How to Can Green Apple Sauce

If you are fortunate enough to have an apple (or pear) tree it is worth the time to make up your own great "organic" apple sauce. We were given a box of large green, chemical free apples of unknown name from a very old tree. They were blemish and bug free! The apples were not as tart as Granny Smith and made up into a thick, mild sauce and definitely no sugar required. Absolutely delicious!

Apple Sauce Ingredients

12 large green apples (which is about 8 – 10 cups of quartered, cored and peeled apples)
One Cup filtered water
½ of the juice of an organic lemon
These amounts made up 6 x one cup jars

Directions

Quarter, core and peel apples (keep them in cold water with a little lemon juice so they won't go too brown)
Put apples, lemon juice and liquid into pot and bring to boil
Put lid on pot and simmer about 20 minutes (or until apples are soft)
When cooked, blend apples with potato masher if needed and ladle sauce into jars
Clean top of jars before putting on lids and rings
While holding jar (with gloves) tap the bottom of jar to remove air bubbles
Process in a boiling water bath: 15 minutes for pints (or smaller) and 20 minutes for quarts OR
Process in your pressure canner. The Presto I used was at 5 pounds pressure with 8 minutes for the pin size jars
Remove from water and let cool 24 hours, label and date, before storing

Optional Sauce

... is the same as above but after cooking add:

One Teaspoon cinnamon
One Teaspoon nutmeg

Uses

Some of the multitude of uses for canned applesauce are :

Substitute for oil, margarine when baking i.e. if recipe calls for half a cup of oil use ¼ cup applesauce and ¼ cup of oil
Of course, tastes great just as it is or mixed with other fruits and vegetables for children
Use as a topping for breakfast cereal in the morning or as a snack with yoghurt
A sweet sauce to serve with roast dinner
And what would life be without good old Apple pie or tarts
A great food hamper gift for Christmas

There are many different versions of applesauce – this one is truly simple. Happy harvesting!

Notes

Apple cider vinegar can be substituted for water depending on your end use
If using apple sauce in low-fat baking make the plain (no spices) version above
Near the end of cooking stir the apples often to prevent sticking or burning and add a little more water if necessary
No sugar was added during cooking but can be added as per recipe or taste when jars are used
One pound of apples is about 3 – 4 medium apples and makes just over one cup of sauce
I tried cooking cored, quartered apples, leaving the skin on and removing it after the sauce was cooked, but found this did not save time; your choice
Jars of applesauce stored in a cool, dark place should keep for up to a year
Apple peels and cores can be recycled to the chickens, pigs or compost!
In our Canadian Fall look for wild apple trees in your area and always accept offers of organic fruit from neighbours