Canning Day and Disasters

I found a great sale on Fuji apples last week and decided it was time to make some applesauce. I gave away a bunch for Christmas last year and it was a hit! Plus I made some really tasty recipes with it, and was proud to say that not only was the recipe made from scratch.... so was the applesauce in it! Its really simple to make, but terribly time consuming. I planned to take most of the day to make it. So, I got to peeling, coring and chopping 12 lbs of apples.

 Now keep in mind that I do not have one of those fancy peeler and coring contraptions. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get through all 12 lbs. That's why its a good idea to dip the cut apples into a lemon juice and water mixture to keep the apples from browning.

I just throw as many pieces as I can get to fit into the lemon juice water and then put it straight into the pot Ill be using to cook it. That's the system that works for me :) As you can see I decided to use the coffee table as my workspace. Having some smutty TV going on in the background really helped pass the time...

 

I ended up having to use two pots to cook the apples, which can make it a little tricky when you are also trying to set up the canner and the lids on the stove as well. You boil the apples in the pots for about 20 minutes and with enough water to prevent sticking. As the apples shrunk a bit, I would add the apples from the smaller pot to the larger so I could free up a burner. Then I got my canner up and running and prepared my jars and lids.

 



See that its 12:49 there??? I started chopping the apples a little after 10. Thank you SpongeBob and Teen Mom for helping the time fly... anyhoo! Once the apples are tender you transfer them into a food processer or mill and make it all nice and smooth. It goes back into the pot and you can add sugar at this point if you want to use it. About 3 cups is the suggested amount but I used 2. You can also add 4 tsp of spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. I used 3 tsp cinnamon and 1 nutmeg. You bring it back up to a boil.

By this time the house smells amaaaazing! Yum Yum Yuuum! So once everything is prepared its time to can! ( if you do not know how to can, there are a lot of GREAT books and sites that tell you how. I am not writing an entire lesson on it this time but maybe sometime in the future...) You are supposed to keep the applesauce at a gentle boil while you can it, but keep an eye on it because its a very messy boiler. It like to pop and glug and burn you if a drop decides to land on your face. Im speaking from experience of course... so, go ahead and can your applesauce!

I used half pint jars this time, it just makes it a little easier to use up in my opinion. So once your jars go back into to canner you boil them for 20 minutes.

 

Ugh... I need to work on my picture taking... I have always been a terrible photographer. After the applesauce has boiled in its jars for 20 minutes, I turn off  the heat and let it stabilize for 5 minutes or so before pulling the jars out of the water. I find that the lids "pop" faster this way.

 

Yay! Cant wait to dig in!

 

As far as the disaster in the title goes, I was also making Grapefruit Marmalade! However, I did something wrong and burned the CRAP out of it! Its a fairly involved recipe that requires you to let it sit overnight before finishing. So of course after all the work I put into it, the second day and final step before canning is where I burned it. Oh well. Its things like this that make you learn, right?!?! So Im going to try again next week and see if I can get it to work. It sure made the house smell great though, especially right after the applesauce :) Enjoy!