North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["victoria l. caron" <vicaron@gis.net>]

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Hi,
I have been making and canning apples and applesauce for many years. Lon is
right, switch to stainless steel. With the exception of my pressure canner for
processing the jars, you couldn't pay me to cook in aluminum, much less can 
in it
.
My suggestions for batches are;
1- if possible, choose apple varieties which cook down quickly, these are 
often
the early varieties, although some later ones work equally well. The faster 
your
apples cook down, the less apt they are to have time to burn. If your apples
don't cook down quickly you may want to consider passing them through a food 
mill
providing they have been peeled and cored, or you may want to can them as 
apple
slices ready for pies, ice cream topping or other baking use with or without 
your
sugar and spices added.
2- the counter top peeler/corer that you see advertised is a time saver and 
worth
every penny you'll pay for it. For years, I hand peeled and cored after 
getting
fed up with any type of food mill.
3- using apple juice to get the apples started cooking can also prevent them
burning, I prefer it to adding water which can affect the acid in your 
finished
product. Some lemon juice can insure a nice color though I have seen it take 
the
pink out of some varieties' color.
4- be sure that you are following up to date USDA standard canning procedures.
This will ensure a high quality result.
Good luck, feel free to question further on varieties, I'm sure we all have 
lots
of opinions on which are more or less suitable for every
use.....................vic

W3cmp@aol.com wrote:

>
> After spending a full weekend making and canning applesauce in (10? qt.
> pots), one small batch at a time, my wife has asked me to ask if there are
> recipies available for bigger batches?  She cores and peels the apples, puts
> a little water in the bottom of a pot, and slowly cooks the apples down.  
> She
> adds sugar to taste when the apple have almost completely turned to asuce.
> Two complaints are the tendency of the applesauce to burn if not constantly
> stirred (we use aluminum pots for cooking, although we ended up  also using
> crock pots and although small, they seemed to work fine), and the tendency
> for the sauce to separate after it has been sealed.  Does anyone have any
> suggestions, leads on equipment for making larger batches than 10 qt pots,
> and tips on keeping the sauce from separating after it has been canned?
> Maybe it would be a good thing to make an article for Pomona.  Thanks for
> your replies in advance.  Chris Patterson