Preserving Apples

If you have an apple orchard, you may be wondering what to do with all of those apples! One way to enjoy the harvest from the apple trees is to learn how to preserve them properly so you can enjoy them year round. It is very easy to learn how to preserve your own apples, so anyone can do it regardless of their cooking experience.

The most important thing is to start with the right type of apples. Ideally apples should be as fresh as possible. There are a number of different varieties of which types of apples to use, and it is usually a matter of personal preference. Plan to use at least 4-5 bushels of apples each time you can. It is also important to wash the apples thouroughly before you get started.  You will then want to next remove the skins from the fruit. An easy way to do this is to use an apple peeler corer which helps remove the skins and the cores.

After your apples are prepared, you will simply need a recipe to follow. You can make applesauce, apple pie filling, or can them whole if you wish. You could also make apple jelly or jam as well. Canning applesauce doesn’t take much work at all with a little preparation. You can follow your favorite recipe usually pretty easily. All you will need to do is fill up your jars and then process them according to the correct time for your altitude. Depending on your altitude, this is usually around 10 minutes or so.

There are a number of rewards when it comes to preserving your own foods. When you can control the ingredients you can be assured that it will taste the best. It is also quite cost effective as well. Best of all, it can also be a lot of fun!