Re: Ping: Barb re: apple butter

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
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.


Yes, I added 1/4 cup of white vinegar, then added another tablespoon after I tasted it.

I over cooked the stuff and ended up with only a little over 5 half-pints! It still tastes good, I didn't scorch it except in the corners. I ate the scorched part instead of stirring it in, it didn't taste burned.

I'm tempted to take one jar and add salt, onion powder, and more vinegar to make ketchup out of it. (might also need some mace.)

There's a lot of apples in each of those little jars.

Bob
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