Homemade Applesauce

Now that we have our supply of apple butter for the year completed, we can turn the rest of our apples into applesauce. Delicious homemade applesauce! We have a great crop of organic apples this year.

We won't begin to put a dent in our one tree but we'll have enough applesauce to last at least a year, for sure. This recipe makes 14 pints. I like the pints because we can't eat a whole quart of applesauce once the jar is opened before it spoils. Now, if I had a house full of kids or even a couple of teenagers, that would be a different story. But for the two of us, the pint jars work very well.

Makes 14 pints

23 pounds of apples
2-3 cups of sugar, depending on sweetness of the apples
2 Tbsp of cinnamon
1/2 cup lemon juice
14 hot and sterile pint jars, (run through the dishwasher right before canning)
14 lids and rims, sterilized in boiling water

1. Wash apples thoroughly.

2. Quarter apples and cut away any bad spots. Put into pot with a little water, cover pot and cook apples until soft. Since our apples are organic, I leave the skins on and then the applesauce comes out a beautiful reddish tone.

3. Once apples are cooked, let cool.

4. Put cooked apples through a food mill.

This is how the skins, seeds and apple core are separated from the applesauce.

The cooked apples go into the top and the pulp comes out a separate tube

while the applesauce comes out clean and smooth. It's really fun to use the food mill. I got this one at Bed, Bath and Beyond. This one is called Back to Basics.

5. Once all the cooked apples have been through the food mill, place in 2 pots and cook to simmer. While heating to simmer, add 1 cup of sugar to each pan, or more, depending on taste.

6. Add 1 Tbsp. cinnamon to each pot of applesauce, or to taste.

7. Add 1/4 cup lemon juice to each pot of applesauce. This will provide some acid for preserving but you won't taste it.

8. Keep applesauce slowly simmering and start filling the prepared jars.

9. Screw lids on with the rims and place is a boiling water bath. Process for 20 minutes.

10. Remove from boiling water bath.

11. Let cool on a towel and listen for the lids to pop. This means that the lids have sealed and your applesauce is ready to store.

You might not be able to wait so go ahead and indulge in your homemade applesauce.

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