A mama requested it but her pm box is full so I thought I would just post it.

APPLE SAUCE

My recipe is pretty much straight from the Ball Blue Book.

2 1/2 - 3 1/2 lbs. apples per qt.
Water
Sugar (optional)
Natural 100% apple juice (I only add this if sauce is to thick this is my own addition and is not listed in the Ball book)

Wash, stem and quarter apples (do not core or peel). Cook apples until sauce in covered pot with just enough water to prevent sticking. When soft, press through food mill. Return pulp to pot. Add sugar if desired or add a little juice if to stiff at this time. Bring to a boil (watch out this splatters and can really sting and burn) and then reduce heat to simmer and cook 5 min. Ladel hot sauce into hot hars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process pints and quarts for 20 min. in a boiling water canner. You can also make a spiced sauce by adding cinnamon, alspice, or nutmeg to the sauce during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Make sure your jars have been boiling in your hot water bath for 10 min. before you fill them and make sure your lids have been submerged in a little bowl full of boiling water from your canner as well.

Last year I did 2 1/2 bushels of apples and got about 44 qts. of sauce. I use a blend of apples to make for a sweeter and nicer consistency sauce. I usually use equal parts of gala, yellow delicious, granny smith, and McIntosh (this mix was recommended to me by the lady at the organic orchard where we buy our apples).

Wow that sounds awsome! I would love to try it...

can I ask... where did it say to have the jars in the boiling water before you fill them? I just run mine through the dishwasher and take them out and fill them that way. Will they leak? Or not last as long? I would hate to have canned 40 quarts of applesauce just to have them last 3 months. Please clue me in. This may be part of my discoloration problem. But I always cook mine in the cooker for 30 minutes. I don't know... help. Thanks. :)

Love Val

I have also heard of people running them through the dishwasher and then taking them out when they are piping hot and using them right then and there but I am a chicken and like to stick to the old tried and true ways.

I wash my jars in the dishwasher and then put them in the waterbath as it is heating up. Once it hits boil I let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes and then take the jars out and immediately fill them and then return to the waterbath. Having the jars and lids this hot helps with the possibility of seal problems and allows for the canner to get back to the boiling point quicker.

I haven't had discoloration with my apple sauce but that may be in part due to the other fruits you added. Did you have a specific recipe for your fruit blends or did you just wing it? I am wondering because some fruits need ascorbic acid (I think that is what it is called) to keep them from discoloring.



HTH

Thanks a ton Bobbi Jo- I'm off to go apple picking next weekend and put up my first batch!

This is the recipe that I used for my applesauce last week (minus the apple juice!)

And I'm one of those who have always known people to use the dishwasher to make their jars hot, so that's what I did and it worked! :)