Old Fashioned Applesauce (using a food mill)

This old fashioned applesauce is so simple to make and uses only 3 ingredients, apples, water, and bit of sugar for sweetness. 

Homemade applesauce is the simplest and most delicious way to enjoy fall apples, especially if you have a food mill. We have 4 apple trees in our backyard and this year only one tree produced fruit. Which isn't a problem because we harvested 105 apples from just that one tree which was such a blessing. Fall is apple season and when you have more apples than you can eat, applesauce is your answer. 

Making applesauce is one of the best ways to process a bumper crop of apples. Applesauce can be made on the stove top, in a slow cooker or you can use an electric roaster. I normally have a ton of apples from our backyard, so I cook the apples in my 22 quart electric roaster. By far this is my favorite method to cook apples for applesauce. My electric roaster holds pounds of apples and I don't have to stand around and watch it cook.    

This applesauce recipe is easy to make and really isn't a recipe at all, but more of a method. Since a food mill is used this eliminates peeling the apple all together. Just quarter the apples and place them in a roaster pan. Add about 2 inches of water and cook the apples until softened. When the apples are fully cooked just run the cooked apples through a food mill and it purees them down to a smooth sauce. 

This is the point where I will taste the applesauce and see if it needs any sugar. If the apples are sweet enough I won't add any, but normally I add about 1 cup if I have a huge roaster pan full. Enjoy the applesauce right away or add to canning jars and process in a hot water bath to make them shelf stable. 

Applesauce will store for up to 18 months if canned properly. My bet is that it won't even last that long. Once you make homemade applesauce, you'll never buy it in the store again. 

These are the ingredients & supplies you'll need:

• Apples: use your favorite sweet variety (honey crisp, Fuji, golden delicious, or pink lady).
• Water:  used to cook the apples. 
• Bottled Lemon Juice: This is a must if you will be canning the applesauce.   
• Sugar or Honey - to sweeten the applesauce. Omit the sugar if your apples are pretty sweet. 
• Food Mill: to puree the apples into a smooth sauce. 
• Electric Roaster Pan: is an easy hands off method to cook the apples. 
• Canning jars, lids, rings and jar lifter: to home can the applesauce to make it shelf stable.    
• Water Bath Canner or Large Stock Pot with a rack - tall enough that when the jars are in the pot, they are submerged with 2 inches of water above the jar. 

Start by washing the apples extremely well. You are going to cook the apples with the skin on so this is an important step. I like to soak the apples for about 10 minutes in mixture of vinegar and water, and then rinse the apples. Cut the apples into quarters and add to a large pot, slow cooker or roaster pan. 

There is no need to remove the skin from the apples because the food mill will puree the apples down to a smooth sauce, while removing the peels, seeds and cores. There are several different food mills, but my favorite is the Bezrat because it's easy, sturdy and very affordable.   

I filled my roaster pan to the rim. After all the apples are added to the roaster, add 2 quarts of water over the apples, cover and cook for 2-3 hours at 300 degrees. Watch closely to see if you need to add anymore water. 

The apples will be fully cooked when they are softened and broken down. Let the apples cool a bit before adding them to the food mill. 

Place the food mill over a large pot and start adding the apples in small batches and crank the handle clockwise. This will separate the apples from the skins and cores. 

Every couple of turns you will need to turn the handle counter clockwise so the skins, seeds and cores don't get stuck under the food mill and block the applesauce from going through the holes. Once you process all the apples you might have some liquid left in the pan but that's ok just toss it out. This is the point that you will need to taste your applesauce and see if it needs any sweetener. I normally add about 1 cup of sugar for a full 22 quart roaster of apples.  

If you want to can the applesauce in a hot water bath, remove the roaster pan and give it a good wash. Place the pan insert back into the roaster and fill with water, add your sterilized jars, turn the roaster on the warm setting and let the jars sit in the hot water to keep warm.

While the jars are warming prepare you hot water bath canner. Place the pot of applesauce on the burner, add lemon juice and bring the mixture to a light boil. 

Pack hot applesauce into jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Remove the air bubbles, wipe the rims clean and place a lid and ring on each jar. Place the jars into the hot water bath canner. Bring the water in the canner to a boil, reduce heat to a light boil, cover the canner and start you timer. 

Process pint size jars for 15 minutes and quarts for 20 minutes. When the time is up leave the jars in the canner to rest for 5 minutes. Pull the rack up from the canner and let the jars rest an additional 5 minutes before removing and placing on the counter lined with a thick dish towel. 

Leave jars to sit for 12 hours before removing the rings. Check to make sure the jars have sealed, wash and dry the jars, label and store in a cool dark pantry. 

Nothing compares to homemade applesauce.