Applesauce Time

It's time to make applesauce again, hmmm good. Unfortunately, our apple trees had an embarrassing small amount of fruit, hardly any, so I snagged some from my mom's over achieving apple tree. I've had several friends inquire as to how I make my applesauce so I decided to let everyone know in one swoop:)

I had a five gallon bucket of freshly picked apples to start with. I washed said apples and then proceeded to cut them in half and then quarter. Make sure to get all the bugs out:)

Put the mountain of prepped apples in the oven at 250 degrees in the biggest oven friendly pot you have and let them slowly cook for approx 4 - 5 hours, depending on the starting size and quantity of the apples. The apples need to feel mushy and look like a wrinkly old woman, no offense to any wrinkly old women that you may know:)

I then use the most wonderful invention for canning ever invented, a food strainer/grinder. It takes all the gross stuff out, like seeds, peels, general yuck, and you get the pulpy, juicy goodness with little work. It's a good arm workout and much easier to do with a helper, Kyla is a great helper!

The next step is to let the yummy goodness cool. I've learned that handling hot, splattery stuff is not the best idea. Save yourself some embarrassing applesauce burns and give the sauce about 1 hour to cool. You can also add seasoning if you'd like at this point. I don't, my kiddos like it plain and it's best plain when used for baking. If your apples are sour, put in some sugar. Like cinnamon? Throw some of that in to taste. Go wild if you'd like.

I freeze my applesauce, but you could can it at this point. I fill up quart size freezer bags, don't forget to label it, and then put them in the freezer to use another day. A five gallon bucket of apples make 6 quart bags of applesauce. You can always freeze them in smaller sizes, I've just found that this works for us the best:)

Best Wishes making your own applesauce!