Setting Up at a Show
Friday, July 20, 2012
Can U Can It: Revisiting Apple Butter
Can U Can It: Revisiting Apple Butter: I realize that Apple Butter has been covered in past blogs, but after Mary Lynn and my experience this past week I thought I would go th...
Revisiting Apple Butter
I realize that Apple Butter has been covered in past blogs, but after Mary Lynn and my experience this past week I thought I would go thru the whole process with pictures to help describe what we are doing.
Another reason for doing Apple Butter again is a talk we had at a dinner with some cousins. We got to talking about what is your "Comfort Food". To me comfort foods are one thing, and everybody else had a different comfort food. I come up with this description of comfort foods, it is something you eat that takes you back to a good time in your memory when you enjoyed the food and the company. So just about any kind of food could be classified "Comfort Food". So I am going to nominate apple butter made from fresh apples as a real honest to goodness Comfort Food. I will bet that there are many of you that will agree with me. Maybe a time with your mother or grandmother as you were growing up. There is not many things that can bring memories back like the smell of apple butter cooking. Not even the taste brings back more that the smell. So it is time to treat yourself to a trip thru your memories. Here is a photo of Mary Lynn cooking apple butter, maybe our grandkids will remember and cook like this in the future.
Well now that I got that little job out of the way lets get busy with the real reason for my blog, making apple butter from "scratch". I have almost got to the point were I think everything is made from that ingredient, scratch. So here is the scratch apple butter blog.
We started our quest to get real apples from real farmers by driving out to the State Farmer's market in Forrest Park, Georgia to get some real Georgia Apples. (Check your phone book or call your state department of agriculture if you don't know of a Farmer's Market in your area).
Boy did we luck out!!!! Our state market has rows setup for Georgia growers to sell their fruits & produce. Other rows are for people who buy wholesale fruits & produce for resale. We found these three types of apples at the first farmers stall we stopped at:
Rome Apples
Granny Smith Apples 
Arkansas Black Apples
He had other varieties, but we wanted to purchase bushels and 1/2 bushels, we save money that way. Smaller quantities cost more than larger amounts. Buying in larger quantities means you have to dedicate yourself to preparing the fruit within 3 or 4 days unless you have a really big fridge (or an extra fridge in your garage) to store the fruit. If you put off working with what you have bought, you will get spoilage. This drives up the cost, because you are throwing away your fruit to goes bad.
First job: washing each apple and drying them. This is needed because fresh fruit from local growers may have been sprayed with something or picked up something else that you don't want in your apple butter.
Next comes slicing and coring the apples. Mary Lynn fixed up a cutting board in front of the TV so I wouldn't miss football.Mary Lynn made for me I could sit and work with no problems. She used a large plastic container and a cutting board.
This was necessary because I can't stand and work in the kitchen due to a problem with my spine and legs that won't allow me to stand for more than 4 or 5 minutes without problems. So with the setup Mary Lynn then cooked the slices in fresh apple cider (also local) and 1/4 water. She put the cores in a mesh bag and cooked them with the slices. A lot of pectin is in the core and seeds. We also leave the peel on the apple slices for added flavor, color and pectin. this way when we make apple jelly from the juice we process later it sets up really well. We cook only one type of apple in a pot, this way the juice resembles the apple (Arkansas Black apples have a really dark red color and the juice has a red color. Really pretty jelly is made from the juices and the jellies all have a different look to them. Granny Smith has a greenish color, the Arkansas Black has a reddish color, etc...
The slices we cooked for about 1 1/2 hours. You want the peel to be really soft so it will go thru the food ricer/press or food mill easily. Allow the apples to cool and then pour or dip off the juice. Put the apples thru a food press or mill to make it to apple sauce. We still us an antique food mill we have had over 20 years. It works fine.
You can purchase one at a store that carries kitchen supplies. again, check your phone book or the internet for a store near you.
The juice we removed from the cooking pot is strained one more time thru muslin to get extra pulp out. You will then need to put into quart jars and do the processing just like the apple sauce. You can also save some of the juice to drink. It is awesome!!!!
