Apple season is fast approaching
A drive along almost any road in Kings County will take you past an orchard somewhere along the way. The trees are loaded with apples, so many apples.
We are fortunate to have access to many varieties of apples and some are better than others are for saucemaking purposes. Softer flesh apples are sweeter and cook into sauce faster. Jonagold, McIntosh, Ida Red, Gala and Crispin are all good choices. To make even tastier applesauce, try mixing a few varieties together.
If you intend to make a large quantity of applesauce, it is certainly worth investing in a mechanical peeler. This peeler clamps or suctions to the counter or table, you slide an apple on the center holder and turn the handle.
This will peel the apple quickly with a few turns of the crank. Some models can be set to both core and slice at the same time.
If you don’t have a mechanical peeler, make sure your vegetable peeler is very sharp so you remove only the skin and not the flesh under it.
Use an apple slicer to quickly core and slice the peeled fruit. Simply set the peeled apple on a cutting board, stem up, then center the slicer over the stem, and press down.
There is a slicer that cuts into slices rather than wedges (great for pies). Apples will quickly discolour so I have a large bowl of cold water on the counter with a tablespoon or two of lemon juice mixed in to help stop the browning.
All the cut apples go in here until I’m ready to cook. Use a heavy bottomed Dutch oven, fill it with sliced apples and then add 1-2” of water. On medium-high heat, bring the pot to a boil and then turn it back to low to simmer until the fruit is soft and falls apart.
Add your sugar and cinnamon to taste, then fill clean, hot jars, seal, and hot water process following standard procedures.
If you are short on time and still want to make sauce without peeling the apples, invest in a food mill. Simply use the apple slicer to core and slice unpeeled apples, cook and then put the whole mixture through the mill.
The peel is left behind as you push the flesh through. Put the sauce back in the pot and add the sugar and cinnamon to taste before canning.
A food mill is great for pureeing pumpkin, tomatoes, and berries with seeds, and for making baby food. You can bottle the applesauce and store it in the fridge for immediate use or freeze it in food-safe containers for later consumption. Either way, a few hours of kitchen time is well spent when you taste that fresh flavor of valley apples!