What to do with apple tree apples?

[deena]

I'm moving to a house with an apple tree. The apples are below the quality that we would eat, or at least on a regular basis, but there's no way I'm wasting them. So I was thinking I'd make apple cider with them. I tried a method I googled yesterday and it was a complete flop. So, any suggestions for what to do with them or a successful method of making apple cider that isn't incredibly time consuming?

[Psyche]

Could you google in your area to see if someone has a press you could pay to use or share the cider with for the priviledge of using it?

[SweetCaroline]

"below quality" you mean like not tasty? or just ugly? some are too sour , like the little green ones, and will make your belly hurt

i picked apples off the inlaws trees..scrubbed all the fungus off ( hey..organic right?) and made some *rockin* apple butter.

[greengirl19]

Apple sauce in the crockpot is also super easy and you can add cinnamon or a little sugar to spruce up less than tasty apples.

[deena]

psyche- I'll look into that.

mommy5 - love your profile picture. That alone gives you street-cred for answering this thread. yeah, the apples are not too tasty. And a fair percentage of messed up parts -eaten by bugs or whatever. Just normal stuff for not having pesticides sprayed all over them. :) Apple butter you say? :think I'll try that.

greengirl19 Another good thought. applesauce

[Indigo]

If there is a nearby farm you could possibly donate some as animal food and you could feed horses as treats.

You could certainly compost the ones not used.

[Annainprogress]

I was thinking apple pie :yum. But any kind of processing means you can add sugar or other sweetener if they're too sharp.

[Lady TS]

Am I the only one that, after reading the title, thought "What other kind of apples are there?" :shifty

Everyone's already suggested what I was going to suggest...

[WanderingJuniper]

It's time consuming to cut out all the icky bits but we make applesauce and apple butter with seconds from the farm market. If you are not opposed to sugar tart apples can be made delish pretty easily.

The ones from my dad's overgrown neglected tree get piled up to feed the deer through the winter in hopes that the deer will leave some of the other plants alone.

[ThreeKids]

The easiest way to preserve the apples is to make applesauce. Use a slicer to get 6-8 slices fast, throw away the core, then the icky bits will removed with a food mill after cooking the apples. The food mill would remove the apple meat from the core, too, but I find it easier to just throw that away so I don't have to clear the food mill as often.

Another easy thing is cooked apples. Use the slicer, then remove icky bits, which'll be an easy job when they're already sliced, then cook them w/ oil, cinnamon, and sugar, then freeze in quart bags.

What I actually do is slice, then separate the perfect slices from the not perfect slices, then the imperfects go to apple sauce and the perfects go to cooked apples.

[WanderingJuniper]

Another easy thing is cooked apples. Use the slicer, then remove icky bits, which'll be an easy job when they're already sliced, then cook them w/ oil, cinnamon, and sugar, then freeze in quart bags.

Could you elaborate on the cooked apples and the freezing of them? How much oil, sugar & cinnamon? Do you cook them in any water? Do you pour it all in the freezer bag? :popcorn :)

[ThreeKids]

The water varies. I start with enough to get the steam started, then either add some to keep the apples from burning or let the apples produce their own. It varies so much depending on your apples.

The oil I add because I'm forgetful and it's assurance the apples will burn less if I forget more water.

Sugar varies, depending on the tartness of the apples. On the red delicious end of the scale, you can get away with no sugar w/o making the lemon face when you eat them, but I think they are better with sugar. For the most tart apples, I feel like I'm spending a fortune on sugar to kick out the tartness. Sorry, I can't give you a better baseline. I keep adding and tasting and I add enough to get a sticky sounding boil, which is a dessert amount of sweetness.

I've done this in the microwave before (no oil and less water needed) when just making a meal's worth of apples.

Cinnamon, I go for a dark color, which is a crazy amount of cinnamon, but it's my preference.

I cool the pot in some water in the sink and stir a bit before trying to handle the batch. I label the bags before adding anything. Then, I put the freezer bag over an oversized coffee cup, add a canning funnel, and ladel the apples in. I let the bags cool in the fridge overnight, then stack them, then freeze them.

[knitlove]

they might still make good apple jelly. Last year my mom made apple jelly with crab apples.

[SweetCaroline]

they might still make good apple jelly. Last year my mom made apple jelly with crab apples.
i do crabapple preserves. delish!!

[RiverRock]

I usually freeze bags of peeled and sliced apples. As I am slicing I collect them in a big bowl of salted water to prevent them from discolouring. I measure 6 cups into each freezer bag, remove the air with a straw, seal and freeze. This is the perfect amount for making an apple bar (cookie sheet sized apple pie type square) in the winter, or I cook them to be a warm applesauce to serve with dinner. I used to can applesauce, but my family prefers some lumps in their sauce, and to have it served warm.

I also make fruit leather with applesauce (this time cooked down without lumps). Sometimes I add other fruits, or cinnamon.

Our favourite pie is apple and plum, so when all the stars align I make some of these and pop them in the freezer to bake in the winter as needed.

[deena]

Am I the only one that, after reading the title, thought "What other kind of apples are there?" :shifty


:haha Didn't think of it that way.