skins-on applesauce to freeze, can, and share
MY FAMILY CALLS IT ‘PO SAUCE, with the “po” representing the last syllable of the word “apple,” the way my beloved niece pronounced it when she was small. One fall weekend, as I hurtled by to give a lecture out their way, I met my brother-in-law at Exit 9 off I-90 to deliver the first load of Pink ‘Po Sauce that started life on my century-old trees. Sigh of relief: 11 quarts and 5 pints moved from my freezer to theirs.
Another day that year, my friend Katrina filled the back of her car with my apples, heading home to cook them up, and many neighbors have been the recipients of boxes of apples, apples and more apples, too. It’s applesauce time, and here’s how that goes:
Bountiful rains put regional 2013 apple crops—including fruit on my handful of ancient trees that I do not spray (that’s a 40-foot-wide one out back, above)—at bumper levels. The 2015 season didn’t feature much rain, but the apples were crazy-plentiful, after a 2014 when I had almost none. In 2016, almost a total bust, after a non-winter and a very dry whole year. Neighbors with old trees have none, either; I’m buying several bushels in for the first time ever.
My standard-sized trees are too tall to pick from, so I simply cull the windfalls, dumping any runts or chewed-on ones into the woods for deer and other animals, and taking wheelbarrow loads of good ones over to the kitchen door.
Katrina adds raspberries to her sauce for a beautiful, vivid color and flavor, like this (her recipe for “Time in a Bottle,” as she calls it. (Those lucky apples of mine who got to go home with her, huh?)
pink ‘po pauce, the easy way
ingredients:
- apples
- water
steps:
- Wash apples (a vegetable brush will help).
- Cut apples into large chunks; discard cores. Cut out any major blemishes or bruises if needed.
- Fill a spaghetti pot no more than two-thirds full of big apple chunks.
- Add 1-2 cups of water to start, to just cover the bottom of the pot. The amount of water depends on the apples’ own juiciness, and also whether you plan to puree later with peels still in the mix as I do, which thickens the sauce. You may need more water later.
- Cover and get the water bubbling fast with high heat, then lower heat to medium-low and allow the fruit to sort of steam in the water and their own juices.
- Remove lid only to stir every 5 or 7 minutes, and then as things soften, both to stir and mash with a slotted metal spoon or a potato masher. Lower the heat to low as things soften to a mush.
- Cook, continuing regular stirring, until thoroughly soft, usually 45 minutes or more. Each variety and ripeness level of apple will vary in cooking time (and again: in water required).
- Prefer the crockpot? Go for it, overnight, according to your appliance’s directions.
- Want smooth sauce, instead of chunky? Once off the heat, use an immersion blender (a stick-shaped hand type) to puree in the metal cooking pot if desired. Why have to clean your blender jar–the immersion blender is the best tool ever for one-pot soups and sauces.
- Ladle sauce into wide-mouth, straight-sided jars, leaving ample headroom for expansion. Straight-sided jars are less likely than jars with “shoulders” to break in the freezer as their contents expand.
Yes, I know: You can quarter the apples, then use a paring knife to core each quarter. But I have enough apples for four armies, so I use one knife only, the chef’s size, and simply make four cuts, leaving the core intact to discard (as below).
You could peel them, too, but then you won’t get pink sauce (and besides, fiber is a good thing, no?).
You could get rid of the peels after cooking, with a food mill or sieve. But again, why?
Why don’t I fill the pot to the brim with fruit? I find that making smaller batches reduces the inclination for sticking or burning.
You can add sugar, brown sugar, honey, spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, or even those raspberries the way Katrina does, remember? Me? I keep it simple. Depending what I use the sauce with later on, I might dress it up accordingly, but usually just apples and a little water works for me.
running out of freezer space?
RUNNING OUT of freezer space? Canning applesauce in a boiling-water bath is fine (presuming you have the right gear and follow the rules!).
The classic “Stocking Up” canning guide from Rodale recommends 4 pounds of apples; a cup of water; a half-cup of honey; optional cloves, nutmeg or cinnamon. Also optional (to “brighten” the flavor of too-sweet apples if desired) is a quarter-cup of fresh lemon juice. Ladle cooked hot sauce into scalded pint jars and process for 20 minutes, they say. Another option in that recipe: to leave the skins in or food-mill them out.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation peels their fruit (for a more standard product like store-bought, my expert friend Theresa Loe says, not because of food-safety worries) and processes 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts, like this.
