Homemade Organic Applesauce

Finished applesauce.  So delicious!
Finished applesauce. So delicious!

Quality Ingredients

The best way to make tasty applesauce is to start with quality ingredients. We get organic apples from an orchard about an hour away. It is Almar Orchards in Flushing, MI. Their apples and cider are loads better than anything I can get in a grocery store. They have hard cider too that is great, if that is something you like.

We order what are called #2 or seconds for making applesauce. Apples are purchased in bulk by the bushel or half bushel of mixed apples, whichever varieties are in season. We use organic whole cinnamon sticks and filtered water. It is that simple! So what you put in will greatly determine the taste because the apples are the star of this recipe.

Tools needed

There isn’t a lot you need to make applesauce. Mainly a bit pot to cook it in. I find I prefer to make the sauce without peeling or coring the apples. I just wash, remove the stems and quarter the apples. Plop them in the pot with a cup or so of water and 1 cinnamon stick broken into 2 pieces and that is it. Once they are cooked down and soft, I put them through a food mill. A spatula or decent spoon and a ladle are helpful, but even a measuring cup to scoop the mush into the mill, would work. The hardest part is the milling, it takes a bit of patience and repetitive cranking with your arm. This link is the food mill we have and I do like it (although ours is several years old and squeaks as you turn it)

Depending on how much applesauce you make, you can store it in fridge, freeze it, or can it. If freezing, I recommend you let it cool to room temperature and put in plastic freezer containers. I have not had luck freezing with glass without excessive breakage.

Canning

If you want to can the applesauce, you can do so with a water bath canning process. I use quart jars and we can it for 20 minutes, as apples are a high acid food and can be water bath canned with a relatively short boil. Any large pot with a rack will work for water bath canning. I frequently use the Tattler reusable canning lids. They are made in Michigan and I have had great results using them.

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