This past week I spent a few days processing apples. I purchased seconds from the local orchard for $12 a bushel. This is what they looked like:

I used to get drop apples that they couldn’t sell for $4 a bushel but a few years ago I had to come to terms with the fact that my achy body just wasn’t gonna tolerate crawling under those trees any longer. But buying the seconds still saves me money, so seconds it is.

To make the best apple sauce with no sugar you start with Golden Delicious apples. Since I was digging out of the seconds bin, I got a few Romes mixed in. But it still came out just fine.

How to make apple sauce

First, you wash, core, and slice the apples and put them in a thick-bottomed stock pot with a little water. Steam until soft.

That’s hubby helping me. Ain’t he grand?

Next, spoon the softened apples into a Squeez-o strainer. With this contraption, the sauce comes through the sieve and the peels come out the end. Of course the goat and the chickens get all the yummies that we discard.

How to can apple sauce

I’ve struggled with keeping my apple sauce from spoiling. I would get so frustrated to have the lids pop loose, or open a jar to find mold. One year, I froze it in zip-shut bags. However, I filled the bags too full and a few days later opened the freezer to find a huge mess.

Then I met Margaret, age 70+. Margaret told me that her mother always put a spoon of water on the top of her sauce before applying the lid. She said that it kept any of the sauce from bubbling up and getting in the seal. So I decided to try again. And it worked! So here are the steps to canning your apple sauce.

Keep your sauce HOT. I put mine in my Nesco 18-quart roaster on top the counter.

Heat your jars. I put mine in the oven on 180 degrees. Boil your lids to soften the seals and keep them hot too. Everything in canning apple sauce must be HOT.

Fill the jars to about 1/2 inch head space and after wiping the rim, put a ladle of hot water on the top. Seal and put in your hot water bath canner.

Process for 15 minutes.

Easy peasy.

Do you have another method for making apple sauce or canning apple sauce that works for you? I’d love it if you shared with us.

Blessings,

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This post is linked up to  Titus2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things, Simple Lives Thursday, Farm Girl Friday, Big Family Link-Up, Homestead Barn Hop, Better Mom Mondays, Natural Living Link-Up, and Homemaking Link-Up.