I think I should show the recipe I used, just in case it's needed. I got it from the United States Department Of Agriculture, Extension Service and the site it came from was http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HE241
Here it is:
"Festive Mincemeat Pie Filling
2 cups finely chopped suet
4 lbs ground beef or 4 lbs ground venison and 1 lb sausage
5 qts chopped apples
2 lbs dark seedless raisins
1 lb white raisins
2 qts apple cider
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
5 cups sugar
2 tbsp salt
Yield: About 7 quarts
Procedure: Cook meat and suet in water to avoid browning. Peel, core, and quarter apples. Put meat, suet, and apples through food grinder using a medium blade. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan, and simmer 1 hour or until slightly thickened. Stir often. Fill jars with mixture without delay, leaving 1-inch headspace.
Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations."

And make sure you use a pressure canner. We were under 2000 feet so we did quarts for 90 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure.

I don't see a problem adding more chopped apples. I wouldn't grind them. Try to find an apple that will hold its shape after cooking.

I don't see a problem either, as the apples are an acid ingredient. I doubt you'd need to increase the sugar, but you could. If you find the mixture is too dry you could also increase the cider vinegar, no problems.

Carol

Thank you very much. I think a half cup chopped apples per quart will be about right - I'll experiment. I use Cortland apples and they're good holding up. I'll taste to make sure no sugar is needed. The apples should make it juicy enough, but I have lots more cider anyhow. Next time I make this, I will NOT send it through the grinder again - maybe the meat and suet to ensure it's mixed, but not with the apples. Thank you again....I'll do this tonight after work.

I did something similar with a dried fruit mincemeat with brandy (which I much-prefer to the venison mincemeat I made).

I ground the dried fruits but cut the apples into small 1/4" thick wedges and stirred them in at the end. The texture held up well in the canner and it really makes for a nice texture in pies or bars.

Carol

How absolutley cool to see some people making mincemeat with real meat. Most people I know think it is weird that I use meat in mine. (Shake head sadly) My recipe--from several generations back uses cooked roast beef--I use chuck and suet gound through food grinder once. You could easily add chunkier apples and not grind them. By the time you finish cooking and stirring all will be well combined. Happy Mince Pies!!

Carol - that sure sounds good. How much brandy did you use?
Lera - this is why I like this forum. Everyone here cans. I live in the country in northern NY near the Adirondack Mountains. There are quite a few people who can, but only some things. Most people seem to freeze instead. That's ok, but if they don't have a generator, and the power goes off.....my canning is safe(although we have a generator hooked up for most of the house anyhow). My brother lives in a large city and he and his wife can quite a bit. Next month we'll be putting up bacon, ham, and pork - butchering time. Husband'll be getting venison before long.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this question, juliejart. I used 1 1/2 cups total for an 8-pint batch (half Golden Sherry and half brandy); however, this was a fruit mincemeat, not a meat mincemeat, if you know what I mean, so a lot was absorbed by the dried fruit.

For meat mincemeat (I have two recipes - one for venison and 1 historic family one for pork.) I add brandy when prepping the pie. Amounts are at the bottom of this post.

Here's the recipe with my notes:

Mixed-Fruit Mincemeat (My Variation)

Categories : Canning & Preserving

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 pound dried apricots -- chopped
1/2 pound dried cherries -- chopped
1/2 pound dried dates -- chopped
1/2 pound golden raisins
1/2 pound currants -- or dark raisins
2 cups apple cider -- or apple juice
3/4 cup brandy
3/4 cup sherry -- (I used Almad Golden)
2 pounds tart apples
2 pounds firm ripe Bartlett pears
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons finely chopped orange zest
2 tablespoons finely chopped lemon zest
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

In a large bowl combine the apricots, cherries, dates, raisins, currants, apple cider, brandy and sherry. Stir until well combined. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside to macerate for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.

Peel, core and chop the apples and pears. In an 8- to 10-quart pan, combine the apples, pears, orange juice and lemon juice. Stir in the dried fruit mixture, orange zest and lemon zest.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger until well-blended. Stir the sugar mixture into the fruit in the pan.

Over medium heat, bring the mincemeat mixture to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Reduce the heat and simmer until the apples are tender, about 40 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. If mixture becomes too dry, add a little more cider vinegar.

Ladle the mincemeat into hot jars, removing as many air bubbles as possible and leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Using a plastic knife, remove any trapped air bubbles. Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth. Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings. Process both pint and quart jars in a 200F (93C) water bath for 30 minutes.

Description:
"The original recipe came from "Blue-Ribbon Preserves.""
Yield:
"8 pints"

NOTES : This stuff is so good it ought to be a sin to eat it.

Day 1 I mixed the dried fruits with 1 cup of brown sugar and chopped mixture in the FP in several batches. Macerated 30 hours until Day 2. I think the sugar with the liquor mellowed the fruit.

Day 2 chopped and sliced the apples and pears by hand for a more discernable, fresher texture. That worked very well.

My version doubles the pears and apples and halves the sugar.

Headspace: Slight venting with quarts. I think something closer to 1- 1 1/4" would be better, even wide-mouths like these were. Expanded right up to lid just like pressure-canner.

When I canned venison mincemeat I didn't use brandy until I baked the pie. The venison is so rich usually I'd add 1 cup or so of fresh chopped apple to the quart when ready to bake and 1-2 tablespoons of brandy. But DH prefers it plain.

If you have it, Drambuie is a really fine addition to mincemeat pie. (Well, Drambuie is a really fine addition, period. Skip the pie, LOL.)

Carol

Your recipe sounds soooooo fantastic - I'm going to try yours next year.
Question - when you used venison, did you add sausage? I felt the texture still wasn't right with this mincemeat I made. It's ok, but to me it seems a bit mealy maybe? The extra apples helped I think.
As you state in your notes, 1 - 1 1/4 inch head space....I did an inch with the recipe farther up, and some of the stuff still bubbled up. It was in a pressure canner for an hour and a half - think I woulda bubbled over too! ;o)