Canning apple juice question

**my4littlebuffaloes** · 09-20-2009, 09:27 PM

I have 3 bushels of apples and was planning to make applesauce to can. I read somewhere that you can make apple juice first and can it and then make sauce with the chunks after you strain the juice. Has anyone done this? it sounds like a great idea to get 2 products from 1 apple.

**frugalfranny** · 09-21-2009, 02:51 AM

If you do it please post how it was done and give some instructions.........sounds pretty neat to me.

Lucky you for having all the apples!

**daylily** · 09-21-2009, 06:44 AM

Here is how we do it: We have a Squeezo Strainer so we don't have to peel or core the apples; we just quarter them and cut off the blossom and stem ends.

I put them in a big pot and add some water; the amount depends on how juicy the apples are. I want to use as much water as I can without watering down the apples too much. I let them cook just until the apples are soft throughout. Then we strain out the juice and run the apples through the Squeezo to make the applesauce.

I taste the juice and if it's too watery, I will use the same juice to cook the next pot of apples. I taste it again and usually it will be very good. At that point I set it aside and start with water again. In this way, we get several quarts of apple juice per bushel of apples. I'm sorry I can't remember how many. I hope this will be helpful to you!

Another thing to remember is the apple juice will not be clear and it won't look like store-bought juice. It will have some apple fiber in it. I suppose you could strain it. I read that the juice one buys has been "clarified" with gelatin to make it clear. I use Golden Delicious apples. The juice is brown but when canned, it turns a pretty pink

Blessings,
Daylily

**hotprincesscm** · 09-21-2009, 07:35 AM

Oh that sounds good! I may have to try that. I only have one bushel of apples, but that is more than plenty for my family! I may try and make the juice before the sauce this year....I just have nothing to store the juice in. Does anyone know how long the juice will last refrigerated? Is it like regular store bought juice?

**daylily** · 09-21-2009, 08:41 AM

It will look and taste different than store bought juice. It's still good though. We like it better. Of course, the taste depends on the variety of apples you use. As for the keeping, it will keep several days I know. We always use up an opened 1/2 gallon before it goes bad. I can it and I'm sure you could freeze it too.

Last summer, we made some juice with a cider press a friend of ours had borrowed. It was good too but we still like this method the best. We got more juice per bushel of apples and we liked it just as well as the pressed.

**pop goes the weasel** · 09-21-2009, 08:52 AM

When I read this I had to tell you about some friends who made apple wine.You have to keep in mind that they are very heavy drinkers and by the time they were done they were very much incapacitated by alcohol. They hooked up a squeezo to a drill so they wouldn't have to crank it. Started cutting apples and put them in. This lasted til they decided it wasn't going fast enough and started putting in whole apples. By the time the squeezo broke they had a 5 gallon crok of this apple stuff. I thought maybe they would strain it and seal it. No they let it sit in this crock til it fremented to where they thought it was done and put it in 1/2 gallon plastic whiskey bottles. 40 of them no less. Stuck these in boxes and put them in the basement. Now I would think this stuff would either mold or turn to vinegar. They drank all ofit over the winter. If i would drik even a little I think I know where I would end up the next day if not sooner. lol anyways the recipe above sounds great. Everyones apples here froze.

**daylily** · 09-21-2009, 11:57 AM

Oh my goodness! And no doubt they thought they were being so efficient

I'll bet it was some powerful stuff!

That's too bad about everyone's apples freezing. That happened to us a couple of years ago. No fruit of any kind. but last year and this year, we've had an abundance.

**littleplum** · 09-21-2009, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by daylily

Another thing to remember is the apple juice will not be clear and it won't look like store-bought juice. It will have some apple fiber in it. I suppose you could strain it. I read that the juice one buys has been "clarified" with gelatin to make it clear. I use Golden Delicious apples. The juice is brown but when canned, it turns a pretty pink

Blessings,
Daylily

Does that make it more like the color/clarity of apple cider?

**daylily** · 09-21-2009, 06:42 PM

It's opaque and quite ugly before it's canned. I guess it would be more like apple cider.

**my4littlebuffaloes** · 09-21-2009, 06:51 PM

All right, I did it! Thanks for your input everyone. I filled my large stockpot with about 17 pounds of apples. Then I poured 2 quarts of water mixed with 1/2 cup lemon juice (to keep it from turning brown) and poured it over and boiled it until they were soft.

Then I ran the entire pot through my cheese cloth and strainer into another pot. Then I ran the apples through my food mill. I ended up with 2 quarts of juice (I added 1/3 cup of sugar to sweeten) and 5 quarts of applesauce. I did 2 batches of that combo and with the second batch we had enough juice to drink and sauce for snack. The juice was so good! A very pretty pink and thicker than store bought. No doubt better for you too. Thanks for helping me out on this one, it totally worked.

**Grainlady** · 09-21-2009, 07:32 PM

Here's a link with more information that may be helpful...

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/apple_juice.html

**littleplum** · 09-22-2009, 09:12 AM

I am totally intrigued by the idea of pink apple juice. We just don't drink much juice around here!

**daylily** · 09-22-2009, 10:17 AM

Jennifer,
I'm glad it worked for you!

Grainlady, I'll check out the link also

Littleplum, we don't drink juice around here either. We use it on our cooked cereal instead of milk or soymilk