Canning Apple Sauce

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How to Make Homemade Applesauce

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You think making and canning your own applesauce is difficult or expensive?  Not at all!  Here's how to do it, complete instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated. The applesauce will taste MUCH better than anything you've ever had from a store, and by selecting the right apples, it will be so naturally-sweet that you won't need to add any sugar at all. Plus, there is no need for any additives, preservatives or chemicals.  Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life at room temperature of 2 to 3 years, and require no special attention. And of course, you can freeze the applesauce instead (it keeps indefinitely in a good freezer).
I learned years ago how to make jam and applesauce watching my mother and grandmother when I was a child.  My grandmother and mother always made it, and now if I want it, I've got to make it myself (funny how that growing up stuff works?)
And here's how you bottle, too. If you don't want to bottle the applesauce, but just want some fresh for a meal; or you don't have any food mill, food sieve, etc. see how to make applesauce for a meal (not bottling it) with NO special equipment. And once you've made the apple sauce, why not take some of it and make apple butter? If you'd rather make pear sauce, see this page!

Directions for Making Applesauce

Ingredients and Equipment

Apples (see step 1) Cinnamon Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars) Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sanitize them. ($2 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores, but it's usually cheaper online from our affiliates) Jar funnel ($2 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores, but it's usually cheaper online from our affiliates) At least 1 large pot (at least 8-quart size or larger) Large spoons and ladles Ball jars (Publix, Kroger, other grocery stores and some "big box" stores carry them - about $8 per dozen quart jars including the lids and rings)

1 Water Bath Canner (a huge pot with a lifting rack to sanitize the jars of applesauce after filling (about $30 to $35 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores, but it's usually cheaper online from our affiliates) You CAN use a large pot instead, but the canners are deeper, and have a rack top make lifting the jars out easier. If you plan on canning every year, they're worth the investment. Sieve: KitchenAid with the Sieve/grinder attachments ($370) OR   a Foley Food Mill ($25) OR    if you are REALLY into a tedious, time-consuming method, a simple metal sieve.

Recipe and Directions

Step 1 - Selecting the apples

The most important step!  You need apples that are sweet - NOT something like Granny Smith's.  Yeah, I know you like them (why do sweet women like sour apples???) and even if I did, they still wouldn't make good applesauce - you'd have to add a lot of sugar.
Instead, choose apples that are naturally sweet, like Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Winesap, McIntosh, Yellow Delicious, Mutsu and always use a mixture - never just one type.  This year I used a mixture of Fuji (30%), Yellow Delicious (20%), Gala (20%), Winesap (10%) , McIntosh (10%) and Jonathon (10%).  This meant it was so sweet I did not need to add any sugar at all.  And the flavor is great! The Fuji's and Gala's give it an aromatic flavor! Honeycrisp and Pink Lady are also excellent, sweet, flavorful apples.
"Seconds", "Culls" and "Drops"
Another important tip at orchards is to ask for "seconds", "culls" or "drops".  These are smaller apples, sometimes odd shapes or with imperfect appearance.  But there're perfect for applesauce and apple butter and uses cost 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the top grade apples.  They're usually kept in the back, so you will have to ask for them.  They also go quickly, so you may want to call ahead in the day to have some set aside for you.  Not all orchards offer "seconds", nut they're a bargain when you can get them!

Step 2 - How many apples and where to get them

You can pick your own, or buy them at the grocery store.  But for large quantities, you'll find that real* farmer's markets, like the Farmer's Market in Forest Park, Georgia have them at the best prices.  In 2004, they were available from late September at $11 to $16 per bushel. Prices this year have been in the $14 to $20 range at the real farmer's markets, like the Atlanta-Forest park Georgia State Farmer's Market and orchards in the southeast of the U.S. Weather and crop conditions affect the prices greatly from year to year.

You'll get about 12 to 16 quarts of applesauce per bushel of apples.  Count on 12 or 13 quarts per bushel.

* - not the cutesy, fake farmer's markets that are just warehouse grocery stores that call themselves farmer's markets.

Step 3 - Wash the jars and lids

Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used. Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot applesauce.
Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.

Step 4 -Wash and chop the apples!

I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the apples in plain cold water.

Chopping them is much faster if you use one of those apple corer/segmenters - you just push it down on an apple and it cuts it into segments.  Note:  You do not peel the apples! You will put the entire apple into the pot to cook.

Step 5 - Cook the Apples

Pretty simple put about 1 inch of water (I used either filtered tap water or store brand apple juice) on the bottom of a huge, thick-bottomed pot. Put the lid on, and the heat on high.  When it gets really going, turn it to medium high until the apples are soft through and through.

Step 6 - Sieve the cooked apples

There are several ways to squish the apples through a sieve,  either through a :

• hand-cranked Foley food mill (about $20 see this page or
• A Villaware, Roma or Oxo strainer (about $60, see further down the page) or
• through a KitchenAid sieve/grinder (with the attachments, about $300, but it lasts a lifetime and is fast and easy to use - I can make 100 quart jars per day with one of these).

 
 I found a pretty good deal (about half price) on remanufactured KitchenAid's with a 1 year warranty - see the links above.
You CAN also use a simple metal sieve, but it will be VERY tedious, hard work - if you plan on making applesauce every year,  spring for the 25 bucks for the foodmill.
Basically, you put the cooked apples (including the skins, seeds, cores and stems) into the top hopper, and use the wooden plunger to push it in.

NOTE for those on a VERY tight budget or making just a small batch of applesauce

You CAN make applesauce without a food processor or a $25 foodmill, but it's much more work, and really only suitable for making a quart or two of applesauce at a time... but it can be done - Click here for the directions on making applesauce with NO special equipment
The device pushes it against a sieve and the applesauce comes out underneath (in the chrome pot in the photo at left ), and the debris shoots out the side into the sink - see photo below.




If the idea of shelling out about $200 for  KitchenAid, plus the additional $120 for the grinder / sieve attachment doesn't appeal to you, you can still make applesauce using a Foley Food Mill, pictured at right.  You can order one here for much less than I've seen them elsewhere (see the link below the picture at right and click for more info). Obviously, you have to crank it by hand, which is ok if you have child labor and aren't making a lot.  If you are only making a dozen or two jars or don't have other uses for a KitchenAid, then this is a practical alternative. There is also a VERY nice, versatile strainer pictured at far right!  Click on the links there or see the bottom of this page for more information and to order! The VillaWare model can handle higher volumes than a Foley food mill (without giving you cramps!)
To see a greater variety of strainers in other types, sizes, and prices, click here!

Step 7 - Season and keep the applesauce hot

Put the applesauce into a large pot. Add cinnamon to taste.  You should not need to add any sugar. 
The applesauce does not need any further cooking; just keep it hot until you get enough made to fill the jars you will put into the canner (Canners hold seven jars at once, whether they are quart or pint size)

Step 8 - Fill the jars and process them in the water bath

Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled applesauce of the top, seat the lid and gently tighten the ring around them.  Put them in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 inch of water.  Get the canner back to a full boil and begin timing. If you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 min. If you are at an altitude of 1,000 feet or more, see the chart below
.

Recommended process time for applesauce in a boiling-water canner.
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Quart Size	0 - 1,000 ft	1,001 - 3,000 ft	3,001 - 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Pints	15 min	20	20	25
Quarts	20	25	30	35

Step 9 - Remove and cool the jars - Done

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight)  You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.