Making Applesauce and Apple Butter

So I've had a lot of people ask about how I make my applesauce so here is how I do it, out there for all to see!

First, you need apples. I like to use a variety, preferably 4-5 types, when I make applesauce. It just makes it taste better. I like to use Empires, Jonagold, Gala, Rome, etc. Try to pick apples that are sweet, so you only need to add minimal sugar. So don't go trying to make applesauce with Granny Smiths...save those for your pies. We get ours at a local orchard but you could use grocery store ones too.

Wash your apples. I just put mine in a colander in the sink and wash them that way.
Here is where your method might have to differ from mine. I have an attachment for my kitchen aid that separates the peel/core from the flesh. So all I have to do is quarter the apples and put them in a big pot. You could also use a food mill.

If you don't have either of those, or if you want a chunky sauce, then you would also need to peel and core the apples at this step. I have an apple/peeler/corer slicer thing from Pampered Chef that I use when I do chunky sauce.

After the apples are in the pot, pour in about an inch of apple cider or water. Cover the pot and let it simmer. I also like to put in a couple of cinnamon sticks.
Here is my bestest friend. You can buy this for about $90 and it is SO worth it. I just got mine about a month ago and I used it to make pear sauce and pear butter too. Like I said before though, you don't NEED this ;)
Here is the whole contraption. How it works, is you put the simmered apples in the top 'bowl' thingy. They go down and then in the housing thing on the right, the peel, core, seeds, stem, etc are separated and spit out the end. Since mine is over the sink, I just let it go in there. Then the sauce slides down and falls into the blue bowl.
Back to the sauce. Turn the burner on high and when it starts boiling, turn it down to low. Simmer the apples until they are nice and soft and mushy! Usually this only takes 20 minutes or so. Depends on how many apples you have.

This is a picture of my apples when they are ready to be sauced...is that a word? If you want to make chunky sauce, you would now mush the apples with a potato masher and skip down to the picture of the sweet little boy with peanut butter and jelly on his face.

Now, use a spoon to scoop the apple mush into the tray. If you don't have a neato gadget like I do, you can use a regular hand food mill, you know, the kind that you turn? It's hard work, but you might get big muscles. I can see it now..."Wow, Sarah, you are RIPPED!" "Thanks, I make a lot of applesauce." Okay, maybe not so realistic.
Use the included plunger stick thingy to push the apples down into the hole. Keep scooping and plunging until your pot has no more apples in it.

Isn't this gross? This is the hole where the yucky stuff comes out...peel, seeds, etc.Here is a picture of the whole thing. You can see the yucky stuff getting pooped out on the right and the sauce dripping down the bottom left, falling into the bowl.

Ew. This is what the sink looks like when I'm done. Good thing I have a garbage disposal.

After a while, you have a nice big bowl of sauce! My big pot actually fills 2 big bowls with sauce.

If you are contemplating buying a neato gadget like mine, I will tell you, it probably saves literally HOURS. I used about 20lbs of apples for this and it would have taken me probably 2+ hours to peel and core them. It probably took 30 minutes combined to quarter the apples and put them through the food grinder.Here is my helper. He had been eating his lunch, can you tell? MMMmmmm, PB&J.
So, now put your sauce back in your pot. It's pretty runny at this point. Now is the time to add spices and/or sugar. I use cinnamon, cloves, allspice and, if necessary, sugar. How much? I usually do it to taste.

I would guesstimate 2ish TB cinnamon, 1/2-1 tsp cloves and about 1/2 tsp allspice. Sugar just depends on how sweet your apples are and how sweet you like your sauce! I always do SOME unsweetened for recipes.

Then all you do is simmer the sauce until it gets to your desired thickness. You can then freeze it or can it. I prefer to can it...my freezer space is at a premium! I need to store 40 loaves of bread and 30 things of Coffee-Mate in there at all times. Canning it is daunting, but easy. Scroll to the bottom for how to do that.
Apple Butter...taking applesauce a step further! This is a delicacy that will make your tastebuds dance! So yummy! It is good on toast, biscuits, etc. My family also likes it in place of jelly/jam with PB sandwiches. It is very time intensive but thanks to the crockpot, SUPER duper easy.

Take some of the unsweetened applesauce you just made and dump it into your crockpot. Mine holds 7 quarts.
Add 2 TB Cinnamon, 1 tsp Cloves, 1/2 tsp Allspice and 2 cups of sugar.
Stir and cover. Cook on high for about an hour or two. Then turn to low and let it go for a long long long long time. I usually do mine overnight. It can take 12-16 hours. I TOLD you, a long long long long time. In the morning (after about 8-10 hours) I open it and vent it with a spoon so that the liquid can evaporate and it can get thick.
I also dump in 2 more cups of sugar. And top it off with more applesauce. When all is said and done, I use about 9 quarts of applesauce. You can obviously make a lot less too, don't be intimidated by my huge pot :)
Oh here it is, yummy!
I didn't take a picture of the actual process, but I use an immersion blender to make it smoooooth and creamy. You can even tell in the picture before and this one after that there is a consistency difference. At this point, the consistency is just a super thick applesauce.
Now I can it. You can freeze it too, but I prefer canning. If you've never done it, its easy!

Go buy some jars, I prefer wide-mouth quarts for sauce. They come with rims and lids. Sterilize the jars in boiling water. If you're lazy like me, run them through a sterilize (HOT water) dish cycle. This keeps them warm till you need them too. Put the lids and rims in a bowl of water and boil in the microwave for 5 minutes. Then just let them hang out in the hot water.

Use a canning funnel and ladle the hot sauce/butter into hot jars. Wipe the rim with a wet paper towel and put a lid on each one. Screw on the rim. Now you need to process them in a boiling water canner. For the 1/2 pints and pints I have pictured, I do them for 15 minutes. For quarts, 25 minutes.

Now, you can feel accomplished. At least you READ about it, and THOUGHT about it. Oh, and if you make any, I do accept samples.