applesauce-a-palooza

My friend J used to live in Montana and practically lived out little house on the prairie out there. He shot his own meat, grew his own food, and canned it all.  He still hunts and preserves a bit although he is (mostly) adapted to city life.  He showed us how to process apples for applesauce one early fall weekend.  

We got a bushel of apples from an orchard.  They were seconds, but that's okay for applesauce.  We washed and cored them, and cooked them down until they were, well, mushy. 

We mixed the apples frequently to make sure they didn't burn.  You can add sugar, but our apples were sweet, since this season was dry, and the sugars in them were concentrated.  

Then we put the apples through a food mill to remove the peel and any seeds or other apple detritus that was around. 

 After that, we placed the applesauce in sterilized quart jars and processed in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.

 

I'm looking forward to using this applesauce for eating and baking for the rest of the year.