Or just meet your brother-in-law at the side of the highway with 11 quarts or so (the delivery, below). That will free up some room, admittedly while overstocking his.
Darlene C. says
Our apples always have a dark greenish brown “scum” on them that I really have to scrub to remove. What is this and is it harmful ? We use NO sprays or treatment of any kind on our apple trees. Maybe this is why we have this problem ?
margaret says
Hi, Darlene. Apples are hard to grow organically to an unblemished finish line, especially in the East, so you are not alone in having issues. You might have sooty blotch or flyspeck (grayer usually than brown) or apple scab. Do some browsing here, at this diagnostic site to get started.
Jean says
So nice to read your sauce recipe. It’s exactly the way I have been making it for years. Lovely pink sauce w/o anything added. My record for canning in one year was 28 quarts of sauce. The kids are grown and gone now so I don’t need nearly that much. By the way, I have also made apple pies with unpeeled thinly sliced apples. Men have told me that pie tastes exactly like the pies their grandmothers made! Thanks for the great info and the memories.
carolyn ronquist says
Thanks for the applesauce recipe
margaret says
You’re welcome, Carolyn.
Nicole Goetz says
I’ve started working at an orchard this year. I was sent home with a bushel of apples last week, and there is no way my husband and I can go through that many in a week! I’m using your recipe today to make applesauce for the very first time today! But first, time to clean the kitchen!
Thank you for sharing!
bett says
i just made applesauce, mmm. after cooling it I put the sauce in a silicon muffin ‘tins’ & froze it. when frozen put 2 or 3 of the frozen applesauce sized ‘muffins’ into a freezer bags & return those bags to the freezer for later use. works a treat.
Dorene Inglis says
not an applesauce comment, but I wanted to tell you that I had the bright idea of freezing beans in tomatoe sauce, because I don’t really like the consistency of frozen beans- then I opened your email-about freezing beans in tom sauce! We were in sync that week! Since them I have moved on to the book,Canning for a New Generation-do you know it? Great bean recipes!
Enjoy your posts,thank you
margaret says
Nice to hear from a like-minded cook, Dorene. I don’t know that book but am going to go find it, thank you.
marla says
Just finished processing some apples…applesauce on the stove, applebutter in the crock pot, and apple leather in the dehydrator. Will try the apple leather in the oven next time on silpats.
Our all time favorite is apple rings in the dehydrator. So easy with the peeler/ corer/ slicer.
Linda says
Feeling suddenly inspired to get after the large bag of apples a girlfriend dropped ifff. Great blog and even greater comments etc. Thank you. I feel as if I know you fellow gardener. If you come to Vancouver Canada look me and my garden up. L
margaret says
Thanks, Linda. Just finished 80 pounds of apples into sauce…about to do another 40 pounds then I am out of freezer space for a bit. : )
Judi says
I love to make my pink applesauce by adding red hots to a pot of apples that have been peeled, cored and quartered. Also you can peel, core and slice apples and quick freeze them on a cookie sheet, then transfer them to a zip lock freezer bag. This winter take them out to make apple pie or crisp.
Melissa says
Going in for sauce making this morning- clicked on your article just to see if you had any pizzazz I was potentially missing out on, but happy to find and confirm simple is the best! I save all my cores and bruised pieces to make my annual apple cider vinegar too.
margaret says
I figure we can spice it up before eating, and this basic non-nonsense version (and with the skins for all the fiber, and without added sugar!) is the best for us and the most versatile. Nice to hear from you, Melissa.
Rose says
how do you care for your trees if you do not spray them . are they full of worms?
margaret says
Hi, Rose. The apples are not perfect, but they’re great for cooking with and there are enough perfect ones to feed me and a small army (very large old trees). Even “organic” apple tree sprays are heavy on fungicidal elements like copper that I don’t want to use, so I am happy to just skip it and have imperfect but delicious fruit in the name of the environment. If you are going to spray, hire a company that uses a least-toxic approach and ask them about all the ingredients they are using and what the lasting effects are in the soil, or the impact on desirable other insect species.