What a process! I read all the instructions and it seemed fairly straight forward - and it was, don't get me wrong. It was just pushing the apples through the sieve took fooorrrreevveeerrrr. Of course, I could have cooked them a little longer than the instructions say to - but I always follow the instructions the way they are written FIRST - then make changes from there. Change numero uno is to cook the batch of apples longer while in the vinegar and water solution so as to make them mushier to go through the sieve easier.
If I had a food mill it wouldn't be an issue, but I don't, so it is.
It all started with me home sick from church and MrBeans prepping dinner (he grills most Sunday evenings) and Bean2 was doing dishes (amazingly without being asked!). When MrBeans casually says, "You got some apples about to go bad over here." So, me in all my infinite wisdom (not) decided to say, "Okay, I'll just go grab my applesauce recipe and make some applesauce." Because that's what you do when you're hacking up a lung, right? (insert eye rolling here)
Figuring out how many apples made 4 pounds was a tiny bit tricky but I figured it out, chopped them into quarters, added the vinegar and water (after a trip to the garage to get the apple cider vinegar that I use for the animals' water bowls), covered and turned on the heat and set the timer. Wah-lah! That was simple enough and didn't take very long. But then, I was suppose to push through a sieve if I didn't have a food mill. Umm, that took hours! Since you have to leave on the peels and leave the cores in - because that's where most of the pectin and flavor is located - it just seemed to take forever.... oh wait, it did!
As a side thought, maybe I'll peel and core the apples, put it all in the pot to boil and then the peels and cores can just come right out .... maybe ...
I finally got 8 cups of pulp squished out, added the sugar and spices and put it all on to boil down to a nice thick apple butter! I must have done a bang-up job of squishing those apples through the sieve because the recipe was suppose to make just over 3 pints - so I prepared 3 pint jars and 1 half pint jar. As it turns out, by the time my apple butter was nice and smooth and thick, I had a little over 4 pints. So I have 3 pint jars, 2 half-pint jars, and one 3/4 full half-pint jar (which is in the fridge to be eaten immediately rather than canned like the others).
So with starting at around 1 pm, I finally finished at around 9 pm! ... With a break for dinner in there, too. Though I have to say, I felt rather accomplished! Oh, on top of making/canning the apple butter, MrBeans and I went through and cartoned all the eggs we've gotten so far (that we haven't eaten or given away yet, that is)... 2 1/2 flats worth.
Here are a couple of photos.... (March 18, 2014 - just saw that the link has been broken - will attempt to remedy this soon)
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