apple butter boiling...the ol' fashioned way

Posted by Wendy Yutzy November 01, 2012

apple butter boiling...the ol' fashioned way

hi, my name is Parla Sonifrank, and i'm honored to be a guest blogger for Wendy today!

i'm going to be writing about making apple butter the ol' fashioned way...over a fire and in a copper kettle!

the past 2 years i have missed this favorite family tradition of mine.

you see, i'm originally from Virginia, but 2 years ago i married a guy and he brought me up here to live in Red Lake, Ontario. it has been an experience to say the least!

this year though, he took me and our little girl home for a week so that i could once again be a part of apple butter boiling day :)

all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and a few family friends on my dad's side of the family come together for the day-long event.

things actually start taking place the day before the event w/ apple snitzing

we always use Stayman and Golden Delicious apples in a 5:3 ratio

the guys peel and quarter the apples

the ladies core and slice

it sure does take a lot of apples!!!

this year we used somewhere around 10-12 bushels.

the next day, things start early in the morning...sometime between 5 and 6

we had a perfect day

the view from Granddaddy and Grammy's house where it all takes place

this is the shed out back where the fire is built, the applebutter is stirred, and the hanging happens

before things can actually get started, the copper kettle first has to be the cleaned. this is done by building a small fire under the kettle, putting vinegar and salt inside, and then wiping a rinsing it out.

a good fire then needs to be built under the kettle with no wood touching the actual kettle so as not to burn the apple butter.

the apples then need to be washed before they are put into the kettle.

approximately 6 gallons of water and 2 bushels of apples are put into the kettle to start things off.

apples are then continuously added, keeping the kettle around 3/4 full.

the applebutter has to be stirred constantly to prevent burning

we all take our turn

one of the things that i love most about this day is family time!

there is always lots of chatting, playing games, and relaxing

you may notice in the following pictures that there is a beautiful little baby that i tend to photograph alot!

that would be my precious little daughter Brighton :)

it is so fun to see her interact w/ her grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins who she rarely gets to see!

around noon we take a break from all of our fun for some more fun...the noon meal!!

there isn't enough room for everyone to eat at once (plus somebody has to keep stirring!)

so the guys eat, and then the girls

i always look forward to some of grammy's delicious vegetable soup!

now, back to the apple butter...

the last several hours of boiling allow the apple butter to thicken, darken, and be sweetened.

when all of the apples are thoroughly cooked and there are no chunks, the sugar is added.

for every gallon of apple butter, approximately 2.5 lbs. of sugar is added (the amount of sugar varies depending on the tartness/sweetness of the apples)

not all of the sugar can be added at once.

approximately 20 lbs. can be added at a time.

adding sugar decreases the temperature of the apple butter

when the temperature rises again, more sugar can be added and the process is repeated until the apple butter is sweet enough

after the last sugar has been added, the apple butter needs to be boiled for at least another hour to ensure that all of the sugar has been dissolved.

grammy then tests the apple butter to make sure it is done.

this is done by putting a spoonful on a plate, making a valley through it, and observing the amount of water that runs though the valley.

if there is relatively little water, the apple butter is done

right around 3:00 the applebutter was ready to come off

Dad and Grammy check the consistency of the applebutter to make sure it's ready.

once they determined that the applebutter was indeed ready, the action began!

Grammy adds both cinnamon oil and clove oil

it is necessary to wait until this point in the process to add the spices because if they are added earlier they will boil out

we use about twice as much cinnamon than we do cloves

the oils tend to stay on top of the apple butter so they are only added a tablespoon at a time, and continue to be added until the last of the apple butter has been dipped out and canned.

the following process is repeated until all of the apple butter from the kettle is gone:

(1) the spices are added

(2) the apple butter is stirred for no longer than 5 minutes to mis in the spices

(3) someone dips the apple butter out of the kettle and pours it into the jars

(4) someone wipes the rims of the jars

(5) someone places the lids on the jars

(6) someone puts the rings on the jars

the heat from the apple butter allows the jars to seal themselves

in the end, our 40 gallon kettle yields somewhere between 25-30 gallons of apple butter