Apple Butter

We went a little apple crazy.   Once we get to the apple orchard and pick up those baskets, we just can’t resist.

Here’s Steve, recreating a pic of his Dad in an apple orchard from back in the day!  Love them both!

 

Now come the endless apple recipes, starting with apple butter!  My mom makes the best apple butter.  I’ve never been able to make it quite like hers (she doesn’t use a recipe!)  but this one comes pretty close.

You need a ginormous bag of apples, this was about 12 lbs.  You’ll need the pectin later.

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I like to soak my apples in vinegar water to help get off any pesticides etc.

Then rinse them and wipe them down.

Now chop them up!  Using an apple corer would be the easiest, but I don’t have one for some reason, so this is what I did.

Then I threw them into the pot.

Now time to add the spices…

That little weird thing is nutmeg 🙂

Then toss in a little bit of cider, just to get the juices movin’.  And start heating on medium, make sure to cover it for now!  Keep heating till all the apples are soft and mushy, like this.

 

Now start mashing it up.  You can use an immersion blender, or you can put it through a food mill.  I prefer the food mill, but can’t find mine ever since we’ve moved.  It’s a better idea to use the food mill because it takes out all of the peel.  Mine looks like this. But a much older, worn-out version.

After it should be nice a smooth.

You can let it cook down even further right now if you want it to be thicker and darker.  I prefer it thicker, but I was feeling a little impatient last night.

Add a little lemon juice.

Now it’s time to follow the directions from the pectin box.  You need to mix up the calcium water…

Then mix up the pectin with the sugar.  I also put maple syrup in mine. eeee

Mix all of this into the apples according to the directions.  I decided to jar my apple butter, so here goes.

Boil those lids and wash those jars.  Make sure to use new lids, they will hold the seal better.

Let it all sit in the hot water and then fill the jars a 1/4 inch from the top.

I use a water bath canner, and for some reason I do not know, I forgot to take pictures of the jars in the canner.  BUT basically you just put them on a rack in some boiling water for ten minutes.  Turn off from heat, let them sit, remove and let them sit on a clean cloth over night.  You will know a seal is created if the button on the top of the lid is depressed and will not pop up and down.  Voila!  You are done!

 

 

 

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