Here are two suggestions:

1. Cover with just a bit of water, simmer until soft, drain, and make jelly from this. Use added pectin, or boil down without adding pecting (peels and cores are high in pectin). Leave it plain, or flavour with some vinegar and some of the following: garlic, herbs [sage, rosemary, etc.], hot peppers.

2. Use the peels and cores to stretch a batch of applesauce (i.e., use part normal apples, part peels and cores). I like the flavour and colour that the peels add.

Victrola,
I've emailed you.

Tietie, didn't get the email.

Victrola,
I'm not surprised....I can't find it in my sent folder either. Here's the jist.

What I didn't understand was on your suggestion #1 if the liquid was what you make the jelly from? I took the peel/cores added about 3c water and simmered until all was soft. Then re-read your post and thought maybe I'd added too much water. Definitely got lost somewhere along the way. Yesterdays peel/cores are now in the compost but I still have lots of apples left.

Also, I had thought about making an apple jelly with cranberries floating in it. Sounded pretty at least. But couldn't find a recipe and wondered if my leftover peel/cores could be used to make the jelly part.

Thanks
tanya

Tanya,
I don't know what type of community you live in but if your yard is raided by deer I'd suggest offering the peels & cores to the deer (at a point farthest away from landscaping as possible). That's what I do, unless I have a whole lot then I compost most. Don't want to over indulge the deer. :-)
Karen

Karen, I feed mine to the horses. (grin)

Tanya I don't see why you couldn't make the apple jelly portion of your cranberry/apple jelly with the liquid from the peelings. Also, if you tip your jars while cooling, you may be able to distribute the berries throughout the jelly, otherwise I'm afraid they will probably simply float (still good, but not as "cool" looking I think)

Annie

Jelly can be a bit flat tasting if you use too much water. I presume you mean using dried cranberries in the jelly? I would think that fresh ones should not be canned raw in the jelly for safety reasons.

I'd be interested to hear how this jelly comes out that is made from peels. Remember that the apple seeds are supposed to be nasty like poisonous, so I'd discourage that. I tried making apple butter from the pump left from jelly and it just wasn't nice. Had no sparkle and tasted flat.

Linda Lou weighed in on the apple seed issue earlier this year in the context of cooking the whole apple for making applesauce. They do contain minute traces of cyanide but it is so little that the safety folks say not to worry about it.

Hi!
I don't have a lot of canning/preserving experience, but have started tossing apple and pear peelings and cores into plastic bags (just add more as they accumulate) in the freezer. I did use one batch in some apple juice and sauce that I made with a steamer juicer.... drank some fresh and hope to make jelly later with the rest that I froze.

My intention is to use these scraps for the pectin for jellies/jams, but haven't figured out how yet. Being able to freeze & use later is convenient though.

Nice that any yuckier parts can go in the compost.

Hi, here are some directions for turning the apple peels and cores into pectin. My advice would just be barely cover the stuff with water, as it is hard to know how many pounds of peelings you have. I use an old cotton pillowcase and squeeze it to get every drop out. The whitish stuff you'll get has the highest pectin concentration I believe. -Marcia
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Chop 2 pounds apple peelings and cores (or whole sour cooking apples or crab apples), cover with 4 1/2 cups water, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes or until pulpy. Pour the contents of the pan into a scalded jelly bag suspended over a large bowl and leave to drain, undisturbed, in a cool place for 8-12 hours. Store the pectin extract in the refrigerator once you have made it. Use 1 1/4 cups of the extract for every 4 pounds low-pectin fruit and add it to the fruit after it has been cooked but before the sugar is added.
2/3 cup homemade pectin is same as 3-ounces of powdered gelatin.

put the peels and cores in a glass quart or half gallon bottle. Fill to the top with brandy or vodka. Place in dark cool place for 3 or 4 weeks, turning bottle upside down every 2 or 3 days. Strain and sweeten as desired. /Abi

Make your own vinegar with them!!

Cider Vinegar
waste peel and cores of about 12 apples
pure water

Put the peel and cores in a wide-mouthed crock or jar and just cover with water. If using fewer apples, add about 1/4 cup apple juice and a little less water. Cover and leave the jar in a warm place to ferment, stirring every few days. The taste of vinegar will develop gradually, depending on temperature, and the cloudiness of the liquid will clear. When it is to your taste, it is ready to strain into a large bowl. Bottle and label with the date, reserving a small amount to become the vinegar ÂmotherÂ. To keep the Âmother alive, add peel and water occasionally to the liquid. To make a fresh batch from the ÂmotherÂ, add fresh apple peel and cores to the Âmother and enough water to cover and repeat the method described above. Use vinegar with equal parts of water to treat rashes, shingles, or undiluted for night sweats (as a body splash), burns, impetigo and ringworm. Drink 1 tablespoon cider vinegar in water about every hour to help cold and flu symptoms or as an antidote for food poisoning.

When I make anything with apples that requires me to remove peel and cores, I save them in a food bucket in the freezer. When I have enough (around 10 lbs maybe) I simmer them with some water and make jelly. However, because it is not quite as tasty as fresh apples, I make my spiced jelly with it, with some fresh ginger, stick cinnamon, a few cloves and allspice. It tastes wonderful, sort of like apple pie without the apple pieces.

Aeiger sounds like my recipe for elderberry shnapps, only with apples, yummy.

Marie

Daisyduckworth, I thought you needed the "mother" to start the vinegar? If that isn't the case, does the first batch take a little longer compared to later batches that contain the mother? Thanks, Lori