Homemade Apple Butter enjoying a Stir off
Table of Contents
Homemade Apple Butter Stir-Off
Homemade Apple Butter is a common topic this time of year in the south. Just like making molasses, apple butter is a yearly stir-off here in many areas of the south.
Homemade apple butter is one of the most delicious toppings you will find for pretty much any bread you can make! It is a wonderful treat and mouth watering good.
As the trees start turning color here, gardens have been laid aside and the crops have been put away. The pumpkins are being prepared for Halloween and everything is changing fast!
Fall is in the air and it is getting cooler by the day. The frost has already mad its way across the mountains and has settled in our valleys turning the mornings white. This in turn, is turning out trees a vibrant orange, red, and yellow!
What a great time to spend time with neighbors and family. I still remember times of folks gathering to have stir-offs and bringing hot homemade biscuits with them!
There is just nothing better than putting a big spoonful of hot, fresh homemade apple butter on a hot, homemade biscuit! They will melt in your mouth!
Watching the squirrels play and gather nuts is so refreshing and reminds us of a time just ahead that we will be setting around the table with snow blowing outside while enjoying the wonderful apple butter we had canned earlier!
What a wonderful time of year. The birds, squirrels, and much of nature are out gathering for the coming winter. The days are getting shorter and the sun has lost it’s sting from the mid-day heat is carried earlier in the year. What a grand time!
According to “The Southern Gardener and Recipe Book” to have an Apple Butter Party, in the Autumn of the year one should invite his neighbors over. Then 3 bushels of fairly sweet apples should be prepared by peeling, quartered, and cores removed: Meanwhile let three barrels of clear new cider boil down to half; when this done add the prepared apples to the cider and continue to boil briskly.
To accomplish this task the invited parties must take turns stirring the apples and cider to prevent them from sticking to the sides of the Cauldron and burning. According to the book, the stirring must continue until the mixture becomes like “concrete”, meaning the texture of hash pudding, very thick.
At this point, you will add seasoning of pulverized allspice to your taste. At this time after mixing the spice in, the product will be considered finished and committed to pots for future use.
This is a product that will keep for many years. The tradition was to give each participant in this Apple Butter Party a jar of the fresh homemade apple butter to take home with them.
This was a time of visiting and great enjoyment for children and adults alike!
Ok enough talk, here is the recipe for Homemade Apple Butter
While you are preparing the Apple Butter you can get your jars and lids ready to can this in. Get that Hot Water Boiler out and sterilize those jars and lids.
This will make approx. 6 Cups of Apple Butter
Ingredients for Homemade Apple Butter
24 good cooking apples like granny smith or one of your choosing.
1 Gallon, Apple Cider
1 Teaspoon ground Allspice
Instructions for Homemade Apple Butter
Peel core and slice apples into eights.
Place Apple Cider into large stock pot and bring to a boil.
Cook over high heat for 40 minutes.
Add apples and cook uncovered for another 3 hour and 45 minutes over medium heat or until the apple mixture has thickened and the liquid has dissolved. Stir this frequently to prevent sticking.
Remove from heat and mash apples with a OXO Good Grips Smooth Potato Masher
Stir in the allspice and continue cooking another 2 hours over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Ladle mixture into hot sterilized jars leaving ¼” of head space.
Cover with the lids and snug down, not too tight.
Process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes.
Remove and add to your pantry!
For more great canning ideas check out This Link
You can find a terrific recipe on how to make Homemade Apple Butter in a Crock Pot HERE.
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