Saturday 13 September 2014

Apple Pie Filling and Canned Apples

Last week, I came across a great deal for apples so I bought 40 pounds, thinking I would make canned apple slices.  I want to do applesauce, too, but I'll picking those apples this week.

Anyway, I get down to business today.  Apple in the peeler contraption, place peeled apple on the cutting board, use another contraption to core and slice at the same time, apple slices into an anti-browning solution (3 Vitamin C tablets, ground, to 2 litres of water).  I'm motoring along, happy as a clam, quickly filling up a couple of large bowls with sliced apples.  Finally, I'm ready to put the slices into a boiling sugar water syrup (2:1 ratio water to sugar).  Into the pot they go.

If you have been following my blog lately, you'll have noticed that I prefer hot packing over raw pack.  I think the fruit comes out tasting better, plus you can fit a lot more fruit in a jar hot packed because the air void in the fruit get exhausted during the boiling.

Well, after a couple of minutes of boiling, I notice the apple slices feel a bit soft when I stir them with my spoon.  I didn't even get to the recommended 5 minutes.  It dawns on me that the reason I got a great deal on these apples is that must be from last year's crop.  Gah!

I figured that I'd finish one canner load (7 1-litre jars) and make apple pie filling with the rest. We're not big pie eaters, even though pie is awesome, but we do use pie filling in plain yogurt.

So, 40 pounds of apples eventually ended up as:
  • 7 1-litre jars of sliced apples
  • 7 1-litre jars of apple pie filling
  • 5 500-ml jars of filling
  • 1 250-ml jar of filling

One thing you may have noticed with this post is I didn't take more pictures.  Oops.  I forgot.    I was in such a zone today.  I was doing the stuff with the apples, I was baking bread, I was making dinner, washing dishes as I was going along, that I completely dropped the ball with the pictures.

We'll be apple picking on Monday, so when I make applesauce, I'll show you my apple contraptions.  Promise. 

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