I just got half a paper grocery bag full of Gravenstein apples, free. I’m thinking to myself, “Must make some applesauce.” (I’m also thinking “must make pie” but I’ve never done that before. I’m on firmer ground with applesauce.)
How do I go about putting up applesauce in jars so it’ll stay nice and preserved for later this winter?
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/applesauce.html
Home canned applesauce is good. If the local crop doesn’t fail again this fall, I’ll be making up a batch.
*That recipe’s just an example. I cook mine on the stove, rather than in a crock pot. You just have to watch the heat, and keep stirring.
Wow, really? IMHO it’s harder to make apple sauce, so you should be okay with pie making. Especially if you cheat and buy a pie crust instead of making one; rolling out a crust is the hardest part of making a pie from scratch.
You can freeze applesauce. My mom made a bunch and put it in saved margarine/sour cream/plastic containers and froze big batches. Let it thaw in the fridge or on the counter when you are ready to use some or if you like it warm just microwave it!
Believe me it works, my Grandparents had an apple orchard so we had lots of apple products growing up!
Perhaps helpful tip: put in a large area pan in a slow oven, maybe 180-200F. It will never burn, but should be stirred to prevent leather formation.
I don't use sugar- the butter averages 12 apples/pint.
The easy way to do it is to put the boiling hot applesauce in screw-top jars you sterilized in the hot program in your dishwasher. You saved a bunch of jars beforehand, of course.
If you like, you can add sweetness and texture by adding some jelly-sugar; sugar with added cirtic acid and pectin.
Hot applesauce, freshly made, tastes like heaven if poured over cold vanilla ice cream.
Oh, yes, I’ve done that: over homemade vanilla ice cream, even.
It may be the easy way, but it’s not safe unless you plan to refrigerate the applesauce. A home dishwasher will not get hot enough to effectively sterilize anything. If you want the applesauce to be shelf stable, use a boiling water bath or pressure canner. Get a copy of Putting Food By if you plan to do much canning.
USDA reccomended method ishere.
Never tried canning, it makes me nervous. Apple pie is actually super easy. The only part I hate is peeling and slicing the apples, takes too long.
Canning is simple, albeit time-consuming. Follow the excellent instructions from the USDA and you can’t go wrong.
One bit of advice: don’t use jars you’ve saved, unless they are specifically meant for canning. It is not worth the time and effort to prepare food for canning only to have your jars crack and/or break in the canner. Do not attempt to reuse lids, either. Buy new lids. You can reuse the rings, of course. Once the jars are safely sealed and cold, after 48 hours or so, carefully remove the rings, wipe the jars gently with a warm damp cloth, particularly around the threaded top, and put them away. Leaving the rings on can cause corrosion, and the seal can be broken as a result.
Why do you wait so long? I’ve always just waited for the pop. Am I risking breaking the seal?
I’ve been going nuts this year on putting up fruits + veggies. So far this year I’ve canned blackberry preserves, 2 batches of chokecherry jelly, dill pickles, sweet pickle spears, and bread and butter pickles. I’ve also frozen green beans, blackberries, and blueberries. I’m freezing beets and carrots and canning some sweet pickle relish and more blackberry preserves tonight.
This is my method too, it’s the best. When you thaw it out, it tastes as though you just made it. I find the canned variety always overcooked, and I like to keep a bit of bite to my sauce.
I just wanted you to know that I haven’t been able to read the content of this thread all day. I fully thought the title was “How can I do applesauce?” and I’m picturing the American pie scene with a jar instead of a pie - truely disturbing. 
Well, now I don’t feel so bad for parsing this as a strange LOL-cats applesauce-craving thread.
*How do I can has applesauces now, plz? *
Yes, you do risk breaking the seal if there is any warmth left in the glass or metal. I know, from sad experience. :smack:
What good are my sufferings if I can’t help those young ones who come after me . . . . ? 
Btw, have you ever made pickled beets? They are easy and yummy.
Never had that happen … so far…I’ll be more careful in th future.
Never pickled the beets - the Aussie concept of pickled beets on burgers (shudder!!!), and my grandmother’s pickeled beets have deterred me so far. My Mom told me my frozen beets would come out slimy, but we’ll see. I’m not losing anything, even if they’re nasty, as she put the effort into growing them.
I’ve never done frozen beets, just the pickled ones. They are good, but if you don’t fancy pickled beets, then you don’t fancy them.
Frozen beets should still make good Borscht, though.
And lo, Fish looked unto the kitchen, and There Was Applesauce.
And there was great rejoicing in the kitchen, except in the
Heart of the blackest apple, where there were little bugs,
And they did get thrown away.
And there were 5 pints of applesauce,
Approximately,
Except for the little bit left over which was mysteriously eaten,
And it was good.
And lo, there still lay in the kitchen some twenty apples,
Or more like only 17 apples, all Gravenstein,
And Fish said,
Tomorrow let there be pie.