Yes you heard us right, we said applesauce that is better than Mott’s. Growing up we only ever ate applesauce that came from a jar from the store. What we learned when we made our own applesauce was that we were truly missing out. Making your own homemade applesauce is really the only way to go. In fact, after you have homemade applesauce you will probably never go back to store bought applesauce again.
What is amazing about making homemade applesauce is that you have control what is in your applesauce. Many store bought applesauces have sugar added to them. The truth is that if you pick apples that are in season and ripe, they should be sweet enough that you no added sugar is needed. In addition, it is much healthier for you without all of that added sugar. The only thing we add to our homemade applesauce is spices. The spices we add include cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Basically the same spices you would add to an apple pie. You can add as much or little spice to your personal preference.
Canning Homemade Applesauce
For this specific recipe, we picked 5 buckets of apples and only left out about 8 apples to make an apple pie. Therefore it was probably about 90 pounds of apples. This recipe is all according to your taste and preference so there may be variations of this recipe. These are the basic directions of how to make and can your homemade applesauce. The yield for this many apples was 36 quarts of applesauce.
Peel, core and slice the apples. Place apple slices in pots on the stove. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan so that the apples do not stick. The apples will produce some of their own liquid as they cook. Continue to cook apples until they are tender and apple to be easily mashed. If doing a small batch of applesauce leave in the pan but if doing a large batch, transfer apples to a large crockpot or roasting pan. Then mash the apples. Add cinnamon and any other spices to taste. Use immersion blender to ensure applesauce is smooth and spices are thoroughly mixed into the sauce.
If canning, prepare water bath canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil jars. Ladle hot applesauce into hot jars leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rim, and apply lid and ring to jar. Process jars in water bath canner. Process pints for 15 minutes and quarts for 20 minutes.
Below you will find links to the machine that cores, peels and slices our apples and also to the immersion blender we use. We can’t say enough of how much of a lifesaver this apple corer, peeler and slicer is when you are making applesauce. It dramatically reduces the amount of time you will spend processing apples for your applesauce. This immersion blender is also a great help when making applesauce because when you are making this large of a quantity of applesauce it can become hard to stir. Therefore, this immersion blender makes pureeing this applesauce and thoroughly incorporating the spices into the applesauce a breeze.
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Give homemade applesauce a try and you will find out what all the hype is about. Really you can pick or purchase as many apples as you would like and make your own homemade applesauce in as small or big of batches as you are able. There are different benefits to canning applesauce with the most obvious being that you put it on your pantry shelf and you have a supply as long as it lasts. But if you are a single person or your family just doesn’t eat a lot of applesauce, you could do much smaller batches as needed. Homemade applesauce will typically keep in the refrigerator for a week or two if stored in an airtight container.
Let us know about your experience of making homemade applesauce. We would love to hear what you add to your applesauce and how you store your applesauce. We encourage you to try this recipe today and can some applesauce to contribute to your long-term food storage. Thank you for stopping by and visiting Sunup to Sundown! We’ll be back soon with another recipe or update regarding our garden or our journey to becoming more self-reliant.