Putting the pulp and juice in jars and processing them will let you decided when and how much apple butter or apple jelly you want to make. The processed jars keep really well in a cool, dark place.
After the cooking of all our varieties we are now ready to make apple butter. You have put in a lot of work so far, so we make our first batch a few days after the slicing, cooking and processing of the apples. If you have used more than one type of apple, check out the jars. They have a different color and juice content. Don't plan a particular variety of apples from your supply and knowing it by its color. Use a felt tip marker and write the name on the top of the jar before you water bath the jars. You might think you will remember, but you won't.
When we cook, we mix pulp from all the different apple types to give us a better flavor. Apple Butter from one flavor is good, but if you mix at least 3 varieties together, the flavor is better. This is how we come up with the name Georgia Apple Butter, it is made from varieties from our state, bought in our state from the farmers that grow them. We don't always use the same three varieties, and even if we did, some years the Granny Smith apples come from a different farm, some times they are a little more sweeter some times more tart. It all depends on the weather and the farm and even the farmer. It still is Georgia Apple Butter, just different Georgia apples. Something we noticed, apple butter made from sweet apples turns a darker color than apple butte made from les sweet. This is because the sugar caramelizes, not just the added sugar, the sugar from the apples also.
Any time you make something from scratch it is not going to taste exactly like the last time or next time. So many things going into the variable. The weather, the temperature, the pots you use, the stove or cooking pots you use. All these things have a reason in the taste.
We have noticed a slight difference with certain crock pots from others. Some may cook just a degree or two hotter or cooler than the other. So remember when you cook, all things change just a little, so don't add more changes than necessary.
This is the recipe for apple butter using real pulp in place of apple sauce. I gave you both recipes in earlier blogs, but I am going to give you the pulp one again.
When you are putting in the spices, if you don't like so much cinnamon, don't use it. If you use less use more allspice. At a family reunion recently I was asked by one of my favorite cousins if they could leave out cinnamon all together. Any time you leave something out of a recipe it is going to change the taste, so think long and hard about what you change or leave out. If you drop something, something else is going to have to take over in the taste.
In one of the photos you can see Mary Lynn using something to remove the air bubbles from the pulp before putting on the domes and rings and processing.
As you can see, there is plenty of work in making apple butter from real apples and not store-bought apple sauce.
Here is an idea how much pulp we got from our apple purchase;
Arkansas Black Apples (medium to small apples) 1/2 bushel (about 70-75 apples) produced 8 quarts pulp.
Rome Apples (medium+) 1/2 bushel (about 50 apples) produced 7 quarts pulp.
Granny Smith Apples (mixed, small to large) 1 bushel (80-85 apples) produced 14 quarts pulp. We always use Granny Smith no matter what other varieties w use. They seems to really give the Georgia Apple Butter its best taste. We tried not using GS in a batch and the taste was very different. So we have never left it out again. as a way of fact, the batch we made with out was added back and recooked with the Granny Smith.
In response to so many requests, Mary Lynn and I are starting back with our production and sales of a limited number of our most popular items. In other words, "We Are Putting the Jam Back Together". We are selling thru a website that is working as you read this. now. The name of the web site is www.austinhouse.biz . Check us out, look around try something.
This will give you the chance to compare our products with the things you are making at home. Keep watching and reading, and now tasting is added to the menu.
Please subscribe to my blogs. I enjoy getting ideas for future blogs from you. Also be sure and check out my other blogs, you might have missed one. If you have an idea or a suggestion, contact me at jellymanga@gmail.com .
Don’t keep my blogs a secret. Pass the word on to your friends, neighbors and family members. They just might make something and share with you.
Don’t forget, if someone asks you if you can can it. Say Yes I Can Can It!
Another reason for doing Apple Butter again is a talk we had at a dinner with some cousins. We got to talking about what is your "Comfort Food". To me comfort foods are one thing, and everybody else had a different comfort food. I come up with this description of comfort foods, it is something you eat that takes you back to a good time in your memory when you enjoyed the food and the company. So just about any kind of food could be classified "Comfort Food". So I am going to nominate apple butter made from fresh apples as a real honest to goodness Comfort Food. I will bet that there are many of you that will agree with me. Maybe a time with your mother or grandmother as you were growing up. There is not many things that can bring memories back like the smell of apple butter cooking. Not even the taste brings back more that the smell. So it is time to treat yourself to a trip thru your memories. Here is a photo of Mary Lynn cooking apple butter, maybe our grandkids will remember and cook like this in the future.
