How to Can Applesauce
In years that aren’t quite so crazy as this one, my family and I LOVE heading to the apple orchards and spending time picking.
In one afternoon, I can spend time with my family, take tons of fun photographs, watch my kids play in a fort, talk to my daughter about the fact that apples grow on trees (!), and enjoy a beautiful drive through some of the best fall scenery Oregon has to offer.
Oh, and we also picked up some fruit.
Last year I talked about how to freeze homemade applesauce. So many of you commented that I should can it. I had to try it, and you were right. It really is a simple process of washing, chopping, cooking, filling, and processing. I’ll walk you through the steps below.
If you’d rather stick with freezing your own applesauce, go for it! You still gain all the benefits while just using a different method for storing and opening the final product.
As with all canning, the first step is to sterilize your jars. I just run mine through the dishwasher. If you don’t have a dishwasher, you can also hand wash your jars, fill them with water, submerge in a canner of water and simmer them for 10 minutes.
Next step, wash and quarter your apples. You can really use any combination of cooking apple you want. The sweeter the apple, the less sugar (if any) you will need to add. The softer the apple, the faster it will cook.
For this batch, I used a combination of Golden Delicious, Jonagold, and Tsugaru. You can even add pears to the mix for added flavor and sweetness.
According to Ball, it should take around 2.5-3.5 pounds of apples per quart. I found that to be pretty conservative; figure on closer to 3-4 pounds per quart (a canner holds seven quarts).
If you have a food mill/strainer, you don’t need to peel or core your apples. You can purchase a decent model on Amazon for around $60-$70. If you are doing a big batch of applesauce, this is a good thing.
If you don’t have one of those beautiful inventions, then you’ll need to peel and core your apples. An Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer is a great, inexpensive tool for this.
Place your apples in a pot with about one inch of water in the bottom to prevent scorching.
Obviously, the more water you use, the thinner your applesauce will be. I pour some of the liquid off as the apples start to cook down and release juice so that my applesauce isn’t super runny. It’s better to use a couple of wide pots than one deep stockpot so the apples can be stirred easily and cooked evenly.
Simmer on medium heat, stirring often, until the apples have cooked down to a soft consistency (time will vary according to which apple variety you use). Your house will fill with a heavenly, homey aroma.
Once your jars are sanitized you want to keep them warm.
If you time it right or if your dishwasher has a setting for it, you can take them piping hot from the dishwasher. If not, set your oven to a low temperature (180ish), place the jars on a tray, and keep them warm until you are ready to fill them.
Sanitize and prepare your lids and rings by simmering them in a small saucepan for 10 minutes.
Once your apple mixture is soft, place it in a food mill/strainer or food processor/blender to achieve the desired consistency.
If you like a thicker, chunkier applesauce, skip this step (assuming you cored & peeled your apples). For those of you who want to freeze your applesauce, you are almost finished! Add sugar (optional), place it in bags or containers, pop them in your freezer, and put your feet up.
Return the smooth applesauce to a large pot and heat it back to a simmer.
The applesauce does not require any additional cooking; you just want to keep it hot. I added my applesauce to this pot as I pureed it.
If desired, you can stir in some sugar at this point.
I didn’t add any sugar to my sauce, and it is still sweet and flavorful. I am planning to use it both for eating and as an oil substitute in baking. If you want to get fancy, you could also add spices like ginger or cinnamon.
Working quickly and carefully, ladle the hot applesauce into the hot jars.
Using a wide-mouth funnel makes the job much easier. And remember, putting a hot substance into a cold jar is bad news. Avoid a big headache and a bigger mess by keeping everything nice and hot. Leave 1/2 inch head space at the top of each jar (about the bottom of the jar threads).
Using a nonmetallic utensil, slide it along the inside of each jar to release any trapped air bubbles. Wipe each jar rim with a clean towel.
Place the sterilized lids on the jar mouth and screw the rings on finger tight.
Place the hot, filled jars into a canner partially filled with warm water. Make sure the jars are covered with about 1 inch of water. Cover the canner with the lid and bring the water to a boil.
According to Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, process both pints and quarts in a simmering water bath for 20 minutes.
When the timer rings, remove the jars using a jar lifter. The jar lids will suck in as they cool and seal. Check jar lids and move any that don’t seal to the refrigerator to be eaten soon.
Cool the jars completely before removing the rings and storing them in a cool, dark place.
Enjoy your jars of home canned fall goodness for months to come!
Are you new to canning? Be sure to go through our Home Canning Guide posts for a beginners guide, equipment suggestions, and recipes!
