My first attempt at canning

 

Above is the result of my first attempt at making applesauce and canning! I helped my mom can all kinds of things (tomatoes, pickles, etc) when I was a kid but I couldn't remember much. Thank god for directions!

I found a web site with step-by-step directions (including pictures) on how to make applesauce. They recommended getting the attachments for the Kitchen Aid stand mixer that I have (the big heavy duty one). The attachment is a food grinder/sieve type of thing that is awesome at grinding down soft cooked apples into perfect sauce. I was stunned at how easy it was.

The attachment came as part of a set that also includes a food grinder and pasta maker. I'm anxious to try the other accessories!

The canning part was a bit harder. I was scared to death that they wouldn't seal properly. I'm still a bit worried cause the second batch I made has some air gaps in the sides. I didn't push down the sauce enough to make sure there weren't any gaps.

I ended up making two batches. The first one used one peck of honeycrisp, one peck of Courtland and a partial peck of MacIntosh. That made just over 7 pints.

So I went to a nearby orchard (just a small one) and got one peck of "red" Haralson and one peck of "red" Courtland. The woman at the orchard said the red varieties were sweeter than the regular Haralson and Courtlands. In the end, I think that batch tastes way better than the first batch!

Next year I'm going to try mixing four varieties of apples. I've read that the more varieties you put in the better tasting the applesauce. Since the canner takes 7 jars at a time, four pecks of apples would be about right for making 14 pints.

For the canning part, I bought a Ball Home Canning Basics Kit

It had everything you need, including a great book with directions and tons of recipes. Maybe next year I'll stretch my skills a bit further and make some kind of jam or even pickles. Jamey would probably love the pickles.