78 new of 130 responses total.
Fruit dryer (dehydrator) for dried apples, pears, tomatoes, etc. It blows heated area through ventilated trays. Commercial ones are peeled. They don't need peeling to dry. Pears do, they don't dry well otherwise.
I watched Alton Brown make a homemade food dehydrator with HVAC airfilters, bungee cords and a box fan. His zeal for having kitchen appliances that can do more than one thing led to his homemade invention. You put the fruits between a paper towel, then put that between two air filters (you can obviously do more than this - he had stacked together about 5 air filters with fruit between them), bungee them together, then stick them in front of a fan. About 4 hours later, he was done. It waas fascinating to me.
Sounds clever, but the paper towels would slow down air flow. Someone offered us a homemade model about 5' high by 3' wide and deep. You are supposed to add heat when you dry things, starting at 90 or more, so the above method would require a hot day (or reflectors again). Over the last half hour raise it gradually to 140 to kill spores or eggs. Starting off at that temperature would cause the outside to dry first and keep the inside moist, and it would spoil. Not a good drying day today, even for laundry.
Maybe it wasn't paper towel...I'd have to watch it again to be sure. Alton Brown makes me go "squee!" in terms of fandom.
Who/what is Alton Brown?
He's the host of Good Eats on the Food Network. Very into explaining the science of foods.
<<Fruit dryer (dehydrator) for dried apples, pears, tomatoes, etc. It blows heated area through ventilated trays.>> And that doesn't cause more heat and energy usage than crock pots? [I'm trying to understand some of the 'logic' you're using in what you will and will not use in the house, or even outdoors. But also, I like the concept of making dried fruit but don't have the funds nor the extra space of a food dehydrator.]
Yes, dehydrators waste energy if you plug them in and blow hot air around, which is why I put ours outside in the solar reflector instead. The tomatoes were not getting dry since no air was circulating, so Jim put some tape around the bottom of a computer fan to keep it from sitting right on top of the hole in the dehydrator and blocking it, and it pulled air through the 110 degree dehydrator and things worked perfectly If I aimed it directly at the sun it was up to 140. I adjusted the angle frequently to follow the sun (or not quite follow it in mid day to keep the temperature below 120). Our dehydrator is about 16" across and a foot high. We have also made fruit leather from the sauced fruit. First Jim cut some round sheets of a parchment-paper like plastic that fit over the center projection on each rack, and spread the sauce onto those neatly. When it is leathery you roll up the sheets and freeze them, or refrigerate and eat within a month or so. Or don't refrigerator and keep some place cool and eat within a couple of weeks.
So where else are there apple orchards in the southeastern Mi area that you may have checked out? There are a couple websites that list orchards by state [and then regions withhin the state] but I'm not sure how up to date the lists are]. My dad was saying that it was an orchard in S.Lyon that we used to go to-but said that it closed a number of years ago and the land was sold to a developer [what a waste, huh?]. On thee web-lists, they do menion an orchard in SLyon but I'm assuming its a different one. I hear that the one in Dexter is a popular one but I haven't been.
Erwins is a popular orchard in South Lyon at the corner of Pontiac Trail and Silver Lake Rd. http://www.erwinorchards.com/ They used to have a separate store like Wiards does but a few years ago they sold it and the land it was on to a developer. It is possible that is what your dad is thinking of. The main orchard is still there but it is behind the new CVS drug store so it is, perhaps, less visable.
We might want to go to the traditional "After the Grexwalk" lunch when everyone meets up at the Dexter Cider Mill. IIRC, there are apples as well as apple-related products there, in addition to the cider.
Oooh, that would be fun. Especially if we made it a trip on a Sunday instead!? Please, please, pretty please??
Do any of you have recipes for easy apple pie or apple cake? I'm not sure what the going prices are for apples this year but I'm hoping they're reasonable enough for me to try making lots of things... Especially the applesauce and perhaps the apple butter, apple cake would be good, too, for a change from pie. And cider, I can't go through the fall without any cider.
