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Apple season is usually September-October for us, and it can get very overwhelming. I usually end up doing a huge harvest because the bugs are starting to really eat my crop and I want as much as I can get for my family. This usually leads to my counters being piled with apples. I have heard that they store really well but I don’t have a place in my house yet to be able to try and store them. I have to process them in other ways which means a lot of time and work. With 6 little kids running around, this gets exhausting really fast. So I have come up with a system that works well for me.
What do I want in my pantry??
First off, I ask myself what I want to do with my apples. I make Brandy cinnamon apples preserves, apple butter, canned sliced apples, apple juice, and if I feel ambitious, I will also shred some to freeze for muffins later. Now I am make a plan.
I split up my days. I do not try to preserve everything in one day. Apples store well enough on the counter to take multiple days to even a week or two to get it all done. I start with the preserves and apple butter. These are in the same category for preserving, they are both water-bath canned, so I do them both in the same day or in consecutive days if I run out of time. This allows me to only have to get some utensils out. After my water-bath canning is done, I cleanup and put the canner away. This little cleanup helps prep for the next step of preserving and helps keep my kitchen from becoming an even bigger disaster.
Next I do the sliced apples which I prefer to pressure can. I use these for pies, apple crisps, and I can mash them up for unsweetened applesauce or spice them up for cinnamon applesauce. These are super versatile. Once the pressure canning is done, I make sure to cleanup again and put it all away.
During both water-bath and pressure canning, there is usually some down time while you wait for the canners to come up to temperature. It is a great use of time, to shred and start juicing during the processing. It cuts down on overall time it takes to process your apples.
A note on juicing, I use a centrifugal juicer which makes it very easy to quickly take a few minutes to turn it on and throw some quartered apples into it, but not all juicing methods are the same. There are other methods of juicing such as cold-pressing, blending and straining, steam juicing, and boiling, mashing and straining the fruit. Most of these are a bit more work and time to do and may not fit into the crevices of time left by the canners. Find what will work for your and put it into your plans.
I prefer doing it this way as I am able to reduce the amount of clutter which is always best for a smooth and efficient preserving. It can easily take me a week to get it all done, and sometimes, I take break days where I do not preserve anything. That is OK! Better to take a day of rest than become burned out in the middle of the process and waste all your hard work and produce.
There are many other ways of preserving apples. You can make applesauce and can or freeze it, you can freeze apple slices, dehydrate apples, freeze dry them, and make pie filling. The best way to process anything, in my opinion, is to do it with someone else. My amazing sister-in-law comes over and helps me start which is enough to kick start me into doing the rest iif we didn’t end up getting it all done. If you have a TON of apples or a lot of good friends and family, invite them out! Make supper and pie for them, make a day of preserving, and send them home with a few goodies at the end of it! I find, it is always better to not do it alone.