How to Can Series:
As with any new homemaking adventure, do your research first. Here are some good resources where you can find additional information/recipes:
- How to Make Homemade Applesauce from Pick Your Own
- OSU Extension Service
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (Amazon)
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Do you need to put canned applesauce in a hot water bath? If so what is the best way to do it. I do not have a canning pot.
Can you make applesauce with honey instead of sugar?
To make applesauce may I use any type of apples? Went to the FM yesterday and got a bag full of 1 type each of different apples. May I use these to make applesauce?
Sure! You can use any variety. Just keep in mind, the sweeter ones will require less sugar and different varieties gives off less/more water so some apples will produce thicker/thinner sauce than others.
For those not at sea level, note that you will need to add time to base 20 minutes. I used this chart:
http://www.freshpreserving.com/sites/default/files/AltitudeCharts.pdf
Emily,
You don’t even know how happy I was when I saw your post. I’ve been going out of my mind if I have to immerse the jar or not. Then I saw this post. 1″ water over the jar.
Thank you sooooo very much. Pictures helped too. I’m a visual person, so I was definitely giddy.
Claire
Thanks, Claire! Glad that was helpful. Happy canning!
Thanks for that tidbit, Joyce. I am complete newbie to canning and didn’t think about the whole explosion factor! Thanks again!
🙂
two marvelous resources for canning info are 1) the university extension service (attached to whatever agricultural or land grant college in your state and providing general information, hands-on canning classes, and pressure canner testing, along with answers to your many telephone questions), and 2) the ball blue book (inexpensive paperback full of up-to-date food preservation info, recipes, and techniques. every canner should have this. new canners can test the waters by borrowing a copy from the public library.)
I borrowed a friends juicer steamer and made apple juice used the cooked apples to create applesauce. Froze the juice and canned the applesauce. Turned out amazing. This was my first time making both.
Does anyone know where I can get bulk organic apples for cheap? I want to do this applesauce but only want to use organic. TIA
I too would like to know where organic fruit and other self-pick
places are that are organic. I live south of Eugene, but willing to go that far north if I can find organic. Apples are number one on the Dirty Dozen list for pesticides and chemicals.
OMG, Couldn’t resist stopping at the local fruit and veggie stand on my way home from the grocery store after seeing this post. They had 20 pound boxes of apples marked for $10 each. They only had 3 left so I asked if they had more and they offered to box up some more expensive apples. I told them that I didn’t really care what kind they were or how pretty they are because I was just going to use them for applesauce any way. They dropped the price even more to $7.50/ box and 4 more boxes of another variety of apple 2nds. They also usually have grab bags of fruit (about 2 pounds) that are at the end of their peak that they just want to get rid of for $1. They had a ton of apples prebagged that I was able to get 2 bags for $1 since I got 30 bags. Well over 100 pounds of apples for $67. We are knee deep in apples for a couple of days. 🙂
Update-
Made 48 jars of applesauce. Had to work fast to keep the kids from eating all the apples before they could be made into applesauce. Went back and bought 6 more 20 pound boxes now $6 per box. Going to try Apple butter this time around.
Great job! You’re making the most of it!
I totally agree with you about spending time doing things like this with the kids!! It is activities and memories like these that they will remember best!
I just recently got an apple peeler/slicer/corer and I love it!!!! What did I do before that?!?!?!? Oh yeah, I spent hours and hours doing it! Ha!
My kids love the peel spirals…..they call them “apple ropes”!!!
Thanks for this post. I can’t wait until next month when I will be getting 3 boxes of reds!!! Can’t come soon enough! I have plans for Crockpot Apple Butter to can. Yum!
I use the corer peeler that you spin around but I don’t slice it. Then I load them all into the turkey roaster on low with a little water. As they get soft, I use the potatoe masher and mash it all up and let it cook until desired consistency. We like a little chunkier. I love putting in a slice of candied ginger in bottom of jar, and flip the jars a few times the first few days… Super easy
My family loves this orchard. We have been going there for about 7 yrs. My boys are now 11,13 and 15. When I asked them if they wanted to skip this year, they said “NO”! We live even further than you in Lebanon, OR, and feel it is worth the drive. Haven’t gone yet, but we are planning to go in the next few weeks. Love making applesauce, and dehydrating the apples too!
I don’t have too many specialties, but apple-pear sauce is one of them 🙂 I highly recommend adding some pears-doesn’t take too many-you use way more apples, but then you don’t have to add any water, or sugar. Now I do peel (potato peeler is a big help) & core mine first. I do the pears first-press them down with a potato masher & then there is plenty of liquid to add the apples to.
