjoy the fruits of your labors! You are amazing. :)

Bottled Apple Pie Filling

4 1/2 c. sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
9 c. water
1 c. cornstarch
1 c. water
3 T. lemon juice
30 apples, sliced and peeled

Bring the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and 9 c. of water to a boil. In a separate bowl, mix 1 c. cornstarch and 1 c. wter until smooth. Add to the first mixture after it is boiling to thicken. Stir until thick. Add in the lemon juice. Mix in the apples. Pack into quart jars leaving a 1/2-inch of headspace. Process for 20 minutes.