Apple Butter, Episode 2

My recent post about apple butter making was an account of a “public” event at our friends Pat and Valerie’s place a month ago.  A couple weeks ago we learned that there was going to be a second episode of apple butter making, this time pretty much restricted to a close circle of friends.  We are, fortunately, part of that circle.

The appointed day for the apple butter rendering was a brutal cold, raw, windy and rainy day.  In response Pat and Valerie set up the cauldron inside their boiling hearth, normally holding the sugar water boiling pan for making maple syrup.  Being a creative guy, Pat removed the pan and rigged up his cauldron with a propane burner to cook the apple chips.  Or maybe it was Valerie’s idea, I don’t rightly remember.

This made the entire event even more charming and cozy.

So there we were in this homey setting, stirring and adding apple chips to the bubbling cauldron until after several hours it was time to add the spices.  Normally sugar would also be added but this batch of apples was so sweet naturally none was needed.

The spices were stirred in for another half hour.

At the proper time the canning began with a well-honed assembly line.  Once again my task was to take away the full cases loaded with the still-hot apple butter.

Out came the fresh biscuits, made with loving excellence by Pat’s sister.  The scrumptious biscuits were used to clean out the cauldron.   Yummmmm.

Another day well spent.

Apple Butter

Three Saturday’s ago I went to our friends Pat and Valerie for their annual apple butter day.  It’s a local tradition that we have gladly glommed on to.

Great fun and fellowship abounded.

At the start, apple chips are just dumped into the copper cauldron and stirred with a canoe paddle.

There is a lot of standing around while we watch the person with the paddle.  This is where the tall tales and gripes about taxes emerge.

As it cooks down more apple chips are added and the stirring switches to a custom designed stirring paddle.

Hours later it is all cooked down and ready for adding the spices and sugar.  Occasionally they make a batch of sugar free apple butter, that is the stuff we like.  But this was a sugared batch.

Once that is all cooked and stirred some more, Pat conducts an “all finished” viscosity test by depositing a dollop on the underside of a sauce pan.  Too runny?  Cook some more.  When it is ready it gets canned in jars.

At this point my job was to carry the cases of still-hot jars into the sugar house for later labeling and, eventually, selling.

The big highlight is that after all the work is done, Pat’s sister breaks out the bin of fresh, still-warm biscuits we use to scrape the residue out the cauldron.  The moaning of delight commenced.

Mmmm, mmmm, mmm.