Apple pie is extremely easy. Make (buy) a pie crust. For a 9 inch pie pan, cut up apples until you have 4 or 5 cups. About 7 apples. Sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Mix 1 cup of sugar (use a mixture of brown and white) with a tablespoon of flour, and 1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon. Place the cut apples in the pastry-lined pie pan. Sprinkle apple slices with sugar and flour mixture. Lay top crust over apples and crimp along the edges with the bottom crust. Cut a couple vents in the top crust to let the steam out. Bake in a pre-heated 400 F. oven for about 35 or 40 minutes. Let set for about 15 minutes after removing from oven. Enjoy! Early American settlers served fruit pies as part of breakfast, so don't feel guilty substituting it for your cereal and fruit in the morning.
We make apple pie without added sugar since we like the taste of apples. Or simply microwave the apples and eat them, sometimes with dried apricots. We barbecued a couple in foil at the lake in someone's leftover coals.
Sounds easy enough; thanks Colleen! Any suggestions for a dutch apple pie?
I was taking care of my niece for a few hours last night. When I left, my SIL gave me some apples they had gotten from Eriwn's Orchard over the weekend - as well as tomatoes from their garden. Gotta love this fresh stuff, huh? So today, on my way home from an appt., I picked me up a big bag of apples, too. This is in anticipation for making up some of Mary's applesauce and some apple butter. If there's any apples left [which there might be, since my crock pot is smaller than was mentioned in the recipe], then perhaps I can make a pie or two. I just need to plan in a few more ingredients into my grocery budget [brown sugar, lemon juice, and maybe even the special ingredient Mary's talked abou] and then if I do any pies, then I need to get the crust as well as bag of flour. Time [and then money] will determine how soon I can get this stuff done.
I'll bring some Calvados to the HH for ya.
I now have the required ingredients for making the applesauce [thanks, Mary, for the 'special ingredient to try out] and I hope to get to it tomorrow or Monday. Mary, do you think, since the Calvados is so exxpensive, that maybe some of the apple or cinnamon liquors or schnapps type thing would work in a similiar fashion?
Calvados is an apple brandy. An apple liquor or schnapps might be a good substitute. Hard cider might also substitute. If you use any of those, I would also suggest using a bit of undiluted frozen apple juice concentrate as well. In fact you might even find that a bit of vodka added to the apple juice would make a fair substitute.
I suspect schnapps might be tasty here but I've never tried it. Try it with the Calvados and go from there. If you find the taste too intense then I'd just leave all alcohol out. By far, Calvados will be the smoothest, least harsh, of all possible alcohol additions, in my opinion.
I have a batch cooking away right now. My crock pot is a 3 qt one, so I somewhat cut down the other ingredients. It's been simmering away on low for about 9 hours so far. It's cooked down [in amount] by about 1/3 or so and it's a bit more 'liquidy' than thicker as the store-brought kind of applesauce is. Perhaps for the last hour or two, I might cook it with the lid off to see if it'll thicken up a bit more. It smells great, though, so regarless, I think it'll taste just fine. I do have enough apples left over to do at least one more batch [maybe with a few apples left over to hold onto until I manage to get some more]. The decision with the next batch will have to be if I want more applesauce [to freeze] or to try some of the applebutter. I'll see what I'm in the mood for next time. And when I run out of the calvados, I'll see if I can get some other apple-flavor alcoholic beverage. If not, perhaps a touch of some other kind of flavoring might be good, too [like some kind of extract or something]. Or I can just use the other listed ingredients.
[And most of the apples I'm using are golden ginger [or something like that] along with a couple gala apples that my SIL gave me.]
It isn't until it's done and I start stirring it that I see how much it's really reduced in volume. And it will most certainly thicken when cooled. If you like it chunky, don't mash it up. If you like it smooth, have at it. This freezes very well. I am so curious to see if you like the finished product. And doesn't the house smell like grandma's at Christmas?
