Chunky Apple Sauce

I have a load of Bramley apples which need turning into Chunky Apple Sauce ready for the Pantry shelf.  I intend to use this as a sauce but also for pies and pastries.  You get the chunkier sauce by using a combination of Bramley apples (which naturally go into a puree with firmer eating apples.  This batch is just going to be plain and it does not have much sugar in - if it is not enough when I come to use it, I can always add a little more sugar when I come to use the Apple sauce.  Now with Bramleys as with so many other ingredients when you use sugar, use a minimum amount as if you over-sugar the sauce, you loose to some extent that beautifully apple flavour from the Bramleys.

However my next batch will have Golden Sultanas in it specifically for use in Strudels.  Both types of Apple sauce can be used to make Apple Turnovers as well, with a touch of cream to serve with, small Apple pies (in Muffin tins or Patty tins), large apple pies etc.  The Apple puree is also very nice warmed up and a couple of scoops of Vanilla or Cinnamon ice cream added to the bowl with the hot apple.  Makes a nice variation.

The apple peelings will go into making Compost Jelly.  There will therefore be very little waste.

I will in due course buy in another batch of Bramley apples to add to my little stash.  Apple sauce is relatively easy to make but very useful. This year I ran out and forgot!  Apple sauce is something that I make every year and I only realised I was out of sauce a few weeks ago when I needed it to go with a rolled home-stuffed Belly pork joint and we ended up having to go without.

What do I need to do to make Apple sauce for my Pantry shelf?

Salt and Water for the Salt brine solution

Apples:

Cooking Apples such as Bramley and a good firm Eating Apple.

Water

2-3 Tablespoons of Lemon juice 

A little sugar

• Sterilise your jars by your normal sterilising method.  They can be heated in the oven or in a big pot of water on the cooker. I tend to use the oven method as it dries the jars and I can keep them warm on a low temperature ready for potting a hot preserve into a hot jar. If you add hot ingredients to a cold jar or visa versa you can cause thermic shock to the jar, and it could potentially shatter.  I sterilise jar lids by putting them in a small saucepan, covering with water and then bringing to the boil.
• Gather your ingredients together.
• Prepare a bowl of water to which I add salt - not too much but to stop the apples discolouring whilst you prepare the rest of the apples.
• Wash your apples, peel and core into quarters and then add the quarters of each apple to the salt solution until all the apples are prepped up.
• Then take out the quartered apples and cut into slices or chunks. Once all prepared rinse the salt solution off the apple in a colander. Once rinsed;
• Then add the apple straight to  your chosen pan (I only had my Dutch Oven today - I usually use a large pan).  Then add enough water to stop the apples catching - you do not need much.  Adding too much water can result in a thin sauce, which is not the object of making the sauce as you will need this reasonably thick so better to only put a little in.  Then add the Lemon juice to stop the apple from oxidising and going brown, which in turn will spoil the appearance of the preserve.  I use my hands to turn the apples in the cooking pan with the Lemon and water and in order that they get a good covering.

• Add in a little sprinkling of sugar and stir in until dissolved - I am not making this sweet as G is a Diabetic.  Remember you can add more sugar in later on when you are making your pudding etc. if it is required but you cannot take it out once it is in.  There is no amount for the sugar as I taste as I go along, only adding a little at a time.

• Bring to the boil - the Bramley apples will soon break down and then cook for about 15 to 20 minutes until the majority of the apples have broken down and gone pulpy.

• I let my sauce cool down to see how thick it was and it was reasonably thick.  

• For bottling I then warmed the sauce up and using a jug decanted the hot apple sauce into the previously sterilised and warmed jars. I do have a Ladle which is shown in the pictures which is excellent to use with my jam funnel, however could not find the funnel.  It is always the way.  I do find I have more control with the jug method of filling the jars.
• Into a large deep stock pot place some tea towels into the bottom of the pan. There is a rule if you are processing from a cold preserve then the water should be cold and if you are hot filling jars, there should be hot water in the pan.  This is to try and prevent thermal shock which can result in the jars breaking. As I hot filled I filled my pan with warm water, and put the sterilised lids on the jars.  I then added the jars into the pan. Bring to the boil, and from the point of boil, you start timing.  I processed for about 25 minutes.  Then allowed to cool in the processing pot for about 10 minutes with the heat off.  Then lifted the jars onto a soft towel and will leave overnight for the seals to ping/click.  I will check them in the morning to make sure that they have sealed.  If not then I will re-process in the water bath.  I am suspicious of one jar, and will check that carefully tomorrow.

• The next day, check the seals, if they are okay wipe the jars down, dry and then label with name of preserve, date and year it was made and a use by date.  It helps in the Pantry organisation.

You can also add a touch of Lemon peel, or use say a Lemon flavoured sugar to the apples.  I am going to make a batch with some Golden Sultanas added and then use that for Strudel type puddings.

That is another useful preserve for the Pantry shelf.  I have more Apple sauce to process in due course, and loads of other preserves to try and get sorted in the next few days or so.

Will update this post tomorrow once I have checked the seals.  However, I have managed to make seven very useful jars of Chunky Apple sauce today.  Every little helps.

Have a lovely evening.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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