Well now that I got that little job out of the way lets get busy with the real reason for my blog, making apple butter from "scratch". I have almost got to the point were I think everything is made from that ingredient, scratch. So here is the scratch apple butter blog.
We started our quest to get real apples from real farmers by driving out to the State Farmer's market in Forrest Park, Georgia to get some real Georgia Apples. (Check your phone book or call your state department of agriculture if you don't know of a Farmer's Market in your area).
Boy did we luck out!!!! Our state market has rows setup for Georgia growers to sell their fruits & produce. Other rows are for people who buy wholesale fruits & produce for resale. We found these three types of apples at the first farmers stall we stopped at:
Rome Apples
Granny Smith Apples 
Arkansas Black Apples
He had other varieties, but we wanted to purchase bushels and 1/2 bushels, we save money that way. Smaller quantities cost more than larger amounts. Buying in larger quantities means you have to dedicate yourself to preparing the fruit within 3 or 4 days unless you have a really big fridge (or an extra fridge in your garage) to store the fruit. If you put off working with what you have bought, you will get spoilage. This drives up the cost, because you are throwing away your fruit to goes bad.
First job: washing each apple and drying them. This is needed because fresh fruit from local growers may have been sprayed with something or picked up something else that you don't want in your apple butter.
Next comes slicing and coring the apples. Mary Lynn fixed up a cutting board in front of the TV so I wouldn't miss football.Mary Lynn made for me I could sit and work with no problems. She used a large plastic container and a cutting board.
This was necessary because I can't stand and work in the kitchen due to a problem with my spine and legs that won't allow me to stand for more than 4 or 5 minutes without problems. So with the setup Mary Lynn then cooked the slices in fresh apple cider (also local) and 1/4 water. She put the cores in a mesh bag and cooked them with the slices. A lot of pectin is in the core and seeds. We also leave the peel on the apple slices for added flavor, color and pectin. this way when we make apple jelly from the juice we process later it sets up really well. We cook only one type of apple in a pot, this way the juice resembles the apple (Arkansas Black apples have a really dark red color and the juice has a red color. Really pretty jelly is made from the juices and the jellies all have a different look to them. Granny Smith has a greenish color, the Arkansas Black has a reddish color, etc...
The slices we cooked for about 1 1/2 hours. You want the peel to be really soft so it will go thru the food ricer/press or food mill easily. Allow the apples to cool and then pour or dip off the juice. Put the apples thru a food press or mill to make it to apple sauce. We still us an antique food mill we have had over 20 years. It works fine.
- Food Mill
The apple sauce is now put into quart jars and processed for 30 minutes in a boiling water bath with water at least 2 inches over the top. Do not start the timer til the water comes back to a boil.
The juice we removed from the cooking pot is strained one more time thru muslin to get extra pulp out. You will then need to put into quart jars and do the processing just like the apple sauce. You can also save some of the juice to drink. It is awesome!!!!
Putting the pulp and juice in jars and processing them will let you decided when and how much apple butter or apple jelly you want to make. The processed jars keep really well in a cool, dark place.
After the cooking of all our varieties we are now ready to make apple butter. You have put in a lot of work so far, so we make our first batch a few days after the slicing, cooking and processing of the apples. If you have used more than one type of apple, check out the jars. They have a different color and juice content. Don't plan a particular variety of apples from your supply and knowing it by its color. Use a felt tip marker and write the name on the top of the jar before you water bath the jars. You might think you will remember, but you won't.