Today we biked about 10 miles to pick apples from three trees near Whitmore Lake Rd (and also got two dozen brown eggs, from the Rhode Island Red chickens who came out to observe us). Jim has a fancy red-enameled metal large apple picker gadget which he attached to some 1" grey electrical pvc conduit, 5', with another 5' piece fitting into the joint. He screwed an improvised carrier for this gadget to the raccoon cage on his bike and it only stuck up about 2' above the bike. The raccoon did not comment. (He finally caught the monster that ripped the cage open twice before in the past week, and stole food out of it the night before last, by reinforcing the cage three ways). About 1/3 of the apples he aimed at jumped off onto the soft grass. We are going to sauce the ones with a lot of bad spots and refrigerate the rest to have with oatmeal all winter. I dried a couple jars full of the sour green summer apples (with electricity, the heat was welcome this weekend). There is another tree along the way with unripe apples that we will check next week, and two trees south of town in a parking lot that we generally pick in mid to late October, one of them an excellent keeper. A few on north campus and near the hospital. Some up the street at the nursing home (but no pears this year). I might eventually make fruit leather out of some of the apple sauce. Two cups sauce, one cup xylitol (sugar which does not cause tooth decay), dry in the dehydrator after spreading about 1/2" thick on a rollup thin plastic mat that Jim cut to fit over the grating. There are lots of other abandoned apple trees around here. A few with larger apples behind a doctor's parking lot where the neighbor takes her kids. Nobody else seems to want free apples that need a bit of trimming. We fill three refrigerators by October, with apples, cabbages, ripening tomatoes. I have tried carrots in sand in the root cellar. Apples keep best at about 35 degrees.
I love this applesauce; I definitely don't want to go to the store- brought stuff any more! :-) The only thing is that it did reduce in amount a lot more than I thought it would. With starting out with a full 3 quarts and almost 12 hours set on low on the crockpot, I ended up filling three 1 3/4 cup containers between 1/2--2/3 full [Last night I put 2 of the containers in the freezer; I'm eating some [all, maybe] for an early breakfast now]. Makes me wish I had a bigger crock pot! :-) Mary, have you ever tried this recipe but cooked it less than the 12 hours? I'm wondering how the flavor would be if I did cook it less, before it would reduce as much [though I bet it wouldn't taste as good]. I have another somewhat related question, too. I haven't done a whole lot of cooking with crock pots--only stuff like stew or something that only takes a few hours. So with a recipe like this that simmers/cooks for 12 hours [or the apple butter that would go for 24], how long can we safely go without stirring it? The sauce was simmering/bubbling almost the whole time-so I stirred it almost every 2 hours or so-probably more than I needed to. So would I be ok in letting this cook away over night without worrying about stirring it up? I've had stuff simmer in regular pots that wouldn't be able to simmer that much and not get away withsemi-frequent stirring. I do realize that crock pots are somewhat different; I just don't have that much experience with them yet.
Are all the trees your picking from, Sindi, on public property and thus, free for the taking? For me, I'd feel rather uncomfortable picking that many apples to fill 3 refridgerators full. Even if the trees seemed abandoned, it seems like some of them, at least, would still be on private property.
I'm so glad you like the applesauce, Denise. I've made batches that only cooked for around eight hours, and they were fine, although maybe a little chunkier if I used lots of Granny Smiths. That variety seems to hold up the longest. I don't remember if the end volume was significantly more, but the less reduced it is the milder the flavor. So you can see how there is room to making this "to taste". As to how it would go making applebutter in your crockpot - it depends. Up until this year I had a really old Rival crockpot. Like, from the seventies. It would only break into a visible simmer if it was on high for hours and hours, covered. I now have a new crockpot and it simmers on low, no problem. I did a bit of research on this and crockpots have changed over time - getting hotter. Too bad, really. I think it was a food safety thing. When I make applebutter in my new crockpot I'll have the apples ready to go first thing, early morning. And let it rip until bedtime. I'll then simply turn it off and let it cool until morning. That would give me a good 16 hours of cooking, which I think would do the job at that higher heat. I also don't stir it at all while it's cooking but not because I think that's a problem (the literature says that's only an issue with older crockpots) but because I'm into appreciating the "hands-off" crockpot feature.
