Re: Ping: Barb re: apple butter

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
In article <5rb4vmF140lbbU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
zxcvbob <zxcvbob@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I have a half a bushel of delicious but slightly mealy Honeygold apples so I'm going to put up apple butter and applesauce tomorrow. I'd also bake a fresh apple Bundt cake, but I'm trying to *lose* some weight this holiday season rather than gain weight. Anyway...

I've got your apple butter recipe, the one where you talk about cooking the apples in a microwave oven. Have you ever tried cooking the chopped apples in a slow oven before you mill them? That would dry them out a little, instead of having some of the juice cook out to be drained away.

Tomorrow should be good weather for having the oven on all day.

Best regards,
Bob

I haven't done that, Bob. I think if you do the chunks in the oven you need to cover them in order to prevent a "crust" or "skin" forming from the drying. Like roasting red potatoes quarters. And as soon as you cover them you've lost what you've been seeking -- the cover will contain the moisture. This is hypothetical, though, but it makes sense to me. I'd do them in the microwave, drain, and use the juice for something else -- meat glaze base, jelly, drink it, combine it with another juice for a beverage. JMO.




Thanks. I did the microwave thing cuz it just seemed easier. (it took a lot more than 6 pounds of apples to get 12 cups of sauce.) I drank the juice, of course. The spiced apple butter is in the oven right now, making the house smell good. I used more ginger and less cinnamon, so it won't be quite as dark as yours. These apples were not very tart; I never would have thought to add vinegar, but they needed it.

Bob
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