APPLE BUTTER
MARATHON
MARATHON
I'VE BEEN MAKING APPLE BUTTER FOR THE PAST 24 HRS +!
Yes, I said 24 hrs+.
I wanted to write about MY own warm and fuzzy Apple Butter making experience...
I've been reading blogs with all these warm and fuzzy posts about Apple Butter recipes, apple butter making, how wonderful it makes their home smell, how EASY it is to make, blah, blah, blah...
SO...I wanted to write about MY own warm and fuzzy Apple Butter making experience...
Most recipes say to cook for 7-8 hrs. in Crock Pot. Well, my Crock Pot must be on "Granny putting on her support stockings" cooking degrees because after I peeled 10 lbs. of apples (which took me TWO HOURS), mixed up the sugar and spices, put it all in the crock pot around 1:30 p.m. Wed. afternoon, it STILL looked like brownish Applesauce by 10:00 P.M.
So...
I turned it down to "Granny walks 10 miles to town on her walker" and when I got up this morning it still wasn't THICK like in all the pictures OR in my jar of Cracker Barrel Apple Butter.
So...
I turned up the heat to "Granny got Her Groove Thing On" and waited till 6:00 tonight, Thursday.
FINALLY...
APPLE BUTTER!!
MY WAY!!
Google Apple Butter and you'll get TONS of recipes. That's what I did!
A couple of suggestions:
1. Adjust spices to suit your Family's Taste...translated, I'm going to nix the Allspice and go with just cinnamon next go round.
2. The owner of our local Apple Orchard told me today she makes her applesauce first, Then places it in a roasting pan and places it in the oven on low. I don't know what Low meant but I would suggest 170 which is as low as my oven will go. She says it doesn't splatter or cook too fast. She adds cinnamon during the last hour of cooking.
The Moral of This Story
If I can't buy my Apple Butter made in a large Copper Kettle from the Methodist Women in the WalMart Parking lot back home in West Virginia????
I'm sticking to buying Cracker Barrel Apple Butter
Haha, Jane!! Great tale! But I bet your home has smelled marvelous for two days now! Hugs!! :)
ReplyDeleteOh you dear! I gave up making my own apple butter long ago just because it is so time consuming and messy. I'll buy a jar and light an apple/cinnamon candle for scent. And I can sit back, put my feet up and say 'job well done'!
ReplyDeleteOh, that looks so good....I have never had apple butter! Have had other fruit butters but not that. I bet it smells good too.
ReplyDeleteI love me some homemade apple butter... my grandmother used to make it, although, hers was never dark like the Cracker Barrel apple butter (which I LOVE also). I bet your house smelled wonderful!
ReplyDeleteOh boy does that take me back a piece to a whole other life! Them apples that didn't get sold became cider or apple butter. Here in Japan, every apple is a lovely piece of art..(and you PAY for art) so not many of those go into apple butter. Thanks for the memories!
ReplyDeleteOh no that is a rather lengthy time to make apple butter. I just do mine on the stove top and its about 90mins from start to done and in the cold room.
ReplyDeleteI think I can do cracker barrel ROFLOL -
ReplyDeleteGreat post
Hehehehe! At least you get to savor the sweet results of all your hard work.
ReplyDeleteI just made up two bushels of apples into applesauce/apple butter. I use two completely different recipes...with different spices. Apple butter should be more spicy than apple sauce. And there is NO WAY it can be done in 8 hours. My applesauce takes 10-12 but apple butter always takes 24. And yes, it does take forever to peel, core and slice them. I want one of those all in one jobbies.
ReplyDeleteLOL! My mom used to make MANY pints of homemade apple butter every fall--with extra cinnamon. The house smelled WONDERFUL all week.
ReplyDeleteHoney you run, don't walk, to Bed Bath and Beyond or any kitchen store and buy one of those apple peeler/corers that peels and your apple ends up in a spiral. I could have those apples in less than half an hour with it! In fact, I did. :) I dehydrated mine though for pies and snacks - delicious! blessings, marlene
ReplyDeleteYou'll be so proud when you pull out a jar of your own apple butter! I've found a lot of crock pot recipes cut the time way back to what it takes in mine. Maybe there is a huge difference in crock pot temperatures.
ReplyDeleteBoy do I miss great apple butter! Lucky you! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your post. You made me crack up. Just what I needed this morning...so thanks!
ReplyDeleteLOL, now I feel like going to Cracker Barrel and buying some apple butter! :) This post was too cute. <3
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