Regarding your stirring question - I suspect that the more you stir the more you need to stir as every time you lift the lid you lose moisture and the product gets thicker. Maybe. All I can tell you is I don't stir this recipe from the time I put the apples in the pot until after it's been off and cooled some, and sticking has never been a problem. But then that was with my old crockpot. Things may change. ;-) I'm going to make a batch within the next couple of weeks. I'll report back.
The apples we collected were falling on the ground. Half of what we got was windfalls. On previous occasions we had picked up the non-rotten ones and thrown all the rest into a small pile, which is helpful to the people who mow. It is also helpful to them that more apples do not fall. Obviously nobody was picking them or picking them up. Americans do not like apples with bad spots, which most of these have. The tree we got most of the apples from is next to a parking lot of a restaurant which is closed and for sale. We used to pick pears from a local pizza place but they chopped down the tree because it was dropping pears on the parking lot and was messy. We also picked up fallen branches and threw them into a pile. The other tree was dropping apples onto the road. There were lots of apples under it.
You are still trespassing and breaking the law. The property may be for sale or appear abandoned, but it does belong to someone. You could be arrested if someone called you into the police while you were there picking up the fruit. I would never do such a thing without contacting the owners of record and getting explicit permission.
You do what you like, and we will do what we like. We waved at several people in trucks going in and out of the parking lot and they all smiled at us. We have asked permission to collect apples from trees in people's yards (always given gladly - less for them to pick up before mowing). We got permission from a manager at an apartment complex (she wanted us to sign a release in case we fell out of a tree) and brought her a few of the best apples. Nobody has every objected and most were grateful.
resp:83 You gotta admit, though, that the odds of anyone calling the cops on someone picking up old apples off the ground are pretty close to zero.
We also got permission to pick cherries, three times. Can one trespass in a public parking lot?
That's true, Mary, about the flavor being milder if it wasn't 'reduced' as much. And I do love the flavor of the stuff I made, so I'll stick with that. Or, perhaps, take some of it out at about 7-8 hours and let the rest go the full time and compare the two. And I'll let it go without taking the lid off and stirring so much, too. :-) I thought I had to go do some stuff tomorrow but found out this evening that it needs to be postponed. So tomorrow I'll try and do another batch. [and will also find something to fix up using the small tomatoes that I got from my SIL last week].
I made my 2nd batch of applesauce yesterday. I really packed those chopped apples in there tight and filled it to the brim so that the cover had *just* enough room to sit on top of the pot without any heat getting out. And per the above suggestions, I didn't stir it at all. It cooked for maybe 10 hours, then after turning it off, I let it sit in the pot for another hour or so to start cooling off. I then finally took the lid off and stirred... And as a result, I had so much more than last time, probably double! It's a bit more 'liquidy' than the first one, but that's ok. I had a taste of it last night as I filled my containers [was still nice and warm] but haven't tried any yet today. Will do so with dinner this evening. I currently have one bowl in the 'fridge and added 4 more to the freezer [with the 1 3/4 cup containers almost full; the 2 in the freezeer from the last batch don't have quite as much]. I'm going to enjoy this stuff--and will continue to make more until my supply of apples run out. I do have somee, but not enough for the 3 qt crock pot. But sometimes my dad brings home some fruit for me every week from the grocery store [while I take care of my mom while he's gone]. So hopefully, as the apples come in and are on-sale, he'll get some more. Hmm, perhaps if I entice him with some sauce I've already made, perhaps that would ensure he'll provide the needed fruit. :-) And of course, whenever I get out to the grocery store again, I'll get some, too, if they're on salee...
We only cook ours for about half an hour, until it is soft.
I find it thickens when refrigerated. Consistency also varies some with the type of apples used. But I've never had a batch come out as thin as Motts natural, which I consider decent jar applesauce.
When I heated up a portion of the applesauce earilier today, I added a dab of carmel [the kind for dipping apples and such into]. It was good, though a tad bit on the sweet side [though nothing wrong with a bit of sweetness in life, eh?]
That's why you serve it with ice cream, to cut the sweetness.
Heads up on the annual Grex Walk to the Dexter Cider Mill, with lunch at the Lighthouse Cafe. See Grexwalk item in Agora.
