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After I steam the apples, I push the pulp through a food mill like this one.[/caption]
Grandma filled the sink with apples. I cored them and sliced them in half. She cut them into chunks and filled up 2 big pots, placing them on medium heat on her gas stove. (Something I didn't know but was glad to learn: when you use Macintosh apples in this way, you don't even have to peel them!) When the chunks of apple were cooked to softness, we transferred them to her 65-year-old food mill (it is JUST like the aluminum one at right), under which we had placed a large mixing bowl. While one of us plunged the applesauce out, the other stirred a couple tablespoons of cinnamon "red hot" candies, a handful of sugar and a generous scoop of the plain applesauce over medium-high heat until the candies were completely melted and the liquid was a bright red color. This sauce was then mixed in with the plain, resulting in a rosy-pink colored, perfectly tart, cinnamon-y applesauce. (She's been making it this way since my mom was a kid, but this was the first time I actually saw, and helped with, the process.)
[caption id="attachment_21599" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Strain your veggie juice and then sieve the pulp quickly and easily with this Stainless Steel Old-Style Food Mill from Lehman's in Kidron, Ohio, or on Lehmans.com.[/caption]
Please note: My very kitchen-savvy Grandma cooks by the "toss and look" method - that is, toss in what you know by experience is the right amount, and it will look right (and turn out right). I do this too ... sometimes to less-than-appetizing results. When my husband says, "Yeah...you don't have to bother making that again," I am fairly sure Grandma's know-how was NOT passed to me. So I relish the chance to watch her, and hopefully, learn something.
In all, we froze 25 quart jars of sauce - half of which will probably be happily consumed by my daughter. So much the better. Thanks, Grandma.
Editor's Note: This post was originally published in October 2007. If you want to make larger quantities of applesauce, take a look at our Roma strainer. It's big, fast, and all you have to do is turn the crank.
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