You're mother - in - law taught a great recipe to you.

Oh I am hoping to have a nice apple crop this year too. I will have to remember this and try it. Oh Crud, I just realized I don't have a big 5 gallon crock! Mine are all 1 and 2 gallon. I will have to watch for a big one this summer.

Last year I was in such a rush, all my apples went into cider, which I froze for winter. I love my cider press!

Jenny P

Canning apples tend to make them very soft if pressure canned. Its probably not necessary. I would add ascorbic acid however, to help retain color. I usually make pie filling from mine, but this year I plan to make apple sauce and/or apple butter.

If I didn't have this big old crock, I would use one of my 5 gal stainless steel pots or even a clean 5 gal plastic bucket. The main thing is to have a non-reactive container for the apples.

Ann in MT

The problem with this is that all liquids added to jars of food need to be boiling hot, not cold or room temperature.
Plus, you would need to be sure it is not too thick and dense with the apple slices. The contents of the jar needs to be thin enough so the whole thing will get the proper heat penetration during processing. Density of a food is also an important factor, not just ph level.
A boiling water bath would still be used for this, not a pressure canner.
Plus, a steam canner is not a safe, recommended method. They do not get the contents of the jar as hot as a boiling water batch canner. We consider all foods in a steam canner to be underprocessed. Steam is not hotter than water, unless under pressure. You need the entire jar and contents submerged in the boiling water in a water bath canner to get the contents hot enough. The steam canner just can't do the same job. So, do as you wish, but we do not recommend their use. The ONLY ones recommending them is the people who make and sell the steam canners.

I don't wish to start another battle about the use of a steam canner, but after all the testing I did a while back, and using a multi probe temperature chart recorder, and thermocouples accurate to .1 degree, I felt that the steam temp in a steam canner IS under a very slight pressure. There are only two tiny 1/8 inmch diameter holes on each side of of the base of the dome cover. Steam jets out very strongly from them, and so pressure inside IS a little higher that atmosphere. Compare the steam escaping from a PC through its weights, and there, you have a slightly higher pressure. I would have measured the steam canners internal pressure, but because the water came back up to boiling in less than half the time it takes in a BWB, and the fact that the internal temps of each filled jar (filled with boiling liquids) had also reached 212 degrees within 10 minutes, I concluded that the tests were quite accurate and valid. I am not saying to use steam canners in all BWB recipes, but their use with some high acid canning like vinegar based pickles, acid enhanced tomatoes, and high acid jams and jellies, they do quite well and are quite safe. The USDA can still be misquoted when they say that steam canners have not been fully tested, but if I have done my own personal tests and with canned foods lasting me many years without spoilage of ANYTHING so far, I am feeling very confident about them in my uses.

Sounds like a great idea.

One question - about "next morning, fill scalded jars,) from your post.

I'm thinking - drain apples, heat juice to boiling (I would add lemon here and taste), pack cold apples in scalded jars and pour over the heated juice (with canner water at this point at 140 degrees). Then BWB for how long?

Last year, I had good luck with apples in syrup. I warmed the quartered apples in syrup (after lemon/acid pre-soak), and cooked to soften - just to the point where the apples were beginning to break apart.

On a separate burner I had syrup boiling with lemon added. The apples were then packed into hot jars. I used the boiling liquid for covering the fruit in the jars, rather than the liquid that the apples were cooked in.

I found this almost cured the mushing and/or floating fruit in the jars.

Comment?

Bejay