So sad that the Cider Mill trip has to be on a Saturday. :-( I'll have to go on my own some day down the road... Let me know his the Sat. trip goes!
Has anyone done anything special with this year's crop of apples yet? Any good recipes for apple crisp or anything else simple? I'm going to be copying the crock pot applesauce recipe; I haven't made any yet this year... I'll have to try finding some of that apple brandy; I never did find any last fall. I know Mary said it's expensive, but the finished product does taste sooo much nicer than without it...
And what kind of apples do y'all like to eat and/or cook with? I recall using different types of apples in the various batches of apple sauce that I made last year; some I liked better than the others, I just don't remember which was which! With lunch, I had a honey crisp apple; these are juicy and really good, as far as I'm concerned--at least for eating plain. Dunno how they are for cooking.
We just went apple picking on Eisenhower Blvd near some major intersection. Found two good trees but the air is really awful there. We stuck it out long enough to get windfalls and also picked rose hips and wild grapes on some highway overpass with trucks roaring by. We just eat them, or if there are a lot with rotten parts, we dry them or make and freeze applesauce. We cut up apples into our oatmeal, or sometimes cook with cabbage and onions, or even microwave them with nuts (this year hickory instead of black walnut) and anise and coriander (ground up). Macs are mushy with touch skins and relatively tasteless. What else is for sale in stores?
In my seasonal cooking fall means soups and applesauce. My plan is to go to Farmer's Market tomorrow and get a huge bag of mixed apple seconds and make up a batch this weekend. I used the last container of last year's batch just about a month ago. Then I'll cook-up some curried butternut squash soup (again, with apples) and pronounce it autumn. ;-) I'm planning to attend the Grex BOD meeting tonight and I'll bring along a dose of Calvados for you to try this recipe. You really don't want to buy a bottle until you know you like it.
Actually, I think it's "Farmers' Market", but who cares?
Mary, I've tried the applesauce both ways and I definitely prefer it *with* our secret ingredient... :-)
Speaking of the Farmer's Market, what are their hours on Wednesdays? I have an appt. late Wed. mornings; perhaps I'll be able to check out their apple selection in the afternoon. Does anyone know if the Ypsilanti Farmer's Market still happening on Tuesday afternoons? I know they don't have it all year; I just don't know when it'll end for this year. [Does the Saturday one go all year?]
It's apple-picking time... So what are your favorite apple varieties for eating? for cooking/baking? And what/where are your favorite orchards these days?
For the past 2-3 years, my favorite apple for eating is Honey Crisp. Am not sure which varieties are best for the crock pot applesauce, though. I do need to keep better track of what works and what doesn't when I make each batch...
I agree with Denise, my favorite eating apples are Honey Crisp. :)
Our favorite apples are in a parking lot but this has been a bad year for local apples and there may not be any. No apricots either. Good year for pears and cherries.
Oh man. I bought some Honey Crisp apples at the Farmer's Market last week and they are seriously the best apples I have ever eaten. I have the last one in my lunch today. Unfortunately, I don't have to time to hit the Farmer's Market today or Saturday but hopefully the ones next week will be just as good.
Kroger's has some Honey Crisp apples; this week's ad says they're $1.69/pound, IIRC.
I like Jonagold, Jonamac, and Macs.
I have some applesauce cooking away in the crockpot; the house sure smells good! I started it later than I had hoped to so I started it on high but turned it down to low after several hours. Will check the status of it soon; I'm getting hungry! Will have to try it with my dinner. And before my next batch, I need to find me a bottle of Calvados.
I'm right behind you with plans to make up a batch soon. First, I need to get to Farmers Market for a big bag of mixed seconds and then wait for a cold day. But I'm aroma envious at this point. ;-)
Applesauce does not need much cooking (it is not apple butter).
I think I had the crockpot on high for too long [over 3 hours], the applesauce cooked down to a somewhat smaller amount than I remember it doing in the past. :-( I haven't been to the Farmer's Market in quite some time, so I've never tried a mixed bag of apples. Well, I did use up a couple apples my SIL gave me, I forget what kind they were. The rest of this batch were Macintosh apples.
