Quick WB canning question and applesauce ingredient question

[big brown horse]

Can I make applesauce (or anything else for WB canning) the night before and reheat the next day to can in a water bath? Any pointers?

Second question, I'm using a combo of my own heirloom apples, I'm not using sugar, and my recipe calls for cinnamon. Do any of you use anything else in the form of spices? Cloves etc.? Or perhaps anything unusual?


Thanks!

 

[freemotion]

I love just cinnamon. I haven't canned applesauce, but I see no problems with re-heating it tomorrow. It will make the job seem more manageable.

Miss ya! Smoochies for Sam and the rest of the family, four-legged, two-legged, furry, feathery, etc!

 

[Wannabefree]

I'd do it the next day. I use cinnamon only in my sauce too and everybody raves about how good it is It's plenty sweet enough without added sugar.

 

[big brown horse]

Ok thank you! I am up to my ears in apples! (I splurged and bought an apple-peeler-slicer from a friend that sells pampered chef stuff...I am so glad I did!)

(Hi free!!)

 

[freemotion]

I love my peeler/slicer thingy. I was fortunate enough to find it on clearance many, many years ago at Marshall's, of all places, for....wait for it.....wait for it.....wait for it......................................................five bucks!

Just learn from my mistakes...only peel firm, fresh apples with it. Once they start getting a bit soft, they become applesauce ON the peeler!

I love the spirals that it makes, too!

 

[Sundancers]

Go for it ...

A many a night I let my apple stew and then canned them ...

 

[ORChick]

I always make my applesauce "pure" - that is, just apples, no sugar, no spices. DH and I have a major difference of opinion about what constitutes "sweet" - I can't eat what he considers perfect, and he puckers up and pulls a face at my preferred sweetness level. So I just make it without any sweetener, and sweeten when serving - none for me, quite a bit for him . Makes the finished sauce more versitile as well; if using it as an ingredient (in baking, for example) you don't need to to mess with the sugar/honey in the rest of the recipe.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I also do plain applesauce. DH prefers it with cinnamon and sugar. This year I froze some strawberries and blueberries so I can make flavored applesauces. I'm going to try to do some tomorrow since we have off for election day.

 

[patandchickens]

No problem whatsoever at-all with making the applesauce the night before. (I wouldn't probably try to can applesauce that had been sitting in the fridge for a week and a half-- but overnight is totally fine). Just make sure you heat it up good first, you don't want to be putting cold applesauce into warm jars into a boiling waterbath (not just for breakage reasons but for incomplete-heating reasons)

I practically never use anything but apples, although when possible I like to use more than one *variety* of apples b/c IMO the applesauce is tastier that way. (they ahve to be varieties with similar cooking characteristics -- a mix of macintosh and spy is not going to work real well, for instance)

I will admit that on a very few occasions, when using really crummy bland apples, I have been known to add some cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. I also add cinnamon when my husband or kids occasionally complains the applesauce is too tart and needs sugar -- I have found that if I put some cinnamon in, they *think* I've added sugar and quit whining LOL (Personally I prefer a tart tangy applesauce)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[murphysranch]

What Pat&Chicks said about reheating it. I waited 4 days before canning mine. And I always add a touch of cinnamon. BTW: I never peel mine. Just pit and coarse chop, simmer for 30 min and then use a potato masher. Yummy!