Apples, Apple Juice, Applesauce...

My windows are all foggy.  I've been busy in the kitchen tonight making apple juice and applesauce in my steam canner.  I have never made either, but it both turned out delicious!

About 2 weeks ago I ordered a 40 pound box of fuji apples from Bountiful Baskets for $23.00.  It was such a good deal, and last time we did this we ate them all up in no time.  I guess now the kids are a bit sick of raw apples and I still had half of the box left.  It was time to do something with them before they got mushy.

So I got to work washing:

 Apples cored, sliced and put into the steam juicer.

This particular steam juicer is the Nutri-Steamer.  It has a water pan on the bottom, then the juice pan with the dispensing tube, then the colander holding the apples, then the lid on top.

This is all the apple juice I got from all those apples, sadly.  Only two quarts.  I sealed the bottles using my steam canner, boiling for 20 minutes and then removing the jars from the canner (with a jar lifter) and letting them cool on a towel on the counter.

Then I mashed up what was remaining of the apples with a potato masher,

and put the mess into my food processor to puree the mashed apples.

I added a little cinnamon and filled 3 jars with this deliciousness!

Put them in the steam canner to process for 20 minutes. 

Here is my loot.  Three quarts of applesauce and two quarts of apple juice. I drank a glass of the apple juice just now and it's like nectar.  It's so sweet and tasty!  The applesauce is also very delicious.

I have quite a few apples left, and I think tomorrow I will be dehydrating them and adding some to my homemade granola!  Click on the link for the recipe, it is divine!