Homemade applesauce is easy to make, especially when cooked in an old slow cooker (crockpot). You just have to cut your apples, put them in the old cooking pot with a few other ingredients, and leave. Your applesauce can cook in a few hours. Here are the important steps you need to take when cooking applesauce in an old cooking pot.
Ingredients
Makes about 3 cups (750 ml)
- 8 medium apples
- 2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) palm sugar
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
Step
Part 1 of 2: Preparing the Apples
Step 1. Wash the apples
Rinse the apples under cold or warm running water, rinse thoroughly with a clean thick cloth.
- Even if you're going to remove the apple peel, you'll still need to wash it for dirt or grime before doing anything else. Dirt on the skin of the apple can move to the flesh underneath when it is peeled.
- The apples should be sweeter than sour, so Gala, Fuji, Jonagold, Red Delicious, Melrose, Honeycrisp, and Golden Delicious apples are good choices.
- For the most rich and complex flavors, use a variety of apples.
Step 2. Peel the apples
Use a vegetable peeler or a fine fruit-cutting knife to peel each apple.
You can also use one tool with three functions, peeling, core removing, slicing. It is a tool that is used by hand to perform three functions at once. Fasten the apple to the base and twist the apple against the small blades that peel it. While the center removes the core of the apple and another blade will slice the apple
Step 3. Remove the core of the apple and slice it
Use an apple core cutter to remove the core, and use a knife to cut the apple into eight pieces.
- If you don't have an apple core cutter, you can cut the core with a paring knife or cut the core from several pieces after you've sliced the apple.
- There are also several core cutter and slicer combination tools. This tool has a round center blade that cuts through the core of the apple, it also has a smaller blade that slices through the apple when you press on it.
Step 4. Cut the apples
Use a sharp knife to cut each slice into quarters or smaller.
Technically, you can make applesauce in a slow-cooking pan without cutting apples this small. as long as you peel and slice them, you can still make applesauce. Cutting the apples smaller will result in a smoother applesauce
Part 2 of 2: Cooking Applesauce
Step 1. Put the apples in the old cooking pot
Flatten the apple slices in the old cooker, compacting the apples without crushing them.
- For this amount of apples, you can use a 3 liter pot. If you use a 5 liter pot, the apples will be half full. An even larger pot will be too large for this recipe.
- Applesauce won't burn on the walls of the pot, but if you want to be extra careful, you can use specially designed plastic to line old cooking pots for easy cleaning. You can also spray the pan with non-stick spray before adding the apples.
Step 2. Sprinkle lemon juice
Sprinkle the lemon juice directly over the apples and stir the apples with a wooden spoon to coat them evenly with the lemon juice.
The main function of lemon juice is usually to prevent apple slices from becoming too brown. Because apples naturally turn brown as they cook, many cooks skip this step, deeming it unnecessary. But lemon juice can also balance the sweetness of apples and other ingredients, so this step is still recommended
Step 3. Add the spices and water
Sprinkle apples with cinnamon, palm sugar and vanilla. Slowly pour water over and around the apples, filling the empty spaces between them.
- You don't need to soak the whole apple in water. Because it can produce watery applesauce, so it's not recommended.
- You can also mix the flavorings with water before pouring them over the apples. That way the spices will spread evenly over each slice of the apple, but because the cooking process is very slow, the taste will still spread evenly even if you only place it on the top of the apple's surface.
- Some cooks also choose to include cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla at the end of the cooking process. Cooking these ingredients together with the apples causes the flavors to penetrate deeper into the apples, and the flavors may not be as deep or complex as if you just added the spices at the end of the cooking process.
Step 4. Cook on low setting for 6 hours
Cover the pot and cook the apples until they break into a pulp.
- The exact cooking time varies. Some recipes take only 4 hours, some take 12 hours. Technically, you can leave the apples overnight without ruining the applesauce, although that's not necessary. More apples may need to cook for at least 8 hours on a low setting or 4 hours on a high setting, but for the amount of apples in this recipe, 4 to 6 hours will suffice.
- If the applesauce looks runny when it's done, remove the lid and cook another 30 minutes to reduce the amount of water.
Step 5. Puree the applesauce if desired
When you're done cooking the apples, you'll get a not-so-smooth applesauce. You can grind it if you want a smoother applesauce.
- You can leave the applesauce if you like it less smooth, or you can mash it gently with a metal spoon to make the apple slices a little smaller.
- If you prefer smooth applesauce, use a mixer or blender to puree the applesauce until smooth. You can puree the sauce while it's still in the old cooking pot.
Step 6. Serve
Your applesauce is now ready. You can enjoy them while they are still warm or chill in the fridge before eating.
