Paco's Apples, Apples and Apples...

Apples, Apples & More Apples...

and Don't Forget the Apples...

Starting in the back right of the photo,
working counter-clockwise:
Steamer/Juicer, Jugs of Juice, Victorio Strainer,
bowl pure apple pulp, Dried apples
and Canned Apple Pie

I love homemade Apple Butter. I never really liked the store-bought apple butter, as it seemed too thick, like molasses. Plus, I could never really taste the apples. Other apple butter seemed to taste of CLOVES only, and I was a little put off by it all. I wanted to taste a smooth APPLE butter.

I have played quite a bit over the years and have developed my own recipe for apple butter. The method of using a Steam Juicer and a Victorio Strainer is really the only way I will ever process my apples. And one can't really make apple butter without making all the other apples: Applesauce, Apple Butter, Apple Juice, Apple Jelly, Canned Apple Pie, Dried Apple Cinnamon Chips and more recently, my happy accident of Apple Fruit Leather.



The first step is to make applesauce. A byproduct of applesauce is apple juice.

Applesauce and Apple Juice

Steam Juicer

With thirty gallons of apples for the Fall Canning Season of 2017, we had quite a bit on our hands. After washing our apples, our first step was to quarter the apples and get them in the steam juicer. That's right, take an apple and cut it into 4 pieces. If your apples are 'buggy' cut out those parts (and rinse again), but otherwise, plop them into the seam juicer basket and steam them. You want to seam them until the apples start to split the peeling away from the core/meat. If you steam too long, your apple pulp will be really thick.

Victorio Strainer with Apple Pulp
in the white bowl and
peelings, seeds, and stems in the
transparent bowl.

Run the steamed, quartered apples through the Victorio Strainer, which will separate the apple pulp from the peelings, seeds, and stems. When I run the apple peelings, seeds and stems back through the Victorio Strainer, I will get one more cup of apple pulp.

• 13 c apple pulp
• 1 c sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

If you accidentally steam your apples too long, use less apple pulp and add back some juice, I had to do 12 cups sauce and 1 cup juice.

Ladle applesauce into pint jars and process in the water bath for the recommended times according to your altitude.

Makes about 7 pints.

Check out the website for the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) to find out what your water bath canning times should be... 

With the leftover juice, strain it with a tea strainer to prepare it for the apple jelly - will make a nice, clean and transparent juice. I buy several gallon jugs of water throughout the year and save the jugs. They make a nice way to store the juice in the freezer until you are ready to can jelly. 

Apple Butter

Apple Butter starting to keep
its shape as I stir.

Another one of the reasons I prefer to use the Steam Juicer with my apples over boiling my apples in water is because I am not adding extra water to the apples and I am spending less time stirring and cooking my apple butter down, right before can it.

In the blender, add:

• 1 c apple juice
• Fill the rest of the blender with applesauce, up to 5 cup line
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 rounded tsp pumpkin spice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Blend until smooth.
Add to saucepot.
Repeat steps above to make 2nd blender full.

• Add 2 cups sugar to saucepot.

Stir on medium heat until darker and thickened - the apple butter will start to hold its shape after I stir it.

Ladle apple butter into pint jars and process in the water bath for the NCHFP recommended times according to your altitude. I live at 6,100 feet above sea level and I am required to the water bath for 15 minutes at 6000+ feet.

**This Apple Butter recipe is also my go-to recipe for making Pear Butter...**

Apple Fruit Leather

Apple butter smoothed out, parchment paper gaps to allow
for airflow in the dehydrator.

My Happy Accident: Starting out with my first batch of apple butter during the Fall Canning Season of 2017, my stovetop decided to throw sparks and quit. So, I had a sauce pot full of apple butter and nothing to do with it. I pulled out my food dehydrator, had my son cut up some parchment paper to fit on the trays. I even made him cut a slit in each of the papers for the airflow to move freely throughout the dehydrator. I poured my apple butter onto the parchment paper, spread it out until it was about 1/4 inch thick. Left it in the dehydrator all night and for a good portion of the next morning. I finally turned it off when the tops of my apple butter layers were no longer sticky to the touch. I do remember rotating the trays once or twice during that time, as there were some spots that were a little thicker than the 1/4 inch. I was able to use a knife and slice some wedge-shaped pieces of fruit leather and stored in an airtight container. 

Apple Fruit Leather wedges, I was amazed at how easy the paper peeled off.

Apple Cinnamon Jelly

Makes a real nice soft gel Apple Jelly, one the kids will ask for every time!

Apple Cinnamon Jelly with a very smooth consistency.

• 9 c sugar
• 7 c apple juice
• ½ t cinnamon
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 box of powder Sure-Jell

Measure the exact amount of sugar into a large bowl and set aside.

Add apple juice, cinnamon, and butter to saucepot, on medium-high heat.

Add one package of powder Sure-Jell and stir. Stirring constantly, bring juice to a full rolling boil, a boil that cannot be stirred down.

Once a rolling boil is reached, dump sugar to saucepot all at once. Stirring constantly, return to a full rolling boil. Once the juice reaches a full rolling boil, start the timer for exactly 1 minute. Once the timer goes off, remove from heat, and continue to stir until the number of bubbles have been reduced. Skim off the rest of the bubbles if you want, but I find that the number of bubbles becomes so small that I don't worry about that step. Besides, skimming the bubbles is a way to improve appearance, but we end up eating the skimmed "bubbles" jelly on toast anyways.

Ladle jelly into prepared jars and water bath according to the NCHFP recommendations for your altitude.