Apple Butter

[unclejoe]

I'm having my first go at making apple butter. The recipe calls for cinnamon, allspice, clove, and nutmeg. Even with this horrible cold I have, the clove is overwhelming. A lot of you folks have waaaaay more experience at this kind of thing than I do. Does anyone know if there is a way to subdue the clove other than doubling or tripling the batch? Thanks.
Joe

 

[coopy]

Can you post your recipe and then maybe some of us can help. You can reduce the amount of cloves.

 

[coopy]

This is the recipe I use. Really good everytime. And no fuss.



Crockpot Apple Butter


12 medium Granny Smith or other cooking apples, peeled and cut into fourths
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apple juice
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves



Mix all ingredients in 5-6 qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until apples are very tender. Mash apples with potato masher or large fork. Cook uncovered on low hear setting 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is very thick. Cool about 2 hours. Spoon apple butter into container. Cover and store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks. Makes 4 cups apple butter

 

[2dream]

This is a recipe off of BYC that I used - It was really good - your recipe looks like it has a lot more spice.

I copied and pasted this from Scrambled Eggs recipe Post.
Super Easy Crock Pot Apple Butter

5 pounds of apples (I usually use two bags of those small reddish apples)
3 cups of granulated sugar
2 tablespoons of apple pie spice (it comes in a small container in the spice section of foodlion)
2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Peel the apples and chop them up pretty small. Toss them all into the crock pot and put it on high. Pour sugar and spices in on top of apples and stir to mix. You won't have to do anything else for hours except enjoy the great smell! About 4 - 5 hours later the apples should be soft (now is a good time to get a bowl of vanilla ice cream and try them as a hot topping --yum!!!). Take a whisk and stir the apple and sugar mixture and break up some of the remaining chunks with the whisk.

My note: ScrambleEgg freezes hers, I gave mine a hot water bath

 

[hoosier girl]

This is the recipe I use. Really good everytime. And no fuss.



Crockpot Apple Butter


12 medium Granny Smith or other cooking apples, peeled and cut into fourths
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apple juice
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves



Mix all ingredients in 5-6 qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until apples are very tender. Mash apples with potato masher or large fork. Cook uncovered on low hear setting 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is very thick. Cool about 2 hours. Spoon apple butter into container. Cover and store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks. Makes 4 cups apple butter

Coopy,
Thanks for posting this recipe! I lost the crock pot applebutter recipe I had and this sounds very much like the one I used.

 

[unclejoe]

Thanks everyone. The recipe I have starts with 3 qts of applesauce. I have no idea how many lbs of apples that was. Winesap apples by the way. I added nothng to it except a splash of lemon juice.
Form this point:
3 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp clove
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Slow cook till thick

Yield - 4-5 pints

For this batch I'm going to cook down another pot of apples and combine it with the first, add more cinn. allspice and nutmeg and see if I can salvage it. I'll try one of yours when I start the next round. It appears your recipes call for half as much clove. That should make a big difference.
Thanks again one and all. Joe

 

[Bethanial]

I am brand-spanking new to canning. I've made Apple Butter once and Tomato Sauce once, both recipes from Ball's FreshPreserving.com site. I am officially hooked!

I want to make more apple butter (I'm thinking Christmas gifts), and the grocery store was nice and cooperative and had them on sale today, so I picked up18 lbs for the price of 9. (I'm working on self-sufficiency, got a lo-oooooo-ong way to go, but I'm starting!) Anywho, my question is this: Can I skip the peeling? Just quarter and core and cook down, and strain to remove the peels? Or do I have to peel 'em before I cook 'em?

Thanks!

 

[patandchickens]

You certainly don't have to peel them, although if you don't then you'll want to have a food mill and a certain amount of time available (just 'straining' ain't gonna remove the peels and seeds, you need a food mill or similar)

However, remember that if you do that, whatever contaminants are on the peels will end up in the applebutter that way, and in concentrated form to boot.

Personally I would not do it with typical storeboughten non-organic apples (especially if they are from Chile or such). (And I am not generally especially paranoid about such things). For borderline cases, you can remove the bulk of any pesticide-residue contamination by removing the area right around the stem and flower ends of the apple; I do that sometimes for applesauce, just use a paring knife to slice out a shallow cone of peel from around each "pole" of the apple, then quarter the apple and chuck it into the pot with core and most of the peel still on. Then run thru the Foley food mill once things are all mush.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Bethanial]

Thanks - I was planning on coring to get the seeds out (that part doesn't take too long), but I wasn't thinking about the non-organic ickiness and wax (even though I would wash them 1st) that would be present. Although the Golden Delicious are from Michigan, and the Red Delicious are from Washington, so score 1 for the US of A there! Guess I'll just be doing a lot of peeling....

 

[Beekissed]

Beth, I've done that before and you can strain out the peelings and seeds by using the old strainers that are on a stand and have a pestle. I do this with my apple sauce anyway to make it very fine textured. At least....I used to. Now we use Mom's Vitamix to puree the apples before we even can them.

Some of the best nutrition in the apple is in the peeling but I wouldn't use store bought apples for that either.

I wish you lived nearby....I have apples coming out my ears and going to waste. No one around here wants any.....go figure! And these are GOOD apples.....big, sweet and juicy!