Canned Apple Pie Filling
My husband and I have had a cooler full of apples sitting in our living room for over a week, and I finally decided to do something about it. (My aunt was blessed with an overabundant amount of apples this year, so one Saturday when I was tutoring algebra, my husband and father went and picked some). I'm afraid that I do not know what kind they are; they are small and green.I had helped my mother-in-law can this summer a couple of different times, and had heard the process explained a couple more, so I decided that I would break out my canner and give it a try. I didn't have to use my lid, thank goodness. Baby steps are nice.
I found on Pinterest a post from Adventures in the Anderl House where some folks canned some apple pie filling, and I thought it would be a perfect place to start! The post has awesome instructions, and was extremely helpful since I was flying solo.
Preparing
Fist things first, I had to wash my canner...in the bath tub, and I got black, grimy stuff all over my arms and hands! Not fun for someone who does not really like to get dirty. One of my co-workers this summer thought that was absurd since I'm from the South. Do I have to like getting dirty? Clean is nice... perhaps I did not fit his stereotype. |
| My Materials: 23 Qt. Canner with canning rack Quart-sized mason jars (x7) Cooler full of apples Jar lifter Lid Lifter Canning funnel LOTS of water Sugar Salt Cornstarch Cinnamon Nutmeg Vinegar (for cleaning) |
Next up, I got to work on peeling and cutting the apples, and at this point my husband was still home, so he helped, thank goodness. One thing about me: ever since I was a small child, I have pretty much avoided knives like the plague, so I am very inexperienced with knives, and my hands are extremely awkward with them. Having an apple peeler helped, though...still a good chance at severing my skin off of my fingers, but the peeler helped. All in all, cutting up the apples (at first) was a very grueling experience. After maybe an hour or so, we had enough apples for almost two jars. (Remember: tiny apples) That was it. I had seven jars all hot and ready to go....quart sized jars! So, instead of crying about it, when my husband left for school, I left for...Walmart!
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| My friends the sectioner and the peeler! |
Thus, two of my three best friends of the day. (The third being my loving husband). I went and bought a Farberware (I seem to like Farberware) Apple Sectioner for just under $6.00, and between it and my peeler, things went exponentially faster. On Tuesdays, my husband has one class, and by the time he got back, the jars were almost filled.
So next came the pie filling concoction. I used a recipe that I found on Pinterest (where else?) coming from Adventures in the Anderl House.
So I mixed up the ooey gooey goodness in a pot and brought it to a boil. Now for the loveliness of my jar lifter and funnel! Canning is so much easier with these beauties (plus a lid lifter, but I wasn't using it at the moment)! I would bring one jar over beside the stove, ladle three scoops into the jar of apples through the funnel, take the funnel out and put it in the next jar, then took the hot jar back across the kitchen with the jar lifter so it can get ready to get its lid.
Filling
Before putting on the lids, I used a small spatula to work air bubbles out. I do believe a plastic knife would have worked better, but such is life. After poking around in each jar for what seemed like forever, I cleaned the jar rims with some vinegar (a trick my mother-in-law taught me) and used my awesome little magnetic lid lifter to put the lids on. I tightened the rings really well, then took them over, one at a time, and sat them in my canner (still with the water in it from earlier), being careful not to touch the jars to the side of the canner or to each other.Boiling Water Canning
Next problem: basic science. The density of the jars displaced the water that was equal to the amount of covering the jars by an inch plus enough to fill the insides of seven, quart-sized jars. The result: the canner overflowed with water. After a sigh and a quick laugh, I grabbed a clean ladle, and started scooping out water. It took about eighty or so scoops, but then the water was about an inch or two over the jars, and I cranked up the heat.No lie, getting the water to boil took forever, and honestly I wasn't watching the clock. My husband and I made separate runs to McDonalds redeeming some BOGO coupons, so between two burgers and two smoothies, one of us got a free meal. Thus, we didn't leave the big boiling bucket alone. When it got to where it boiled, I set a timer for twenty minutes. (Yay! The end was in sight!)
The jars came out one at a time and found themselves sitting on a towel. Here was the real waiting game: waiting on the jars to seal. That's all I wanted. It took a little while, but over the course of the night, I heard seven wonderful little POP noises, and when you're canning, that's music to your ears. Wednesday morning, I went and checked each jar's seal by pressing down in the middle of the lid. Presto! I heard right. I foresee some pies soon! (...I know the goo mixture is delicious because I got the stickiness on my hands. Who can resist licking it off?)
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| Finished jars waiting to seal. Pop! |
So, after this lovely experience, I went right back to the daily grind of reading English Literature and doing homework. Ah, the life of a college student. It's fabulous, right?
If you have not canned before, this is probably a good place to start, unless you want to do applesauce or something.
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