Making Applesauce!🍎 Part 2

 Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving week! I hope that you're all staying safe and healthy.

If you saw my last post (here) you would know that recently I made a large batch of applesauce, and posted about it. Well, this week it's time for Part 2. Now you might be thinking, "wait, there's more?"

And the answer is YES! There is another whole post more! This time it's about storing the applesauce, which I do by canning.

In this post, you will learn how to can applesauce. And with this method, you can really can almost anything!

So let's get started.

There are a couple of things, that are essential to canning. Hot applesauce, hot water, and sanitized jars/lids. These things cannot be overlooked, or the canning process won't work.

To start, you need to find a really big pot, like this one. Oh, and make sure it has a lid.

 

A canning rack is also helpful, it sits on the bottom of the pot, keeping the jars off of direct heat. If you don't have one, it will still work just fine. 

Fill the pot with enough water to cover the jars by a few inches. (this is why you need a big pot) Just set the jar next to the pot and estimate how much water you need. If you have a rack, put it in, and set the pot on high heat, until it's boiling. Make sure you put the lid on.

Next, you need to find some jars and lids. I used quart jars and canning lids, but you can use whatever size jars you want. The lids need to be the same though, you can't use plastic ones. They need to have 2 parts, the lid, and the rim. Now, for sanitizing everything, all you have to do is boil them. Find 2 pots, (or one big one) and put the pieces of the lids in them. Fill the pots with enough water to cover the lids by 1 inch, and put them on high heat. Once they are boiling you can remove the lids, and put them on a towel to dry.

The applesauce also has to be heated. If you can right after you make the applesauce, it will already be hot, and you can go ahead and can it straight from there. (don't get confused by the 2 different uses of the word can) ;)

But, if you are canning after the applesauce has already cooled, that's fine too. Just put it back into a pot or if you used an Instant pot, you can put it in there as well. Whichever method you used, just do it again for a shorter period of time. On the stove, bring it to a boil. For the Instant pot, you can either set it for 1 minute or reheat. (if you have that setting) And for the Crockpot, set it on high, until the applesauce is boiling.

When the large pot of water is boiling, you can go ahead and put the jars in. Making sure to fill them to the top with hot water. I like to use a jar lifter for this. (very original name) You can also use a pair of tongs. 

* BE VERY CAREFUL!!! THE WATER IS VERY, VERY HOT!!!

Let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes, then you can start filling them. Take one of the jars out, and fill it almost to the top, leaving 1 inch of space. Screw on the lid, and put it back into the hot water for 15 minutes. Again, make sure the lid is on. Then you can take them out and set them on a towel to cool.

Leave them there for about an hour. After an hour has passed, you can check to see if the jars and all sealed. Take the rim of the jar off, and carefully pick up the jar using the lid. Hold your hand underneath it, in case it's not sealed. If the lid doesn't come off, it's sealed. If it does come off, put the jar back in the hot water for another ten minutes.

Once they are all sealed, they will stay good for 1 year. After that, it is still edible, but the taste won't be as good.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! I have some things that I want to post about before December, so I will have a couple posts in a shorter period of time than usual.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Jacey