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Apples, and an alternative to Fruit Fresh

Written by Translator on August 15, 2008 – 7:37 pm -

My neighbor, Preacher, kept my purple hulls and okra picked whilst I was in Arkansas. I returned the favor by taking him some of the peas cooked, and cherry tomatoes that he likes. He also brought me a five gallon pail full of knotty apples. I am not one to waste a gift, so I began processing them.

They were small, ugly, and full of imperfections. That is the best stock for jelly and butter. I washed them a bit at a time, and carefully cut out the bad spots. The very best, tart ones, I have reserved for a cobbler tomorrow, but the rest became stock for jelly and butter.

None of the big box stores have any regular pint storage jars in stock, but I have found enough around the house to serve the purpose. I do not know what I will do when the tomatoes come on in a week or two, but I will deal with that then.

After I culled the bad spots from the apples (leaving on the skins, and the core), I picked out the best, clear, tart ones for a cobbler, and put the rest into the kettle for juice and butter. It has been rewarding, but lots of cutting and culling. I suspect that I have put in 12 hours on this single project. The juice emerging from the jelly bag is a nice color, feebly pink. The pulp remaining in it is full pectin, just asking to be made into apple butter.

I borrowed Helen’s (Preacher’s wife) ancient Foley Food Mill to separate the seeds and skins from the pulp. I want one of those, and will look for one at flea markets. In any event, I have a quart each of juice for jelly and pulp without skins nor seeds for butter. Here is the secret to keep apples, and other fruit, from darkening on contact with air.

Fruit Fresh is a commercial product that combines a lot of sugar with a little ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). They wanted five bucks for a relatively small pack of it a Kroger, so I just looked at the label and went home. There I crushed up four, 500 mg tablets of vitamin C and dispersed it in water. I started slicing apples, and dropped the sound parts into the treated water. Soon I saw that the discarded parts in the trash were getting very dark, whilst the good ones in the vitamin C bath were still fresh.

You can get a bottle of vitamin C at any store for only a couple of dollars, and that much Fruit Fresh would easily cost over $100. Just crush up the tablets, disperse the material in a little of water, and have undarkened fruit until you can process it. Cheap, effective, and just the same as Fruit Fresh does. I will let you know how the jelly and butter turns out after I have finished. Warmest regards, Doc.

Tags: Antioxidant, Apple butter, Apple jelly, Apples, Ascorbic acid, Fruit Fresh, Vitamin C
Posted in Economy, Food, Frugality, Gardening, Recipes |