We had a tree when I was little, and I know my mom made jelly, but I don't remember anything else.

I drive by a tree near my house every morning on my way to work. It's driving me nuts to see the fruit just falling off and nobody wants to use. I may have to go "door-knocking" this weekend!
Deanna

I like mint-apple (or crabapple) jelly. It has a nice tartness to it that is missing in plain mint jelly.

I know some types are better than others, but can all types of crab apples be used for jelly?

I have a couple of trees here (came with the house, no idea what they are) that have green, russeted fruit about the size of a golf ball.

I've also wondered about added these to some sweet cider before fermenting.

Thanks for the idea of the mint crabapple jelly. I have a huge patch of mint that is begging me to do something with it. Perfect. We picked over 12 pounds of crabapples just from what we could reach and rejecting the obviously buggy ones. The old German man across the street from the trees offered us a ladder and bucket so it must have been ok to pick them. The steam juicer says the yield from 10 pounds of crabapples is 3 to 4 quarts so I should have plenty of juice. And if I need more, I know where to go.

My dad had grown crabapples a long time ago, but because the nursery sold him some ornamental types, they never got any bigger than about an inch in diameter. Yours sound like edible ones, and yes, they do add a nice flavor to any regular apple spread, or you can make a crabapple jelly by itself.

"I've also wondered about added these to some sweet cider before fermenting."

I think it would be an excellent thing to do. Cider lacks the complexity of wine. Crabapples would help to overcome that by lending some tannin and other flavors. If they were red crabapples, you would get some nice color too. I've thought about this for years and somehow never gotten around to doing it.

Jim

Dolgo is one type of crabapple that is elongated, good for jelly. Don't know if that is your type. If it tastes good I'd use it. There are a lot of varieties of crabs out there.

They are in the juicer and smell like apples. The girls came downstairs and said, "Oooh, what smells so good." I ended up cutting them all in half before putting them in the juicer because they were so buggy. Some of them looked fine but were all buggy inside.

Could you use the leftover pulp to make crabapple butter, or would it be best to start with whole fruit? I don't remember.

Jim

The instructions for the Mehu-Liisa say to steam it for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the pulp is dry and almost flavorless. Then they go on to give a recipe for crabapple butter. But using "almost flavorless" pulp didn't sound that exciting to me and I was fighting a migraine, so I ditched it. There were so many on those trees that I think I would rather start with whole fruit and have more flavor. I got the requisite 1 1/2 quarts of juice from 5 pounds of fruit. It is a lovely pink color and tastes like sour apple juice. Hubby's comment was, "This will make good jelly." It has quite the viscosity to it - I guess from all the pectin. I ran it through a coffee filter that I plopped inside a jelly bag since there was just a little bit of stuff floating around in it. I have to do the second batch tonight after I can sauerkraut.

If you want a nicer, bug free crabapple, I suggest that you find and organic based bug sprya and start spraying early in the season. In fact, a lime sulfur oil spray in the late fall and then again before bud break will help to kill off a lot of the bugs that winter over on the tree. Also, removing as much of the fallen fruits from around the tree can also help to control the bugs. Later on during the blossoming and fruiting time, its also important to spray some thing, but do NOT use the lime sulfur oil at that time, as it can injure the leaves and blossoms.

Since they are in front of someone else's house in a different country, I'll think I'll leave the spraying alone and just deal with the bugs :) Thanks for the thought though.

I've harvested crabapples off my own property...way off...but never from across an international boundry!

Jim

Cool, huh? We are so close to the border it only takes a couple of minutes to be on the other side. It seems to be common practice to harvest road side fruit. I've heard tale of plum trees beside the road being popular, as well as chestnuts. There are two trees on the way to the bus stop. I'm keeping my eye on them to see when they start dropping.

" "I've also wondered about added these to some sweet cider before fermenting."

"I think it would be an excellent thing to do. Cider lacks the complexity of wine. Crabapples would help to overcome that by lending some tannin and other flavors. If they were red crabapples, you would get some nice color too. I've thought about this for years and somehow never gotten around to doing it.

Jim"
****

I've been fermenting sweet cider from the local apple farm and while it comes out tasty, it's rather bland and missing that astringent bite that the tannins provide. Until I get some traditional cider apples planted and producing, I need to do something to improve the cider.

All I need to do now is find a way to grind and press the apples in the next couple of weeks...

I think a cider press could be built by making a frame from lumber and using an inexpensive hydraulic jack to apply the pressure. The ground apples are placed in cloth bags (like pillow cases) which are spread out and stacked up between layers of boards.

I'm not sure what to use as a grinder. Most household appliances, such as food processors, aren't big enough to do it efficiently. One of those light duty electric shredder chippers, kept sanitary and dedicated to food use, would probably be a bit expensive.

Jim

If you google there are quite a few places with directions for making a press. If you win the lotto, you could buy a nice one.

Here is a link that might be useful: cider press and grinder

I'm officially a crabapple lover! I was eating the slightly foamy bit that didn't make it into the jars - right out of the spoon. I learned you really have to be fast. It formed a skin on the top almost as soon as it cam off the heat. I had to be careful not to end up mixing it back in and ruining the crystal clear effect. Here is it from start to finish.