There were still so many apples on the Stamen apple tree. I hated to see them go to waste so I got out the Squeezo and went to work.
My Squeezo is at least twenty-five years old, but you can still buy them on Amazon.com. There is nothing that does applesauce as easily and thickly. My sons loved to turn the handle when they were children. Actually, most adults do too.
After washing the apples they only have to be cut up into quarters. The bad parts should be cut out also. The unsprayed apples from my tree were surprisingly nice. I was happy to see I didn’t need to trim many bad places. Since they are not sprayed, they turn brown quickly. I stirred them into a quart of cider as quickly as I could and started them cooking.
When they were very tender, I processed them with the Squeezo. At this point there is very little waste. You can see how thick the sauce was when it come through the screen. It also had a lovely pink color.
I did save some as applesauce, freezing about a quart, saving a quart in the refrigerator, and sharing a quart with friends. Then I put the rest into the crockpot with lots of spices. I just add cinnamon, allspice and cloves, then taste. Honey brings out the flavor of the spices. Then I cook it until a tablespoon on a plate has no liquid drain from it. This didn’t take very long since it started out so thick. There is plenty of apple butter to freeze, use and share. And there are still many apples on the tree.