First Annual Apple Butter Day

We did it, we successfully made apple butter the old fashioned way.  Many came, many helped and for that we are soooooo thankful.

A brief note about what apple butter is:
Apple butter is a highly concentrated form of apple sauce (though I hate to put the two in the same sentence).  It is cooked on low (traditionally over a fire) for a very long period of time so that the sugars actually caramelize.  Apple butter was traditionally made to use up the overabundance of apples.  It also preserves longer than apple sauce due to the higher concentration of sugar.  One common confusion is that it does NOT contain any dairy.  I assume the name comes from the consistency because you cook and stir the apples for so long that it becomes thick and almost creamy like butter.  It is different from apple sauce in that it is MUCH more thick and richer in flavor.  Think rich apple jam.  Another important aspect of making traditional apple butter is the community labor.  Due to the length of time of stirring many people share the work, and enjoy the time together while working.
Note that you CAN make apple butter in a crockpot and it is quite delicious.  So far though, the consensus around our house is that the old fashioned way made a much yummier product (good thing).

The rewards-

Starting with 3 bushels of apples.  I used 2 bushels Cortland and 1 bushel Honeycrisp.  The night before we had an apple peeling and coring party.  There was 6 of us and it only took a couple hours.

We started by adding 2 gallons of apple cider and reduced it by half; then we started adding apples in stages as they cooked down.  Beginning stages-

Lots of stirrers on hand and most everyone had a smile on their face while taking their turn-

Time for a thickness test-

Once no water is seeping out of the butter then you start adding sugar and spices-

It should be thick enough to stick to a plate upside down.

Determined-

Beginning canning-

Scraping the pot with biscuits is a treat for the end, and helps clean the pot.

In the end we yielded only 46 pints.  I was anticipating more but it depends on the kind of apples, the amount of water, etc.

Here is the recipe I followed-

• 2 gallons real apple cider
• 3 bushels apples (1 bushel = 40lbs apples), any ok cooking apple will do
• Sugar (I used 16 lbs white, 2 lbs brown.  Add to taste depending on your apples)
• 1/2 cup cinnamon, or to taste
• 2 ozs cloves, or to taste

We ended up not getting 1/2 bushel of apples into the butter due to concern of time.  So the 2.5 bushels yielded 5.75 gallons or 46 pints of apple butter as I said above.  The recipe estimated yielding 12 gallons butter, so as you can see different apples cook down differently.

Time and stirring

We started the cider around 8am and started adding apples around 9am.  We began canning around 5:30 pm, I think.  So thats 8.5 hours of cooking/stirring.  You MUST stir constantly as I have been warned it will ruin the whole pot if any hot spots are formed since the apples will stick and burn.

Last, cleaning the pot.  We used an antique brass kettle and wanted to make sure we cleaned it properly. (Note that when cooking with apples be sure to use a non reactive pot).  First, wash out excess sauce with soap and warm water.  Second, scour the pot with warm ashes (this really worked well).  Third, wash the pot with soap and warm water again and rinse clean.  Dry it completely.  Oil the paddle and store everything in anticipation of doing again next year.

Conclusion, the work was most definitely worth it.  Now eat the apple butter on warm buttery toast with a side of bacon.... for dinner.... like we did last night.

P.S. there are many other uses for apple butter in recipes, look them up. :)