Canned Apple Pie Filling

I have been wanting to try my hand at home canning for a while now.  It seemed like such a daunting task, but I knew that it would be well worth it to have home fresh food canned to use all year round.  Because we have been on the go pretty much all summer, I’ve not had much of a chance to can any vegetables like I had hoped, but I did can some apple pie filling last week!  Jeremy loves pies and now I’ll be able to easily whip up some apple pies for him throughout the year. 

My uncle and aunt have a huge apple tree at their house and once we got back from Chicago the apples were ripe for picking!  We headed over and filled up two buckets of apples.

We brought them home and washed them and waited until the next day to start canning.

My mom canned pickles and tomatoes several years ago and thankfully still had her canning supplies.  Supplies needed to can included a large pot to use as a water bath, mason jars, lids and rings, funnel, and tongs to get the jars out of the pot. 

I modified this recipe a little to use for canning my apple pie filling. 

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 10 cups water
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 6 pounds apples (I weighed my apples before peeling and that was a mistake.  I should have used more apples, so be sure to weigh after you peel because they will weigh less!)

Directions:
I first washed all of my jars and rings in the dishwasher because they had been sitting in the basement for several years. 

1. In a large pot, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.
2. Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water.
3. Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
4. Fill jars with hot syrup, and gently remove air bubbles with a plastic knife. (be sure to use plastic or silicone spatula to do this.  A regular knife can cause the hot jars to bust)
5. Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes. (be sure to put the lid on the pot while the jars are in the water bath)

I didn’t take any pictures of the canning process because 1) I had no idea what I was doing, and 2) I was too scared I was going to mess something up to stop and take pictures :)

I was only able to get 6 jars out of the recipe, but I don’t think that I filled them enough with apples.  I had an extra jar of apples and I ran out of syrup for them.  I will try and fill the jars up with more apples next time and let them sit in the syrup for a few minutes to settle and rise.  The apples rose in the water bath and I can tell my jars have a lot of extra syrup in them at the bottom.

All six cans sealed and I’ve got enough to make six small pies or three 9 inch pies.  I really enjoyed my first canning experience and can’t wait to can more next year!