When we cook, we mix pulp from all the different apple types to give us a better flavor. Apple Butter from one flavor is good, but if you mix at least 3 varieties together, the flavor is better. This is how we come up with the name Georgia Apple Butter, it is made from varieties from our state, bought in our state from the farmers that grow them. We don't always use the same three varieties, and even if we did, some years the Granny Smith apples come from a different farm, some times they are a little more sweeter some times more tart. It all depends on the weather and the farm and even the farmer. It still is Georgia Apple Butter, just different Georgia apples. Something we noticed, apple butter made from sweet apples turns a darker color than apple butte made from les sweet. This is because the sugar caramelizes, not just the added sugar, the sugar from the apples also.
Any time you make something from scratch it is not going to taste exactly like the last time or next time. So many things going into the variable. The weather, the temperature, the pots you use, the stove or cooking pots you use. All these things have a reason in the taste. We have noticed a slight difference with certain crock pots from others. Some may cook just a degree or two hotter or cooler than the other. So remember when you cook, all things change just a little, so don't add more changes than necessary.
This is the recipe for apple butter using real pulp in place of apple sauce. I gave you both recipes in earlier blogs, but I am going to give you the pulp one again.
12 cups apple pulp, 9 cups cane sugar, 1/3 cup cider vinegar, 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice, 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
Mix together in cook in a crock pot 8 to 10 hours. Stir the butter often to prevent sticking. After about 6 hours check the thickness of your butter. If it is still to runny, remove the crock pot lid and let cook a couple of more hours
. Make sure you put a screen or mesh tent or food umbrella over your pots to keep unwanted things from landing in you apple butter. We bought food umbrella's at a local store called Dollar Tree. Check you area for a store like this.
. Make sure you put a screen or mesh tent or food umbrella over your pots to keep unwanted things from landing in you apple butter. We bought food umbrella's at a local store called Dollar Tree. Check you area for a store like this.When you are putting in the spices, if you don't like so much cinnamon, don't use it. If you use less use more allspice. At a family reunion recently I was asked by one of my favorite cousins if they could leave out cinnamon all together. Any time you leave something out of a recipe it is going to change the taste, so think long and hard about what you change or leave out. If you drop something, something else is going to have to take over in the taste.
In one of the photos you can see Mary Lynn using something to remove the air bubbles from the pulp before putting on the domes and rings and processing.
We one batch she forgot to do this and when she set the hot jars from the boiling water bath on the counter..... Holy Toledo!!!! What a mess!!!!!!!!!!!! The apple pulp started coming out of every jar. Now she will have to remove the rings and domes, wash the rings, replace the domes with new ones. You cannot reuse a dome once it is processed. Rings can be reused, but be carefull using older ones they may have some rust. Don't use any ring with rust!! Mary Lynn was so very angry with herself for forgetting to use something to get out the air pockets. Most home-made products need to be "de-bubbled".
As you can see, there is plenty of work in making apple butter from real apples and not store-bought apple sauce.
Here is an idea how much pulp we got from our apple purchase;
Arkansas Black Apples (medium to small apples) 1/2 bushel (about 70-75 apples) produced 8 quarts pulp.
Rome Apples (medium+) 1/2 bushel (about 50 apples) produced 7 quarts pulp.
Granny Smith Apples (mixed, small to large) 1 bushel (80-85 apples) produced 14 quarts pulp. We always use Granny Smith no matter what other varieties w use. They seems to really give the Georgia Apple Butter its best taste. We tried not using GS in a batch and the taste was very different. So we have never left it out again. as a way of fact, the batch we made with out was added back and recooked with the Granny Smith.
In response to so many requests, Mary Lynn and I are starting back with our production and sales of a limited number of our most popular items. In other words, "We Are Putting the Jam Back Together". We are selling thru a website that is working as you read this. now. The name of the web site is www.austinhouse.biz . Check us out, look around try something.
This will give you the chance to compare our products with the things you are making at home. Keep watching and reading, and now tasting is added to the menu.
Please subscribe to my blogs. I enjoy getting ideas for future blogs from you. Also be sure and check out my other blogs, you might have missed one. If you have an idea or a suggestion, contact me at jellymanga@gmail.com .
Don’t keep my blogs a secret. Pass the word on to your friends, neighbors and family members. They just might make something and share with you.
Don’t forget, if someone asks you if you can can it. Say Yes I Can Can It!
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