Apples coming in – suggestions?

  • Apples coming in – suggestions?

    Posted by Dravon-Redsong on September 9, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    I will be harvesting our MacIntosh apple tree this weekend and it’s got quite a few apples on it! I’d like to preserve them, but I’m looking for interesting ways to do that. I’ve got tons of apple sauce from last year, and will be using some to make apple butter since I’m out. I dehydrated some last year, and never used them so likely won’t add more to that pile. I also canned up just apple slices last year, thinking this will give me a great deal of flexibility. I’m not a fan of apple jelly/jam, but I made an apple/plum jelly last year that got rave reviews – though the plums are long gone by now this year.

    What else can I do with apples? I’m thinking maybe some stewed apples to can and would welcome any tried-true recipes y’all suggest. Other than that…

    I do wish I had a root cellar!!! But no. So it’s preserve as much as I can as diversely as I can. Thank you all in advance for your ideas!

    PS – anyone else think a food preservation group would be useful?

    • This discussion was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by  Dravon-Redsong.
    Grampa-J replied 1 year, 6 months ago 15 Members · 25 Replies
  • 25 Replies
  • ANH

    Member
    September 9, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    There’s apple butter Barbeque.

    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 22, 2022 at 2:46 pm

      Yup! I never heard of that one. Thank you!

  • Canningnana

    Member
    September 9, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    try the new group Craze Daze by Wanda ( deep south Homestead. plus if you have internet try pintei. They have lots of good recipes & ideas

  • KansasTerri

    Member
    September 10, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    I take it that you do not have a freezer? I cut some apples into chunks and froze them. to make fried apples this winter, or apple pie, or baked apples., or put them through a blender with sugar and cinnamon and dehydrate the puree to make sweet fruit leather. Or I can cut them up into smaller bits and pour spice cake batter over them and then it is an apple-spice cake.

    Also, just dried apples are not my favorite, but if you soak them until they are tender then you can stir them into muffin batter or spice cake batter, and they are good that way

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by  KansasTerri.
    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 22, 2022 at 2:49 pm

      The spice cake concept is really interesting. Thank you! I’ve also never made a fruit leather before either. 🤔

      My freezer is packed to the gills, so I’m having to look at alternate ideas.

  • Preservinghomestead

    Member
    September 10, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    Fruit roll ups, if you have a dehydraytor.

  • DebinAZ

    Member
    September 10, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    Dehydrate Cinnamon Apple Chips. I do this every time apples go on sale. Use an apple peeler/corer/slicer for faster results. For every eight apples, mix in a zip lock bag, or bowl, the following ingredients with the apples: (start by mixing 2 tablespoons lemon juice with the apples) 2 Tablespoons white sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Set dehydrator at 135 to 145 (choose what you are comfortable with with your machine). Takes 12 hours or more depending on the thickness and quantity of trays. Once cooled, seal in a glass jar. I have a hand held vacuum sealer that removes the air from my canning jars. My kids like to snack on these and I can rehydrate for oatmeal apple crisp or apple pie.

    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 22, 2022 at 2:51 pm

      This sounds marvelous! I do have a dehydrator and I’ll definitely do this one. Thank you so much for the recommendation. 😄

  • Ms.Y

    Member
    September 11, 2022 at 1:43 am

    I’m fermenting apples, they get fuzzy and delicious kind of like kombucha. 1 cup salt + 5 cups sugar dissolved in 10 liters of water. Submerge apples, make sure there’s weight on top so they don’t float. I usually keep mine in garage . Apples will be done in a month approximately

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by  Ms.Y. Reason: P.S.can use mint, black currant leaves as addition for flavor
    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 22, 2022 at 2:51 pm

      Fermented apples! Another new one. I’ll try this as well. Thank you!

  • Constitutionalhomestead

    Member
    September 11, 2022 at 1:48 am

    We canned apple pie filling with ours.

    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 22, 2022 at 2:54 pm

      I’ve done a stewed apple so apple. I’d like to try a pie filling – my husband has a love/hate relationship with this one. He LOVES it but hates the resulting weight gain. Hehe.

  • GoatMama254

    Member
    September 23, 2022 at 9:29 pm

    I made apple pie filling today! Also saved some of the left over sauce not used in canning the apple pie filling to can and use over vanilla ice cream!

