Applesauce time!

apple treeAs I walk around my yard in the evening, I’ve noticed that my apple tree has way more apples than I will be able to use again this year. Two years ago, I invited Beth and Carolyn out to our farm to pick apples. I’ll have to share the apples again this year. I may also need to make some applesauce from these great apples.

When my children were young, my husband and I would can about 80 quarts of applesauce every fall. It was a huge undertaking, but our family enjoyed it so much that it was worth the trouble. If you want to make some applesauce of your own and can it, you can do this in a boiling water bath canner. It is not a difficult recipe; unless you think you need to process 80 quarts of applesauce.

These days, now that my children are grown and have children of their own, I like to make and freeze my applesauce. I use the same recipe I used to can applesauce but I package it into freezer bags. These bags store in my freezer more efficiently than freezer containers. I just need to remember to cool the applesauce pan by setting my large cooking pot of applesauce into a sink-full of ice water for about half an hour. Stirring it occasionally will release heat and speed cooling of the applesauce. I would not want to stack large piles of boiling hot applesauce into my freezer. That would raise the temperature inside my freezer and the applesauce might take several days to cool enough to freeze. For best quality, it is important for food to freeze as quickly as possible once placed inside the freezer.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

More Posts - Website

2 thoughts on “Applesauce time!

  1. How long does a 24 oz jar of home canned (hot water bath method) apple sauce last in the fridge after it is opened ?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AnswerLine

Connect with us!

AnswerLine's Facebook page AnswerLine's Pinterest page
Email: answer@iastate.edu
Phone: (Monday-Friday, 9 am-noon; 1-4 pm)
1-800-262-3804 (in Iowa)
1-800-854-1678 (in Minnesota)

Archives

Categories