Applesauce by the bushel!

As I mentioned in my last post, a friend and I went on the East TN Food Tour–Apple Valley Orchard, Mennonite Market in Delano, Tellico Grains in Tellico Plains, Benton’s Hams, and Sweetwater Valley Cheese in Philadelphia, TN.

Apple Valley Orchard sells bushels of second quality apples for a lower price than first quality. A warning: You must be ready to process the apples immediately because some of them are likely bruised and will begin to rot quickly. I bought two bushels which took about 3 hours to peel and core by hand.

If you read the instructions from the Ball Canning book, you will see that they instruct you to do minimal processing (peeling, etc) up front because they tell you to run it all through the food mill. That works, but the applesauce will have the texture of baby food which I do not like. I prefer a super chunky applesauce, so I peel and core the apples.

I put an inch or so of water in the bottom of the pan along with the apples and cook on medium low until the apples are soft and can be easily mashed. Then I add sugar and cinnamon to taste. I fill the sterilized jars with the hot applesauce to 1/2″ from the rim and screw on rings and lids. I process in a simmering hot water canner for 20 minutes. I cool them overnight and double check that all the jars have sealed.

I made two cases (quarts) of applesauce from two bushels of apples.

*Our chickens used to love to get all the scraps from applesauce making. They used to eat it ALL.