    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 26, 2022 at 5:07 am

      Oooooh! Great idea there. Thank you

  • Grampa-J

    Member
    September 24, 2022 at 12:35 pm

    Canning spiced apple rings makes for a nice holiday treat. In addition to regular apple sauce and apple butter I like brandied apple sauce and brandied apple butter. Brandied apple sauce puts a nice twist on apple sauce cake. Apples work well in pork dishes. They are used quite a bit in German, Polish, etc. recipes. I like to cook up smoked or polish sausage in the skillet with Bavarian style kraut and add chunked apples while cooking. The Bavarian kraut has the onions and caraway seeds. These can always be added to the cook up if you regular kraut on hand. Fried apples are always good. I hope that everyone’s ideas have given you some food for thought. Oh….one more thing (a Columbo moment)….see if a rumtopf may interest you. You add berries and fruits over the course of the year as they come into season. Makes for a nice dessert toping in the cold winter months.

    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 26, 2022 at 5:12 am

      Lots of great ideas! Those Brandie’s options sound delicious, and I might get my husband to voluntarily eat some applesauce. Hehe. I had to look up rumtopf and goodness that also sounded amazing. I’ll be sure to do that one next summer. Thank you!!

      • Grampa-J

        Member
        September 26, 2022 at 12:06 pm

        You’re very welcome

  • dbarker54

    Member
    September 24, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    After I made my applesauce, apple butter, apple pie filling, apple juice, jelly, and pectin for other jellies & jams, I still had a ton of apples left. I remembered a very old way of preserving them- what you do is to peel, core, slice a big bunch of apples (I did about a peck) then cover them with sugar- a lot of sugar. Then you throw a clean cloth over them and let sit over night. This draws out the juice and softens the apples a bit. Then cook them about 5 to 10 minutes until the softness you like but don’t cook them too long- maybe just until they start to get almost translucent. Then you just jar them up in pints and water bath 10 minutes. You don’t dip the apples in lemon juice or anything. They get a little brown but it goes away when processed and they are a pale amber color. We love them so much and you can use them many many ways, but we just eat them! Yes, it’s a lot of sugar, but it’s so worth it! The recipe was published years ago in a newspaper column called “Roaming the Mountains” by John Parris. Back in the old days in Appalachia this was a staple and they just called it Apple Preserves.

    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 26, 2022 at 5:15 am

      Apple preserves. That phrase rings a bell, but I don’t remember having them personally. Another great idea! And I hadn’t thought of making pectin… My fruit press arrived a few days ago and I was wondering what to do with all the dejuiced bits (other than composting). Maybe making pectin will work? Thank you

  • culdesacgrocerygarden

    Member
    September 24, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    Make vinegar with the cores. Heidi at Rain Country has good videos on that. My favorites are the apple pie filling and apple butter, have never made anything else with them. We are getting apples next week and you all have given me some delicious sounding ideas!

    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 26, 2022 at 5:20 am

      That is what I was hoping for! Everyone has unique ways of doing things, so I figured if I asked for help maybe possibly someone else would be inspired too. 😊 I made an apple-lemon marmalade which I thought turned out pretty well – even though I read the directions wrong a killed the pectin so … more like a marmalade syrup? Heh. I also found a caramel apple jam recipe I’m sooooo going to make!! And I’ll try that apple core vinegar – I made a version of it last year and used it in my laundry. Hehe. Thank you for the ideas and Source recommendation.

  • DB1

    Member
    September 24, 2022 at 8:42 pm

    Lots of good suggestions here. If you consume alcohol you may want to try a rumtopf. It’s a method of fruit preservation using rum. Here’s a link to a sample recipe.

    https://www.food.com/recipe/rumtopf-traditional-german-fruit-preserve-beverage-140344

    • Dravon-Redsong

      Member
      September 26, 2022 at 5:21 am

      Rum is my favorite! And that sounds great. Thank you for the link. 😊

  • Dana-FantailValleyHomestead

    Member
    September 26, 2022 at 7:04 am

    We got boat loads of apples last season from a friends orchard – we did dehydrated apples, apple chips, canned apple chunks, apple sauce, apple (often combined with berries) fruit leather, and apple cider too. We used all the scraps to make apple scrap vinegar, and now I have 2 5 gallon buckets of vinegar too.
    I usually also take a gallon or so apple cider vinegar and add in the tops of onions and garlics when I harvest them, add some kelp and let them ferment for a few months and strain them into a bottle to add to chicken water as a health tonic for our feathered friends.

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