Also in addition to cinnamon & ginger-cloves are very good for spices-but be careful-you only want to use a little of this spice (also note the taste gets stronger after it sits awhile), or it will be WAY too strong-you use much more cinnamon than cloves-I like to use both.
I live in the Georgia. We have a lot of orchards in our area. We are lucky enough to live close to a cannery that is part of the school system and is operated by the FFA. All you need to bring is your jars and whatever you are canning. You do all the prep work and they handle the processing. We canned over fifty quarts of Apple sauce and apple butter in one afternoon. So much easier to heat up their kitchen and use their equipment. They have machines that peel and core or you can just quarter the apples and run them through a machine that takes out the seeds and peeling. This summer we have made jelly, salsa, soup, green beans, peas and okra.
Wow, that is a amazing! I’ve never heard of anything like that before; thanks for sharing! Oh, and it took me all day to can 21 quarts of applesauce…
Found your recipe on Pintrest this Fall. Made 13 quarts today and it was super easy and good! Loved the fact that it did not have any sugar or anything else in it. Thanks!
No need to add lemon juice to aid in preservation? I have only canned tomatoes so I wasn’t sure and saw that option on some peoples blogs. Thanks!
Hi, Sarah! There is no need to add lemon juice to canned applesauce. The only reason I can think for people adding lemon juice to applesauce is to prevent discoloration.
Grateful to you for the website because this is the first time I am canning applesauce…..always froze it before. I peel,core and place my apples in a 18 qt Nesco with 1 cup of apple cider, white sugar and cook real slow…when apples get mushy then I beat with hand mixer to make the applesauce smooth…..I will place in jars and do in water bath to finish the sauce.
PS. I always buy seconds ..much cheaper
I’ve been canning applesauce for years. This year I purchased seventy pounds of ready-picked apples with blemishes for fifty cents a pound. I removed the blemishes, cut then into quarters (smaller if they are extra large apples) and cooked them in a pressure cooker (five minutes at fifteen pounds). Then I strained them through a Foley Food Mill. Nice thing about doing it this way is you don’t have to peel or pit the apples. As a side note, my mother used a Foley Food Mill, when I was a child, to make baby food for my younger brother. It’s much cheaper than buying baby food in jars. Just make it as you need it – carrots, green beans, squash, peas, spinach, etc. I sterilize the jars in my dishwasher (take them out after they are washed but not dried) and put them in a pressure canner. The canner should have a quart of water in it. Keep a low flame under it with the lid on, but not closed. Sterilize the lids and rings as Emily said, and after the jars are filled with applesauce, can at five pounds for five minutes. I found that you have to reduce the pressure very slowly or the applesauce will ooze out of the jars and break the seal. You can use the extra applesauce to make apple butter. 1 cup of applesauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, one tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp allspice. Put ingredients in a heat proof bowl in a cold oven, and bring temperature up to 300 degrees. As it boils down, add additional applesauce and bake until thick. Makes great gifts for almost any occasion.
How long will an opened jar “keep” in a fridge ?
I keep mine about a week and then dump.
I have never canned before but would love to do it. Is there a good place to get the canning supplies without spending a fortune? I do have an immersion blender (which I love) to make the sauce chunky or smooth but no other supplies.
Check craigslist for used jars and equipment. WinCo, BiMart and Walmart are also good options.
Debbie,
If you decide to look for used jars, be sure the rims have no chips, or they won’t seal. Mayo jars are NOT canning jars! I’ve found that by the time you buy the lids (and rings), you might as well just buy new. A case of new jars comes with new lids and rings. The rings are reusable (unless dented or rusty) but the flat lids are not. Happy canning!
We just went to Parkdale this past week (ah, the weather was so gorgeous!) and my family of six picked 200 lbs of apples at Mt. View Orchards. They are 50cent/lb there when you pick them yourself and the lady who owns the place is super sweet. This was our second year going. Applesauce is cooking in all three of my crockpots right now, I don’t use a food mill and just cook until the apples break down because I like chunky applesauce. Last year I froze it, but this year I’m going to try canning it, I’ve never canned before, but it looks super easy.
I’ve made applesauce and pearsauce the past several years. For those of you who don’t have a food mill you can use one of those cool apple corer (less than $10 at Walmart) that takes out the core and cuts it into 8 slices. After coring it just put it into the pot. Once they are soft I use a food processor to puree them. I like mine a little chunkier but once the apples are soft and pureed you won’t even be able to tell that the peel is still on. I don’t have a food mill so this has always worked well for me. If you want to be able to preserve as much of the apple as possible you could quarter and just cut out the core.