You made apple butter. 20 minutes or less might have been enough for apple sauce, at lower temperature. You just need to break down the cell walls. I assume you cored and peeled them first.
I did core the apples and then chopped them up without peeling them. It works out fine without peeling the apples.
Next time keep an eye on them and when things turn liquid turn it off. Stirring every few minutes would help too.
Your applesauce will thicken after cooling due to the natural pectin in the apples. Sometimes I peel the apples and sometimes I don't. I always make it in the crockpot, cooking it for 8 - 10 hours. I'm often reluctant to turn it off because of the aroma it lends the house. After 8 hours I get applesauce that's at the soft & chunky stage. How soft and how chunky is the result of how many granny smiths were in the mix as they stay intact far longer than any other variety, I've found. If I leave it on overnight (24 hours total on low) I get applebutter.
Do you just throw a bunch of apples in the crock pot or do you add water too?
Periodically stirring crockpot applesauce will reduce the overall volume of applesauce; I found that out the first time I tried this recipe [where I stirred it every couple hours]. I love that aroma, too, Mary. I wish it would last longer than it does! Lynne, the recipe is an easy one; the only part that takes time is chopping up the apples [I don't peel them beforehand]. The only other ingredients are cinnamon, brown sugar, lemon juice, and if you have it, calvados. The actual recipe, iirc, is in resp:1 . I have to adjust my amounts since my crockpot is only 3 quarts.
Thanks denise! Do you know if the sugar is in the recipe for any reason other than flavor. I am avoiding sugar and would like to make it either without sugar altogether if I had a sweet variety of apple or with an artificial sweetener. That is kind of the point for me since I don't really enjoy cooking. I do like apple sauce though but all the store bought kinds seem to have a lot of added sugar.
Answering for Denise, if that's okay. I think the brown sugar yields a bit of flavor, but only a bit when you think of how many portions this recipe makes. So, if I were avoiding added sugar I'd not hesitate to leave it out. If the end product is a little too tart then add your favorite artificial sweetener to taste. I'd not cook the applesauce with artificial sweetener as they tend to break down and get bitter with heat.
We never add sugar to fruit (other than when we made self-preserving jam).
Thanks mary. I haven't yet cooked with artificial sweeteners but have heard that Splenda can hold up to it. I think I'll try some without the sugar but with sweet apples and see how it goes :)
Do let us know how it turns out, Lynne. There's not a lot of sugar in the recipe but still would be nice if it worked without it.
We'll see. I would say that there is about a 50/50 chance that I'll make it this weekend. I might just decide to eat the apples whole and raw as I like them that way too and it is easier ;)
While I'm not making applesauce, I will say that muscavado brown sugar is pretty awesome and a little goes a long way, so you get more bang for your sweetening buck...
One more thing on the applesauce - it freezes beautifully. I've been playing around with Agave syrup as a substitute for granulated sugar and honey. It's calorie equivalent but I've heard it falls lower on the glycemic index. Mostly, I like the flavor, which is closer to that of maple syrup or molasses. Really like it on swiss-style oatmeal.
I just bought some Agave syrup and have found that even though it is equivalent to sugar in terms of calories, it isn't in terms of sweetness. I've so far only tried it in my tea but find I can get away with using about 2/3 as much as I used sugar or honey. I also have heard that it falls lower on the glycemic index which is why I thought to try it too.
Licorice makes things taste sweet without adding calories. So do artichokes.
So it's apple season again. My favorite apple these past few years have been the Honeycrisp apple... It's been a couple years since I've made the applesauce that Mary posted early in this item but hope to at some point after I get more settled after my move last week. My crockpot is fairly small which is just as well since my fridge/freezer is on the smaller side, too. So what kinds of things have people been doing these past 2-3 years or plan on doing this fall?
I have been picking up the green/yellow crunchy apples that fall off our neighbor's tree and drying them. They are tart enough to make excellent dried apples once you cut out the bruised and buggy spots. Doing the same with our Seckel pears, and a few plums and peaches. The very ripe pears make pear sauce, the very green ones cooked pears, and I freeze both. We will have pear candy for a couple of years from this year's bumper crop.
You have several choices: