End of Season Applesauce

Autumn just wouldn't be the same without apples. I mentioned in a previous that you can never have enough apples. That's true unless you will be away for a few days and you have apples won't keep. Such was the case on Monday. Saturday I had intended to make applesauce but a last minute change of plans had us going to a hockey game. Just before that a friend called and wanted to know if we would be interested in a three day bus tour Tuesday through Thursday. We accepted and since we already had plans for Friday through Sunday (26th). Sunday (19th) we had company so canning was put on the back burner. Suddenly the only canning day would be Monday. Monday I rushed to get both raspberry jam and applesauce made while packing and making last minute travel plans.

Apples

While any apple is an eating apple not all are good cooking apples. I like to stock-up on the cooking apples first because a good portion of these will be preserved in some manner. I keep apples in the pantry where it is cool and dark most of the time. They are in wire bins that help with air circulation and prevent moisture build-up. Still one over ripe apple is enough to hasten the others ripening. I gathered up the rest of the L-star, Wealthy and Greenings apples to turn into applesauce leaving the Crispin and Northern Spy apples for another day.

Did you know that storing apples at room temperature will cause them to ripen a good three times faster than those stored at a cooler temperature? Store apples in a cool, dark location preferably a root cellar or in small amounts in the crisper of the refrigerator.

Applesauce

When I started making Monday's batch of applesauce I fully intended to add a few spices something I rarely do. I like using applesauce in cooking and baking so prefer it plain with no sugar or spices added. After running the cooked apple quarters through the food mill, I tasted the sauce. This is something that many forget to do and that is with anything that comes out of your kitchen - always taste before serving or preserving! It's a good thing I follow this piece of advice I learned as a young bride.

The sauce was nicely flavoured with good depth. It needed nothing else to add to the wonderful flavour and in fact would have been quite lovely turned into apple butter but I didn't have time for that. The yield was 5 - 500 ml (pint) jars canned and 500 ml (pint) container for the freezer. Applesauce does freeze nicely and while canning is my preferred method to save freezer space, freezing gives perfectly good results. Simply pack into freezer containers leaving ½ - inch headspace and freeze. To use, thaw in the refrigerator.