I have this and I love it!!!
http://www.amazon.com/Victorio-VKP250-Model-Strainer-Sauce/dp/B001I7FP54/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1319255501&sr=8-5
You can buy them at Bi-Mart and you can buy different inserts for preparing different kinds of fruits & vegetables. It is seriously the easiest thing ever!!!! All the chewed up cores & stems go out one side (I call it apple poop) and beautiful sauce slides smoothly into the bowl.
It has a berry insert that’s great for making berry puree. My genius dad came up with the idea of milling the blackberries and then freezing the puree in ice trays. Just put the cubes in freezer bags or containes and have awesome seed free puree for smoothies, etc.!!!
I cook my apples in the crock pot – no need to add any liquid. And love my folly food mill!! Makes the job so easy.
is the folly food mill better or the same as the kitchen aid. I have the strainer for the kitchen aid mixer and it works well.
Probably not the time of year to look, because it’s beenprime canning time, but I found a Foley Food Mill at a thrift store for a few dollars several years back. It wasn’t the only one either, there were several others. I often see them, so if you are in the need/want for one that is a place to look for a great deal!
I always add pears to my applesauce-add them first & squish them down (I use a potato masher-also that’s all I use to mash it at the end-saves a step & washing another item & is mashed plenty for me).
This adds plenty of liquid so you don’t need to add water-also adds sweetness, so I never add sugar. I like to mix it with a tart apple, like gravenstein.
Thanks for this post! I grew up in Parkdale and am so happy seeing people support the local farmers!
I have found applesauce is even easier to make by cooking the apples in the oven. I put mine in a large roaster with a lid. It doesn’t take much time and they won’t scorch. Just a side note…I use a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon. Yum! 🙂
That’s a good point. A crockpot would work, too!
My moms group and I always have ‘saucing parties each fall where the kids play, eat lunch and we chop, cook and mill 100s of pounds of apples for hours. It is so fun and delicious! Last year, I had a ton of extra pears and plums and we did pear, apple plum sauce and it was amazing@a
Hey – this is awesome -I actually canned about 30 pounds of apples into sauce not too long ago – I got a folly food mill at McClendens (sorry I’m up north in seattle area -not sure if they are down there) but anywhere you can get one – it was awesome. (it replaces the strainer and morter)
I have jars and jars and its an awesome gift for just about anything – new baby? – house full of sick kids? – new house? – christmas? 🙂
Love it!
I picked 100 lbs of apples 2 weeks ago and need to get going on making applesauce, but I’ve been dragging my feet. This helps motivate me! Thanks!
HAHA…Thanks for the info Melissa! Makes total sense too! DOH! HAHA!
I now realize that Stacey was asking WHY the jars should be stored w/o rings. Only because they can sometimes get rusty & stuck to the point of not coming off. I always put a ring on the jar before I give it as a gift just because it makes the jar look prettier.
I’ve enjoyed your canning posts very much. I took the Master Food Preservers course through the WSU extension some years ago and have been canning ever since. One thing they taught us in class is that a canning jar should never go into the oven because of the risk of breakage. I keep my jars in a sink full of hot water until I fill them with the simmering applesauce.
Also, when the hot jars come out of the canner, it’s a good idea to put them on a dish towel instead of directly on the counter top to reduce the risk of breakage from the temperature difference.
Jars should be stored in a cool dark place with the rings off. There’s nothing like opening up a jar of wonderful fruity goodness in the middle of winter!
Wow! Thanks so much for the step by step picture guide. I have never canned anything in my LIFE, but this looks incredibly easy, and its almost fool-proof because of the pictures. THANKS! Im sure my kids would LOVE the homemade applesauce, and I will love not adding any sugar 🙂 You are a lifesaver! Thanks again!
This is GREAT! I made some 2 wknds ago and was so proud of myself! One question though…why is it recommended that the rings be removed before storing?
Thanks for taking the time to break it all down for us!
Stac
You remove the rings before storing for two reasons:
1. You want to be able to use them for your next canning project instead of owning as many rings as you do jars and
2. IF the food goes bad for whatever reason you want the expanding food and gases to escape by breaking the seal and oozing not by exploding. The pressure in the jar will build to the point of exploding the jar if the ring is left on. That is a terrible mess to clean up!
Have fun!
Joyce