DIY Food Gifts! Apple Butter

We are in the thick of Christmas preparations here at Ridinkulous. I have a large extended family who has, since before I was born, had a Christmas party full of gifts. As a kid, this was great. I got gifts from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and so did my cousins. What a sight to walk into my aunt’s house each year and see the gifts in each person’s piles. My two cousins were about the same age as me, so as kids, our gift piles were HUGE. It really was awesome. But I’m older now and I can admit that, although it really was great…

IT WAS A SPENDING FRENZY!

My cousins and I still get gifts, of course, but nothing to the degree of the olden days. There are cousins younger than us now, and even a new generation, and they’re the ones being lavished with gifts.  Marge and I participate a little bit, getting something for the kids, but other than that, in our effort to stay frugal, everyone else gets something cheap, hand-crafted and awesome.

In past years it’s been vanilla extract, pickles, homemade candles (wax + paper cups), snack mixes… This year it’s apple butter.

Into the crock pot

Materials: Apple coring machine Crock pot Food processor Canning pot

Pint size canning jars

Ingredients Cost
Apples – 6 lb $3.98
Apple cider vinegar – 3/4 cup $0.17
Apple cider – 1 cup $0.44
Brown sugar – 1 1/2 cup $0.60
White sugar – 1/4 cup $0.11
Cinnamon – tsp $0.20
Ground nutmeg – 1/2 tsp $0.17
Ground all spice – 1/2 tsp $0.17
Maple syrup – 2 tsp Free
Total $5.84
Recipe makes 3 pints
Per pint cost $1.94
Cost including jar $2.94

Of course the biggest expense is the apples, so I looked for the best deal. You don’t need to use your favorite apples to make a good apple butter. In fact, a hardier apple will work better than something like an overly crisp and watery Honeycrisp. I found 3 pound bags of “Eastern Apples” on sale at Shop Rite for $1.99 each. That’s a great price.

So I bought about 40 pounds of apples.

If you’re wondering where all of Shop Rite’s apples went..

As you can see, it’s a nice mix. McIntosh, Cortlands, Rome, and even one bag of Macouns. I’ve found the McIntosh to be the most compliant so far. I bought an counter-mounted apple corer/peeler just for this job, and the McIntoshes hold up well being put through the wringer.

I tinkered with the recipe amounts above to see what works best, but those amounts above are generally what I used, plus or minus some minced ginger. This is also my first try doing real, honest home canning. I had to buy a tall enough pot to do that job ($20), along with the pint jars, which are about $1 each.

All in all, it came out to less than $3 a jar, including the cost of the jars. Like a co-worker told me, the work is the gift.

As for a recipe, you can probably figure it out. Core and completely peel the apples, cut them up, and throw them in the crock pot with everything else. Cook on low for 8 hours or so. Then let it reduce in the crock pot and put it all through a food processor. Or vice-versa. The point is you want to reduce it to make it thicker and more like a spread.

Then you can it, and I’m definitely not telling you how I did that because I’m sure the canning illuminati will come after me with wagging fingers and their extremely exact canning directions.

Do you make any of your gifts? What do you put apple butter on? Why are these home canning enthusiasts so insane?

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