Apples in Syrup (Canning)

There was a sale on five pound bags of apples.  I brought home one Granny Smith and one Pink Lady.  Realizing that was more than I could eat or bake with before they turned, I decided to can some of them.

Apples can be preserved in more ways than I realized.  What I decided to do was hot-pack fruit in syrup, to use in baking, with yogurt or oatmeal, or mash it into applesauce.  Every source I trust had instructions for it, and the nchfp even had pressure-canning directions.  I went with water bath instead so I wouldn't have to pre-sterilize the jars.  You only have to do that for times under 10 minutes, and these would have been 8 in a pressure canner.

I used wide mouth jars because I thought it would be easier to fill them, but the apples get so soft that it isn't an issue.  If you're cutting wedges or slices instead of quarters, a regular mouth jar is big enough.

If you aren't into canning, just use the apples after the cooking part.  You likely won't be making anywhere near as much as I did.  You can also do them as poached halves, maybe adding some white wine to the syrup.

For quantities here, I'm using the Ball book.  They give them for canner loads.  I did slightly less, and ended up with 7 jars instead of 8.  It's a lot of apples to peel.

10 to 12 lbs apples, stemmed, peeled, cored, and quartered or sliced
6 cups hot syrup, sweetness as desired

1.  Set up canner for an 8 pint or 4 quart yield.  Get the water started, because it's going to boil around the time you finish preparing the apples.  Set up a large bowl of water with an acid in it such as ascorbic acid or lemon juice.  This will prevent browning.  Set yourself up with a podcast or movie, because it's going to take at least an hour to prepare the apples.

2.  Wash the apples in hot water to remove the waxy coating every orchard puts on them after harvesting.  As you finish peeling, coring, and slicing the apples, toss them in the acidic water.  I kept the cores and peels to make apple jelly later.  Not today.

3.  Once all the apples are prepared, set up a large stock pot with 6 cups of water and how much sugar you want in your syrup.  I did a very light one of only a cup of sugar, in case I turn them into applesauce.  I can add more sugar if I make a cobbler or pie.  Bring to a boil until all the sugar is dissolved.

4.  Drain the apple slices and add to the syrup pot.  Return to a boil, stirring often.  Boil the apples for 5 minutes.  Hot pack replaces the air in the fruit with syrup through boiling and allows you to pack more fruit into each jar.

5.  Ladle hot apples into hot jars to 1/2" headspace.  Add cooking syrup, debubble, and adjust headspace.  Wipe rims, center lids, and screw on bands finger-tight.  Process 20 minutes for both pints and quarts.

Difficulty rating  :-0