Canned Applesauce

I love making applesauce. I grew up canning applesauce with my parents, around 100 quarts per year! I love making it for my family now, and my kids love to help.

This is how I make my applesauce, but you can vary the amounts of sugar and flavoring if you want. I don't add extra flavoring (like kool-aid or red hots) as I try to keep my applesauce as natural as possible and no food dyes. I have made applesauce with golden delicious, gala, rome, jonathon, jonagold, and honeycrisp. All are delicious! For apples that are more tart like jonathons you can add less sugar.

I use a Back to Basics strainer and I love it! There is no need to peel, core or take the seeds out. Saves so much time.

1. Put apples in sink and wash well.

2. Cut apples into quarters, only cutting out the blossom at the bottom. I put the quartered apples into large bowls.

3. Dump the apples into large pots to cook until soft. Make sure you add them heaping to the pots...they cook down quite far. Add water to the apples, but don't add too much or your applesauce will be watery. I cook my apples in my pressure cooker and I add 1 qt to this large pot. It helps make the apples soft and cook down without burning. To the smaller pot I add 1 cup water.

4. Cook on medium and keep stirring until apples are really soft and squishy. This usually takes me about 45 minutes or so.

5. Squish through your strainer. Tip my dad taught me: Put the skins through twice, and it will give you more sauce! It really does and makes the apples go farther.

6. After I have a large bowl full of sauce, I add the correct amount of sugar and cinnamon that we like. I measure my sauce into the large bowl as I go so I know exactly how many quarts I have in my mixing bowl.

For each quart of sauce, I add 2 Tbl. sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. I usually make sauce with galas and this is the perfect amount of spices for our family. I have it written down with figured measurements so I can mix quickly. So for 8 quarts of sauce, add 1 c. sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon.

7. Fill jars, put on hot lids and rings, and process for 25 minutes. (Check your elevation for processing time. This is my elevation time).

ENJOY YOUR APPLESAUCE!