Apple Butters and Sauces

Tis the season to be apple picking. If you're like me you are completely content with the idea of a cold winter and embrace the days of autumn. I like to spend my time visiting my favorite farms and orchards for the last few harvests of the year. With apples being the most common staple it is easy to get into a rut, making apple pie after apple pie after apple pie after... well you get it. And let's face it, apple pie really requires a lot of steps, time and creates a bit of a mess. The easiest and one of my favorites is Apple Butter but I shouldn't get ahead of myself because in order to make apple butter you first need to make apple sauce. I like to start making my Apple Sauce while I am carving heads to be shrunken in the dehydrator. I do this because I do not like to waste! At all!!!! And you shouldn't either. So I put all my usable scraps into a bowl and after a few heads I'll dump those scraps into a crock pot set on high. I like to start the crock pot with 4-5 peeled and sliced apples, the juice from one lemon and about 3-4 tablespoons of sugar. This will keep the smaller scraps from burning and the sugar will help draw out juice from the apples. I then continue until my crock pot is completely full and cook on high until the apples just start to break up and reduce. Keep an eye on the moisture content in the bottom of the crock. You should add water a cup at a time if there is not a lot of juice present. I like to keep liquid 1/3 of the way up the apples. Stir continuously throughout the cooking process (about ever hour or so,) turning the bottom pieces up so everything cooks evenly. Once the apples start breaking up, reduce your heat to low and continue to cook gently to your favorite consistency. I sometime prefer it chunky, light in color with soft pieces of apple suspended within and other times prefer it darker and smooth which requires a longer cooking time (usually I will leave it overnight on low.) I like my apple sauces light and mostly just flavored by the apples. I will sometimes throw in a pinch of ginger or cinnamon but nothing too spicy. On the other hand I LOVE my apple butters rich and spicy in flavor. I often go very heavy handed with cinnamon, clove and ginger with a hint of nutmeg. After the Apple Sauce is made the steps to continue to make Apple Butter are SO EASY! You just cook it longer and uncovered! See, couldn't be simpler. I would start adding spices once the apple sauce has reduced by half (it should be dark amber in color and just starting to thicken.) If you add spices too early the heat will damage their essential oils, breaking down and losing the flavor. Adding it too late will not give them enough time to mingle with apples and fully develop the flavors. Add a little at a time and tasting a few minutes later. Adjust to how you like it but remember too much of anything can destroy your finished product. The finished Apple Butter should be thick and paste like. I couldn't tell you how many times I have had Apple Butter that was basically dark apple sauce. Each should have a completely different texture from the other. Apple Butter should look more like Tomato Paste than Tomato Sauce. Make sense? After each is cooled, you can store in Ball Jar and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, you can preserve them in the Ball Jars following basic canning times, temperatures and pressures or you can bag it and free it for up to 2 years. If freezing remember to leave the bag open and do not fill completely. If not you risk the bag bursting when the sauce or butter expands during the freezing process. Remember to chill anything before freezing as it will reduce any damages that can occur when freezing. Each recipe can be altered by adding molasses or some of your other favorite spices. Also a variety of fruits can be added like cranberries, pears or pumpkin. Pair things that you like and you can't go wrong. So go forth. Pick apples. Make sauce and butter. And be happy!