We are getting a bunch of apples and pears today. They’re coming from our sweet local doctor and her husband, who have an abundance. They called last week to ask if we wanted some. Yes, we do! Jeff is going to pick them up in town today, as he’s there and I’m not.
Of course, we’ll eat some fresh but I also plan to make sauce of them.
The way I make raw apple or pear sauce is by washing, quartering and coring the fruit. Then I process it in batches in the Vita-Mix, to chop nicely but not puree. Sometimes I add spices, but mostly, not. Then I freeze the sauce, raw, in quart size freezer bags. I know that freezer-safe mason jars would work here, but sadly, I’ve not the freezer space to do it that way, so I must rely on plastic for this kitchen job. The freezer bags can be laid flat in the freezer for maximum use of space. I don’t mind a little browning, so I don’t add lemon juice, which means I don’t have to sweeten them, either.
Another option for the apple sauce is to follow this recipe for Raw Apple Sauce in the Vita-Mix, which has almonds, coconut, raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg added in and chopped up alongside the apples. This could be frozen also.
Some of the apples, however, are destined to become Apple Butter in the Roaster.
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Oh, this just sounds heavenly! My dear mother made homemade applesauce for all my growing-up years. Nothing brings back better memories!
Wardee, I made a teeny batch of raw pear sauce (4 small pears worth) to see if Matt liked it, and he does! So I went to the farmer’s market extra early, planning on getting a 1/2 bushel of the organic pears… and they didn’t have any left. 🙁 I talked to my favorite farmer friend, and he might have more at the Wednesday market, so I’m going to get there right when they start so I can hopefully get them this time.
Since I couldn’t get pears, I got another 1/2 bushel of organic yellow peaches (freestone). I froze 15 sandwich bags, made 2 peach crisps, and ate a bunch of peaches with the last bushel. Hopefully I can do the same again.
I love fall, but I’m so sad when the summer fruit stops coming in. I have to put up as much as I can before all of it is gone!
What a life-saver recipe! We harvested our tree on Saturday and now apples are taking over my kitchen. Little Johnny thinks they are there for him to toss all over the place after taking a tiny bite. Traditional applesauce takes so much time to prepare I didn’t know how on Earth I would manage it, but this I think we can do.
Blessings-
Christina — Yay! I’m so glad this will help you. Make sure not to chop too much or the sauce will be watery. Oh, I miss your little Johnny! What a sweetheart.
Wonderful. I am making my own organic baby food and was informed that both apples and pear did not freeze well due to color changes and taste changes. If I cook and then puree in my vita-mix, then cool in the frig, then place in silicone ice cube trays to freeze, then keep in zip lock bags will that work?
Dorene – I think it will. The color will change, though. That never concerns me. The sauce tastes wonderful out of the freezer, to us anyway. Let me know how it goes! It is a great idea!
I am making apple-pear sauce today with red and green apples and apple-pears. Its easy if you leave on the peels and just cook it a little longer to get them tender. It is going to go in ziplocks and then in the freezer. The house smells SOOO good.
Wardee,
I’m so glad I saw this post today. I had a bushel of apples sitting in my garage going bad (purchased for $5 from a local farmer). I planned to make traditional applesauce but instead I used my Vita Mix to puree the apples and freeze in Ziplocs like you suggested. One hour and I was done – including clean up. Thanks so much! I don’t know how to just chop the apples so hopefully it will be OK – didn’t see the note about it becoming watery if processed too much. Even if it is watery I think we can find a use for it.
I was thinking that I could later use a dehydrator to make fruit leather with some of it. I ordered a dehydrator last week but it’s not here yet and the apples couldn’t wait. I’ve never used a dehydrator before so hopefully that will work. Any suggestions?
Joy — I try to keep the apples/pears a bit chunky, to cut down on the water content. It is really easy, isn’t it?
I think you can use a dehydrator later. If it is too watery, you might want to drip out some of the liquid to thicken up the mixture. I look forward to hearing how it goes!
I made this a few months ago and just got a bag out of the freezer. It is delicious and my son loves it!!! I ran my apples through the corer/peeler/slicer, then into the blender with a few peels and a bit of water. It does turn a dark rust color. I tried lemon in a few batches and it did not seem to make any difference to the color. I really love the time savings by not canning it!
sprinkle some of that vitamin C stuff. Ascorbic acid its a white powder you can get from the specialty spice stores or health food store. It’s what they sprinkle on peaches to keep them from browning