Re: Ping: Barb re: apple butter

In article <5rdts1F13v18rU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
zxcvbob <zxcvbob@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

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

Dang, I was hoping you'd do them so we could find out if they'd form
that tough outer skin thang.
I assume you added some vinegar? It livens up the flavor, I thinkj.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007
.