primitives making apple butter

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x71642

Oh my.

The primitives, bustling in their kitchens.

supernova  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-29-09 09:03 PM
Original message
 
Anyone ever made your own apple butter?
 
Making my own apple butter tonight.

Last week, I got a bag of apples at the store (yeah I know, coulda gone to the mountains and gotten some fresh ones.. ) They weren't the freshest, on the mealy side. So I decided to make apple butter with them. I had everything here to do that.

This was a new experience since I've never tried to make apple butter before.

All the recipes I read said to do the first cooking in apple juice (or cider). Can we talk about the word "cider?" I thought "cider" specifically meant fermented apple juice. Have I been wrong all these years? lol

I didn't have any juice, so I went to the store and got a 1/2 gallon of the cheapest stuff that I could find at Whole Paycheck.

There seems to be some discussion in recipes about cooking the apples with the skins and cores, that you strain them out later. I decided to rough chop the apples without the cores and leave the skins, figuring I could strain them out later. I got some of the cores anyway because it really was a rough chop. 

So, I did that cooking, let the pot cool down and strained them through a sieve for a smoother texture and to remove the skins.

At this point, it really is good applesauce. I added sugar, cinnamon and cloves and will be cooking that down to butter consistency.

I'm trying to decide if I want to add another twist, like ginger. I'll see how this turns out.

Have you ever made your own apple butter or other fruit butter? How did you do it?

Grandma:

hippywife  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-29-09 09:23 PM
Response to Original message

1. I make apple butter often.

I cut up the apples, with the peels on, and put them in my crockpot. I squeeze fresh oranges over them and then lay the orange peels on top while they are cooking down. Then I remove the peels and mash the apples, add the brown sugar and spices and let them keep cooking down.

I don't have measurements because I just eyeball it. Doing it in the crockpot is easy and it lets you do other things without being chained to the stove.

Hope yours is really delicious! It sure is nice to have it around for toast, PBJs, and I also use it in some of my baking for flavor and moisture.

supernova  (1000+ posts)        Sun Nov-29-09 11:21 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
2. Apples and oranges, eh?
 
I really must get a crockpot.

hippywife  (1000+ posts)        Mon Nov-30-09 10:46 AM
Response to Reply #2
 
3. I really love the slight orange flavor with the spices that are used, it seems a natural. How is yours doing?

supernova  (1000+ posts)        Mon Nov-30-09 11:11 AM
Response to Reply #3
 
4. I'm about 1/2 thru the cooking, I think. I had it on med-low last night so I wouldn't scorch it. I got all the way through the original Star Wars movie and it still looks like just thick apple sauce. Tastes great though. I haven't put any citrus in it yet, so I could use some orange.

I'll cook it down some more today and see if I can concentrate it a little more and make it more like a paste consistency. It is a nice way to smell up the kitchen.

hippywife  (1000+ posts)        Mon Nov-30-09 12:17 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
7. See, I always stop at the point you're at.

And I don't run it thru a seive. I leave the cooked down peels in. I like it slightly chunky and it still works and tastes great even tho it isn't smoove as butta.

ginnyinWI  (1000+ posts)        Mon Nov-30-09 11:20 AM
Response to Original message
 
5. Easy recipe--and no apple juice required:

This is done in a crock-pot, so it isn't going to scorch either:

Apple Butter in the Crock-Pot

quartered, cored apples to fill a crock-pot--about 18 cups
4 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt

Cover and cook on high for one hour, then on low for 9-11 hours or overnight. Longer doesn't hurt. Stir once in a while.

Cool and process through a food mill to remove peels. (alternatively you can peel the apples ahead and skip this step.)

Makes about 7-8 cups apple butter.

supernova  (1000+ posts)        Mon Nov-30-09 03:03 PM
Response to Reply #5

8. Another vote for the crock pot

I like that you're not addng extra juice.

surrealAmerican  (1000+ posts)      Mon Nov-30-09 11:47 AM
Response to Original message
 
6. I usually start with frozen concentrated apple juice ...

... instead of "boiling down" cider. I also usually don't add sugar. The juice concentrate and the apples themselves are sweet enough for me. Ginger is good in there.

