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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 1 |
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Makes 6 to 8 jars. I love this stuff. I ended up with 3 (5-gal.) buckets of apples today. The storm got my tree, roots and all, out of the ground. Everybody been getting apples.So I am looking at old apple recipes. Ingredients:
4 lbs of good cooking apples |
1 cup apple cider vinegar |
2 cups water |
4 cups sugar |
salt |
2 teaspoons cinnamon |
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves |
1/2 teaspoon allspice |
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon |
equipment needed |
1 wide 8-quart pan (stainless steel or copper with stainless steel |
lining) |
a food mill or a chinois sieve |
a large (8 cup) measuring cup pourer |
6-8 (8-ounce ) canning jars |
Directions:
1. Method........
2. Preparing the Fruit
3. Cut the apples into quarters, without peeling or coring them
4. (much of the pectin is in the cores and flavor in the peels), cut out
5. damaged parts.
6. ..........First Stage of Cooking-
7. Put them into large pot, add the vinegar and water, cover, bring to
8. a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cook until apples are soft, about 20
9. minutes. Remove from heat.
10. Measure out the purée and add the sugar and spices
11. Ladle apple mixture into a chinois sieve (or foodmill) and using a pestle force pulp from the chinois into a large bowl below.
12. Measure resulting puree. Add 1/2 cup of sugar for each cup of apple
13. pulp. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add a dash of salt, and the cinnamon,
14. ground cloves, allspice, lemon rind and juice. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
15. .........Second Stage of Cooking-
16. Cook uncovered in a large, wide, thick-bottomed pot on medium low
17. heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Scrape the bottom of the
18. pot while you stir to make sure a crust is not forming at the bottom.
19. Cook until thick and smooth when a bit is spooned onto a cold plate
20. and allowed to cool (1 to 2 hours). You can also cook the purée on
21. low heat, stirring only occasionally, but this will take much longer as
22. stirring encourages evaporation. (Note the wider the pan the better,
23. as there is more surface for evaporation.)
24. .......Canning.....
25. There are several ways to sterilize your jars for canning. You can run
26. them through a short cycle on your dishwasher. You can place them
27. in a large pot (12 quart) of water on top of a steaming rack (so they
28. don't touch the bottom of the pan), and bring the water to a boil for
29. 10 minutes. Or you can rinse out the jars, dry them, and place them,
30. without lids, in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes.
31. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal. If you plan to store the apple
32. butter un-refrigerated, make sure to follow proper canning
33. procedures. Before applying the lids, sterilize the lids by placing
34. them in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them.
35. Wipe the rims of the jars clean before applying the lids.
36. I use a hot water bath for 10 minutes to ensure a good seal.
37. **If you want a deep brown color that is thick, make sure you cook
38. your apple butter a long time.**
39. NOTE....**As an alternative to stove cooking the puree you can cook
40. uncovered in a microwave, on medium heat to simmer, for around
41. 30 minutes. **
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