As a general rule, pick Apples that are sweet tasting: Gala, Cortland, Jonagold, Crispin, Pink Lady, Braeburn, and others. I also like to toss in some tart tasting Apples such as Staymen Winesap and MacIntosh....you can see a great list of these at www.pickyourown.org/apples.htm
There are several ways to make your apples into sauce. Some peel and core right into a large pot on the stove and while they cook, they smash them with a potatoe masher or whip them with an emersion hand blender. Others peel and core, cook and then put thru a food mill. However, I use a hand-cranked food mill/strainer that eliminates the need for peeling and coring. I purchased this at Lehmans.com
I start by placing a large pot of water to boil on High. I also scrub my bottles and rings clean with dish soap and hot water. They need to stay hot, so I turn my oven on to its lowest temperature (about 170 degrees) and place the bottles on a lowered rack. I fill an oven-safe bowl with water and place my rings and lids in it so they can stay hot and sterilized as well
While the water is coming to a boil on the stove top, I wash the apples and cut them into quarters.
Next, place the cut apples in the boiling water. Boil for about 8 minutes or until you can see the skin separating from the flesh of the apple.
Remove the apples from the water with a slotted spoon, into a bowl and over to the hopper of the food strainer.
Using the plunger, push the apples down the hole of the hopper while turning the hand crank. A bowl should be placed to catch the applesauce and one for the "junk"(peels, seeds, cores).
Keep repeating this boiling and straining/milling. When the bowl is full of applesauce, I transfer it to an extra large stock pot on the stove. I keep the stove on low heat and stir occasionally, especially if I'm still boiling and mashing apples.
At this point I make sure my water bath canning pot is filled with water and the stove is turned on medium to get the water heated up and ready to receive jars.
Once all the apples have been made into sauce and placed in the big stockpot, I take begin to fill jars. I always make a few jars with NO SUGAR in case I want to give it to someone with special diet restrictions, such as diabetes. But, most of my sauce gets sugar added....you can also add some cinnamon or other spices to your sauce if you like. I add at least 2 to 3 cups of sugar to begin the sweetening process. Stir and stir to incorporate that sugar!! Also, turn the heat up a bit, from low to medium or medium/high but remember to stir continuously....watch for bubbling, popping, hot applesauce!!
Take a small spoonfull and taste your mixture each time you add sugar. Continue to add sugar if you like it really sweet or leave it how it is. The amount of sugar you add is really up to YOUR TASTE!!
Once you like what you are tasting, turn the heat down to LOW again and get ready to fill your jars. Take a hot jar from the oven and place on a cookie tray with sides (this helps with clean up if you spill). Place a canning funnel on top of the jar. Ladel the sauce into the funnel until the sauce fills the jar....leave 1/2 inch between the top of the jar and the top of the sauce.
With a butter knife, remove the air bubbles in the sauce by inserting it straight down the sides of the jar and while lifting the knife move to the center of the jar. Go all the way around the sides of the jar, down and up with the knife until the air bubbles or spaces are removed....sometimes I tap the jar on the countertop a bit as well.
Remove the funnel. With a clean, hot dishcloth CLEAN THE TOP RIM OF THE JAR!!!! This is soooo important!!! You must have the rim clean for the lid to make a good, tight seal to the jar. When it is clean, take a hot lid and ring from the oven....shake off any water...and place on the rim of jar. Twist on the ring as tight as you can by hand...don't use any tools to tighten it down...just your own strengh is good!
Set the rack in your water bath canner to sit on the edge of the pot. As you fill jars place them in the rack suspended above the boiling water....this will help them stay hot while you fill the remaining jars.
Once the rack is full, check that the jars are NOT touching each other. This can be tricky especially with quart jars, but do your best! Gently lower them into the water, making sure that the water rises at least an inch or 2 above the lids....you may have to add more water. Place pot lid on top and...
Turn your stove up to HIGH. When the water comes to a steady boil, you can turn the heat down slowly to medium high....start your timer!! Generally 20 minutes from the time you turn down your heat is all you need to process applesauce.
When the time is up, carefully remove the pot lid and turn the stove off. Have a folded kitchen towel or 2 lined up on the counter. With canning tongs, grab each jar out of the water and set it on the towel to dry and cool off.
Leave the jars to sit for at least 24 hours...as they sit you will hear the lids POP showing they are sealed. After they have cooled completely, check for sealing by gently pressing down and up on the lids....if there is no "give" they have sealed correctly. If the lid moves up and down with your finger (and sometimes you can hear the pop of the metal lid bending) then the seal has NOT been made. You can either re-process this jar or just put it in the fridge making that jar the first one to be eaten!!
After the 24 hour cooling period, remove the ring from the top of the jar....do not store with the ring on as they can rust and be hard to remove after long term storage. Also, take a clean, damp rag and "wash" the bottles to remove any residue of applesauce that may have bubble over and down the sides. Label your lids with date with a permanent marker and store in a cool, dry, dark place. Now you can enjoy fresh, homemade applesauce all year long!!
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