How to Make Homemade Applesauce

• Apples (see step 1)
• Cinnamon
• Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
• Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sterilize them. ($2 at WalMart)
• Jar funnel ($2 at Walmart)
• At least 2 large pots
• Large spoons and ladles

• 1 Canner (a huge pot to sterilize the jars of applesauce after filling) (about $20 at mall kitchen stores, WalMart)
• Ball jars (Publix, WalMart carry then - about $8 per dozen quart jars including the lids and rings)
• KitchenAid with the Sieve/grinder attachments ($370) OR a Foley Food Mill ($20)

Step 1 - Selecting the apples

The most important step!  You need apples that are sweet - NOT something like Granny Smith's.  Yeah, I know you like them (why do sweet women like sour apples???) and even if I did, they still wouldn't make good applesauce - you'd have to add a lot of sugar.  Instead, choose apples that are naturally sweet, like Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Rome and always use a mixture - never just one type.  This year I used 4 bushels of red delicious and one each of Fuji, Gala and Rome.  This meant it was so sweet I did not need to add any sugar at all.  And the flavor is great! 

Step 2 - How many apples and where to get them

The Farmer's Market in Forest Park, Georgia carries them all by the bushel in late September at $11 to $16 per bushel.

You'll get about 14 quarts of applesauce per bushel of apples

Step 3 -Wash and chop the apples!

I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the apples in plain cold water.

Chopping them is much faster if you use one of those apple corer/segmenters - you just push it down on an apple and it cuts it into segments.  Note:  You do not peel the apples, and you will put the entire apple into the pot to cook.

Step 4 - Cook the Apples

Pretty simple put about 1 inch of water (I used either filtered tap water or store brand apple juice) on the bottom of a huge, thick-bottomed pot. Put the lid on, and the heat on high.  When it gets really going, turn it to medium high until the apples are soft through and through.

Step 5 - Sieve the cooked apples

There are two ways to squish the apples through a sieve: either through a hand-cranked Foley food mill (about $15 at most mall kitchen stores; or through a KtichenAid sieve/grinder (with the attachments, about $300, but lasts a lifetime)

Basically, you put the cooked apples (including the skins, seeds, cores and stems) into the top hopper, and use the wooden plunger to push it in.

The device pushes it against a sieve and the applesauce comes out underneath (in the chrome pot in the photo at left ), and the debris shoots out the side into the sink - see photo below.

Step 6 - Season and keep the applesauce hot

Put the applesauce into a large pot. Add cinnamon to taste.  You should not need to add any sugar.  

The applesauce does not need any further cooking; just keep it hot until you get enough made to fill the jars you will put into the canner (Canners hold seven jars at once, whether they are quart or pint size)

Step 7 - Sterilize the jars an lids

The dishwasher is fine for the jars - put the lids into a pan of boiling water for at least several minutes. I just put the lids in a small pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" (available from WalMart) to pull them out.

Step 8 - Fill the jars

Fill them to within 1/2 inch of the top, wipe any spilled applesauce of the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them.  Put them in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. Boil them for at least 20 minutes.

Step 9 - Done

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight)  You can then remove the rings if you like.

Other Equipment:

From left to right:

1. Jar lifting tongs 
           to pick up hot jars
2. Lid lifter 
           - to remove lids from the pot 
           of boiling water (sterilizing )
3. Lid 
          - disposable - you may only 
          use them once
4. Ring 
         - holds the lids on the jar until after
         the jars cool - then you don't need them
5. Canning jar funnel
         - to fill the jars