Blue book says to treat apples with Fruit-Fresh protector. I can just dunk the sliced apples in water/lemon juice instead, right? What should the ration of that be?

I'm going to make a light syrup. It's ok to add a cinnamon stick to the simmering syrup, as long as I remove it later, right?

I'm also going to water bath in the pressure canner. If I use pint jars, I can have them covered by two inches of water.

Anything I need to know, to avert disaster? :)

Yes you can add a cinnamon stick. You wouldn't even have to remove it except that it would darken the syrup in the jar.

Good luck with the apples!

Carol

I don't use a syrup, just hot water. That way I can use the apples in any recipe later.

Cover the jars with 1-2" minimum of water, sometimes I can't get 2", but I watch and make sure that the jars are covered all the time. I have added super hot water if needed.

If you don't add the lemon, then your apples will just darken, not good looking but still safe. This year I added lemon juice AND fruit fresh and my apples are still WHITE as they were when first cut, after being canned for a month or more.

Marla

Dave

If they have Honey Crisp for the 77 cents/lb, they don't brown as quickly and are supposed to be a good apple. I haven't tasted them.

To me, store apples aren't what I would can, but I can be picky about that.

"The flavour is sweet with very little trace of acidity and little depth or complexity. There can also be a trace of pear-drop flavour. In a good example this is a juicy and instantly refreshing apple, in a less good example it will be simply sweet and bland (but still very nice). As its name suggests this is genuinely a crisp/crunchy apple. However since the flesh is quite light, the crunch is surprisingly soft, nothing like the hard crisp crunch of a good Golden Delicious."

My favorite apple is Idared. It's got good flavor and it's a hard, crunchy apple so I think it would can well.

Rodney

Nettie what size "slices"? I can Granny Smith in slices all the time with no problem but the term "slices" means different things to different people and if using one of those spiral apple slicers they are too thin. I think 1/4" slices are just too thin so go for at least 1/2" thick or more.

We use one of these and then with a really big apple, cut them in 1/2 again.

Dave

PS: the other issue can be cooking them too long or at too hot a temp before filling the jars. 5 min max at no more than a light simmer.

The things one needs to consider on canning apples are first of all the variety. Some apples are just naturally softer and mealier and do not make good candidates for baking or canning, other than perhaps in sauce. There are charts everywhere guiding you to those not suitable. Then there is something I have not seen here yet and that is degree of ripeness. Fully ripe apples also will make a softer product. There is ripe and then there is ripe! We chill our apples out just as soon as they come to full colour. They'll hold perfectly fine out of refrigeration for a good deal longer, but they become softer. It's easy for me, since we raise our own, but you are at the mercy of the vendor if you don't. I will purposely use apples just on the hard side of ripe for canning. If you look at the commerically canned apple pie filling it really appears they take this to the max.

Then of course is the size of the slice. I do not 'slice' those I intend to can or preserve. I cut them like I would cut a pie, in narrow wedges, almost twice as thick as I would cut a slice for a pie made fresh. Then as Dave says be right on top of your heat control both in preparing to jar them and also in the processing time.

Madonna

Another orchard in town has some Spy crosses - I have to try to remember what names are. Last year was a bad apple year so they didn't have many.

The store-bought Red Delicious aren't worth eating IMHO.

I don't use store-bought produce for any canning.