Apple Butter

When I was a senior in high school I was hired to work as a Historical interpreter at Prickett's Fort State Park a reproduction of an 18^th century refuge fort. This is were I learned how to make apple butter. We would peel and slice the apples and place them in large kettles on the fireplace in the meeting house and on a firepit in the court yard. As the apples started cooking we would stir until they turned into a beautiful thick reddish brown sauce. Apple butter was a process that took hours of stirring but what a wonderful time it was. We were all dressed in our 18^th century clothes and a musical group played in the corner of the meeting house. We served biscuits off the fire to the staff and hot Wassel when it was cold. I can’t tell how wonderful the smell of the wood smoke and the apples was that filled the old log cabin.

I am over 50 now and Apple Butter making are some of my most cherished memories.

Click here for a PDF of my Apple butter recipe.

Things to think about before making apple butter.

You should try to select a cooking apple, but any apple will work. I am only familiar with a few of the old brands so here is a great site to help understand the difference. click here. Another thing I have learned over the years is an apple that is starting to begin to get "Punky" or not as fresh are great to use.

Every time I have made apple butter someone has had an idea to improve or streamline the process. Things such as peeling with a crank peeler and using the metal slicers you just push down over the apple. Pampered Chef has a great peeler, slicer and coring devise.

"Red Hot's" candy

Later in my life when making apple butter with my boys at their grandma Fluharty's home she added cinnamon red hots (the little red round bead like candy) to her apple butter. When I asked her why she used them she said they were only rationed so much sugar during the war and they started added it for the sweetness and the flavor. Now her children and grandchildren add them because that is how they were taught and it is grandma’s recipe. I love traditions.

Making Apple Butter
on J-B Farm

This year I made apple butter with my husband on our farm. It was a treat because he had never made apple butter this way. We took a trip to Grantsville Maryland an Amish community near us and purchased our apples. We bought a couple bushel of McIntosh and Winesap. These are the names of cooking apples I was familiar with. I had to borrow a kettle and stand from a friend. Copper or Brass kettles are really expensive and I figured we could wait to make that investment. We ended up with 30 pints I didn’t add any sugar only some cinnamon oil and powdered cinnamon. The apples were so sweet and thick when I cooked them into sauce I didn’t feel it was necessary and we liked ours a little on the tart side.

I cooked the apples down on the stove and then ran them through the food mill. This made a beautiful reddish apple sauce. I stored the applesauce in the fridge for a couple days and then on the weekend we built a fire outside.

I placed a few washed penny's in the bottom of the kettle. They slide around on the bottom when you are stirring and keep the apple butter from scorching. We kept the fire just high enough to get a nice rolling boil going and stirred constantly for almost 4 hours. I was told when you could put some on a plate and drag a spoon through and it doesn’t run back together it is done. I dipped the apple butter right out of the pot and poured it into pint jars I had sanitized in the dishwasher. After the jars were filled I wiped the rim and placed the lid and rings on and then processed them for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. It is a lot of work but this winter when I open a pint and put some on a warm biscuit it will be worth it. I will be able to taste the memories. They also make great Christmas gifts and will keep for years in the sealed jars.

My apple butter stirrer was hand made by my dear friend Charles Price. You can purchase a kettle and stirrer at my favorite Amish store, Lehmans.

West Virginia offers some wonderful Apple Butter Festivals each year.

Click here Apple Butter festival information for Berkley Springs West Virginia

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