Anoka Homestead Applesauce

Apple Tree for the Backyard Homesteader

The apple tree I planted 40 years ago produces a harvest about every three years when the blossoming tree escapes the late spring snows of the Rocky Mountains. This year produced a bumper crop of lovely Anoka apples. It’s a great variety for canning, cooking and eating right off the tree. Self-pollinating, it does not require another tree to produce a crop. The single dwarf tree fits neatly into a backyard garden leaving space for other fruit trees, or berry patches, or a vegetable garden.

September encourages gardeners to hurry and gather in garden goodies before the winter snows. I filled a laundry basket with the fruit from lower boughs and set up my roaster oven which is the largest cooking container that I have. The roaster not only consolidates the apple saucing process but also furnishes a hot water bath that will accommodate a dozen or more filled canning jars at a time.

Process

Making applesauce is a simple process for beginners or experienced canners. Just follow these easy steps:

1) Wash apples. There is no need to peel the apples.

2) Chunk the apples by cutting the apple flesh from its core. Cut away any imperfections like bruises or wayward insect or bird damage. Reserve cores for apple jelly.

3) Put apples in a roaster oven or large kettle. Add a little water to keep apples from sticking to bottom of pan. Sweetener, cinnamon and spices are optional. I added 1/2 cup sugar to the water since Anokas are on the tart side.

4) Cook at 300 degrees until soft (about 2 hours).

5) Use sieve to sauce the apples and remove the skin and seeds.

6) Fill clean, sterilized canning jars with sauce while hot and seal with sterilized canning lids.

7) Process the jars for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath that comes to the neck of the jars.

8) Use a jar lifter to remove applesauce jars from the hot water bath.

Use the Apple Cores for Jelly

Don’t waste the apple cores. They can make a lovely jelly when boiled to extract the apple juice. I had enough juice to make 10 cups of jelly to give as homemade Christmas gifts for friends and family.

My trusty roaster is a versatile appliance that I have used for processing apples and pumpkins, roasting turkeys, and cooking sloppy joes for crowds of a hundred.

It is a satisfying day’s work to capture summer’s sweetness for winter’s pleasure.

To make apple sugar from the apple crop see my “how to” post https://countryparsonswife.com/apple-sugar/ . For over a hundred recipes from the garden check out my cookbook Eat What Your Grow below.