You've got the idea though: just keep it cooking until it's as thick as you want it, no matter how long that takes. A large batch can take days.

supernova  (1000+ posts)        Mon Nov-30-09 03:05 PM
Response to Original message
 
10. This afternoon I put the pot back on the stove at low, just barely bubbling now.

And I added:

1 Tblsp powdered ginger
1 zest of navel orange on the suggestion from hippywife. Thanks.

I may not ever want to see this pot get eaten up!

Doug's stupid ex-wife:

EFerrari  (1000+ posts)        Mon Nov-30-09 05:34 PM
NOMINEE FOR TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Reply #10
 
11. What kind of apples did you use, supernova?

I've never done this either.

supernova  (1000+ posts)        Mon Nov-30-09 06:04 PM
Response to Reply #11
 
12. It was a bag of Rome apples that were past their prime. Just the regular 5-lb bag you see in the produce section.

kestrel91316  (1000+ posts)        Tue Dec-01-09 12:52 PM
Response to Original message
 
14. I do apple butter and pumpkin butter in my crockpot, and use my handcranked Foley food mill to get the skins and seeds and coarse bits out. It goes back into the crockpot for the final cookdown, too. Easy peasy.

The defrocked warped primitive:

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Tue Dec-01-09 06:34 PM
NOMINEE FOR TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Original message
 
15. Cider refers to apple juice that hasn't been strained and that is a natural cloudy brown.

Hard cider is fermented cider. Applejack is hard cider that has been frozen and everything but the water ice poured off.

The diet cola primitive:

Tab  (1000+ posts)        Tue Dec-01-09 10:22 PM
NOMINEE FOR TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Original message

16. Not apple butter, but butter in general
 
I guess you could let it soften and mash in some applesauce or something.

To actually make your butter, get a small jar (like a used and clean jam jar), put in some cream, shake it for about 15 minutes (good workout) until it stiffens. Of course you can mix in some flavoring. It's surprisingly easy. Of course, uneducated farm people have been making their own butter for centuries so it shouldn't be rocket science, we just think it so.

Arkansas Granny  (1000+ posts)      Wed Dec-02-09 10:34 AM
Response to Original message
 
17. I've made apple butter, plum butter and pear butter.

I always cooked the fruit with seeds, skins and all and then put it through a food mill. It worked really well and made a very smooth puree which cooked up beautifully. The plum butter was my favorite.

csziggy  (1000+ posts)      Wed Dec-02-09 11:47 PM
Response to Original message
 
18. Made a few gallons way back when our trees had a good crop.

I used the damaged apples, peels and cores that I did not cut into slices and use for pies (I also made about a dozen apples pies, which I froze). No added juice, just a little water at the beginning to get the simmering process started. Once everything was cooked down nicely, I ran the mess through a food mill, added spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg) and a little sugar to offset the tartness. No measured amounts - just added until it tasted the way I wanted.

Cooked it until it seemed right, then canned it all. Half the pantry was full of apple butter. Mr. csziggy finished the last jar this year - I canned the stuff in 1993 and it was still good!

Apple butter was a great present - we still get requests for it but our trees are old and no longer bearing. They were never reliable, here in North Florida there are a lot of years that we don't get enough cold hours for the trees to set fruit. Maybe I will buy a bag or two of apples and make some more some year.

[GOBUCKS]

When I was a kid, there was a women's club (yes, there used to be such things) in our town that made apple butter every fall to sell as a fund raiser. They had this huge black witch's cauldron that they heated over a wood fire. Being a kid, I never knew how they made it, but a group of women would work on it all day, taking turns stirring with a big wooden paddle. The final product was very good. As I recall the process they used, it was way more work than these DUmmy nitwits could ever handle.

[kenth]

it still looks like just thick apple sauce. Tastes great though. I haven't put any citrus in it yet, so I could use some orange.

I'll cook it down some more today and see if I can concentrate it a little more and make it more like a paste consistency. It is a nice way to smell up the kitchen.

I wonder, does she know what apple butter is? It's not actually thick like butter, and sounds like she has it at the right consistency now.

I think frank is right, grandma is tolerable. It may be the skinflint that drives her to look for companionship on DU.