Preserving the Harvest – Apples

Apple Cider, Apple Pie, Apples, Preserving, Reflections

I know I’ve said this several times, but we’ve had a wonderful year for growing foods. Apples are no exception. At least three of our trees were heavy producers which have given us plenty of apples do what we want with. In past years I have made apple pie filling which I freeze for making pies throughout the year, I have canned apple sauce, and we have dehydrated apples.

We have found that we usually don’t eat much of the applesauce or the dehydrated apples, so we decided to do something different this year.

So far, I have enough pie filling in the freezer to make 8 pies. The other thing we are doing is making apple cider.

We have never made cider before because we do not have an apple press, but this year we figured out how to make cider without a press.

It’s not as efficient as using a press, we first peel (the peel could be left on), core, and slice the apples then put them in the blender. We are doing small batches.

We add just a little bit of water to get them going and we blend the apples until they are pureed.

We then strain out the juice (cider). To do this we put the puree in a fine mesh juice bag, then set that in strainer over a bowl or pot.

We then put a smaller bowl on top of the juice bag and press down on it to help squeeze the juice out. We’ll let it drip for a while then come back and press some more.

I have been pasteurizing the cider then freezing what we don’t drink, but we are also going to make some hard cider which will be made with raw (unpasteurized) cider. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Thanks for reading!

21 thoughts on “Preserving the Harvest – Apples”

    1. Hi Joni, this is Ruth, not Diane. To pasteurize the cider, I heat it to at least 160 degrees F (71 C) but not more than 185 F (85 C) for a minute or two to kill potentially harmful pathogens.

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      1. Sorry Ruth! I was watching Blue Jays baseball when I was typing! They won 10-1 what a game. Do you watch the Detroit team? I follow three food/garden blogs – Diane, Dorothy and you so I got mixed up. I knew pasteurized meant killing germs but I didn’t know how you did it!

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      2. We mostly listen to the Tigers on the radio. Most of the games are not on the stations we get but I think this week when they play in Detroit it will be so we will probably watch. We are watching the Lions football game right now. I’m not really a football fan. Just a Lions fan because they are a fun team to watch.
        I just heat the cider on the stove.

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  2. Yummm. I love everything apple. Randy loves applesauce with pork chops and I recently made the best apple pie. Your cider sounds amazing. Let me know how the hard cider goes. I remember a few years back at a gathering at the farm , you shared a bottle of apple wine that Dom’s dad had made. It was sooooo good . Good times 🍷

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  4. Good idea. I am very lucky to live right next door to a commercial apple press which is in full production at the moment pressing apples from neighbours. We have just finished our cider made last year. It kept better in glass Demi John’s than it did in plastic bumpers. Enjoy your juice!

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    1. I have never had star fruit, guava, or gooseberries. They do not grow in our part of the world. Lemons are commonly sold in our grocery stores, and I have used lemon is some recipes. I have seen star fruit and guava in some stores but have never tried them. I have recently read that gooseberries have many health benefits including being heart healthy and neuroprotective. It’s good to hear you had a good growing season as well.

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  7. You were smart to come up with the idea for making apple cider Ruth. I hope you are rewarded with a tasty product. You and your husband will be very healthy with all the apples you are eating, as well as the rest of the fresh produce you’ve consumed or canned or frozen for later in the dead of Winter.

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