The first autumn that we lived at Oak Hill we planted an assortment of apple trees. Over the years we've lost two of them, but the others are doing pretty well. This year the trees had a good number of apples. One tree is quite small and yet produces more apples than leaves.
Any apples that were too small, misshapen or badly-bruised were given to the horses over a period of time. Now they're expecting me to bring them apples. (Sorry, sweeties, the trees are empty now and you've eaten all the apples I'm going to give you.)
I know from experience that we don't care much for applesauce. I made a lot the first year we had fruit and we ate hardly any of it. Another year I canned a lot of apple pie filling, and then read that it's too thick to can safely. Now I freeze some some apple pie filling every year instead of canning it.
Apples, like other fruits, are acidic enough to can in a waterbath canner. A large stockpot can be used as long as it has a lid and a rack that fits inside to put the jars on. Of course, a graniteware canner holds a lot more jars than a stockpot will.
How to Can Apples
Sterilize your jars (I use the dishwasher) and keep them warm until you're ready to fill them. Put the flat lids in a small pan and keep them in warm water. Make your syrup in another pan and keep it hot; you'll use this to fill the jars after you add the apples.
Add water to your canning kettle or stockpot and begin heating it. Don't bring it to a boil yet.
Blanching the apples will give you a better result than raw packing them. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the apple slices. Once the water begins boiling again, cook the apples for five minutes. Repeat if needed until all of the apple slices have been cooked.
When time is up, move the canner off the burner, remove the lid and carefully remove the jars with a jar lifter. Don't tilt the jars or bump them against the canner or other jars; set them carefully on a padded surface out of drafts, and leave them for 24 hours.
After 24 hours you can carefully wash the jars with a damp cloth, remove the rings, label the jars and move them to your storage area. You did it!
You might also enjoy:
This post has been shared at some of my favorite blog hops.
~~~~~
Nice canning project! I've had so much trouble with the new Ball and Kerr lids not having a wide enough seal strip to guarantee a good seal. They've really cheapened their lids and it's annoying when nearly one jar out of 7 doesn't seal. I've tried canning apple slices, but I find that like you with applesauce, we just don't seem to use them. Still, doesn't it give you a good feeling of accomplishment to see those jars of home-canned goods on the shelves for the coming winter!
ReplyDeleteWell, that explains why I'm having more lid failures lately. What a shame. Earlier this summer I canned six jars of something and had 3 of them fail. :-(
ReplyDeleteYes, isn't it a wonderful feeling to look at all those jars? It's worth the work, isn't it?
My mom grew up in a 1,000 acre apple orchard in Virginia! We always had apples, apple sauce. Apple everything! And I married a man who's favorite flavor is Apple!
ReplyDeleteWOW, Susan! I can't even imagine a thousand acres of apple trees! Yes, I bet you had apple-everything. How funny that your husband also loves apple flavored everything.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea of canning apples but not as apple sauce. Do you use medium syrup (as per the chart) or extra light? I love the idea of opening a can and dumping it into a pie or crisp, probably sipping on the syrup. I generally put apple pieces into the freezer but I will certainly experiment with this idea. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, I used light syrup. When you open the jar the liquid tastes amazing, as well as the apple slices. And yes, they can go in pie, crisps, any apple pastry, on top of ice cream or french toast, etc. I think it's a great solution!
ReplyDeleteHi, Kathi. I enjoyed reading how your horses "expect" you to bring them apples. We toss apples out into the pasture for the horses to "field". It keeps their minds busy looking around for apples. Our chickens might start tasting like apples soon, we've fed them so many scraps left from our canning. Then, of course, we have our Labradors, who LOVE retrieving apples. Apples are fun for the whole family around here. Stop by when you get a "free" minute. (Visiting from Our Simple Homestead Hop)
ReplyDeleteHi Sally, I'm laughing about your dogs that fetch apples. Ours chew up the apples that fall from the trees (and tomatoes that are just starting to turn red).
ReplyDeleteI love canning apples. Thanks for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hop.
ReplyDeleteCongrats (for the second week in a row! You go girl) on being this weeks feature on the (mis)Adventures Mondays Blog Hop.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Mindie!
DeleteApples are one of my favourite autumn fruits and it's wonderful to have them in such abundance! I like how you have canned these sliced apples - it gives you so many options for different ways to use them. Pinned! Thank you for sharing this post with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop, Kathi!
ReplyDeleteApril, versatility is my plan! Thank you for hosting the Hop each week.
ReplyDeletePinned to my Apple Recipes board. Thanks for showing how. Best wishes, Linda @Crafts a la mode
ReplyDeleteI have never canned apples before and now next year I know I'll have to! I usually just do apple sauce and freeze apple crisps and pies. I'll be pinning this for later! Stopping by from the Country Fair Blog Party!
ReplyDeleteCanned apples are so versatile, Val, and so easy to do - it's definitely worth doing and gives you a nice change from applesauce (unless, of course, you love applesauce and can't get enough of it).
ReplyDeleteI miss a good apple orchard. My parents have over 10 trees when I was younger. The inherited an antique cider press from another family member that we often used when we had a bumper crop. It was so so good. We often freeze apple pies crust and all, so we just have to take them out of the freezer and pop them in the oven when we want a pie. Thanks for linking this post up to the Country Fair Blog Party this month.
ReplyDeleteThat apple cider sounds absolutely delicious, Nicole. What a true blessing that antique press was.
ReplyDeleteI have never canned just apples. I've canned apple sauce and I've frozen apple pie fililng, or canned apple juice. No idea why I never do it! funny how it never occurs to me1 lol! It'd be so versatile to do that! Thanks for sharing @ apple week link party!
ReplyDeleteWhen you run out of ideas and still have apples, this is a very versatile way to put them up.
Delete