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zxcvbob 21-08-2004 04:35 PM

crabapples
 
I picked 5 pounds of crabapples yesterday and am gonna juice them today
to make jelly. The SureJell and Certo boxes both say to remove the
stems and blossom ends before cooking the apples to extract the juice.
(I'm gonna simmer and mash these for 15 minutes, not use the steam
juicer). What if I don't remove the stems and blossom ends? These are
small crabapples, I don't know the variety, they are red skinned with
rose-colored flesh, and about 3/4" to 1 1/4" in diameter. It would be
*way* too much work to clean these.

I just wanna wash 'em, pick out the leaves and loose stems, and boil
them (the apples, not the loose stems and leaves).

I may try juicing the next batch in the steamer and see what difference
it makes.

Best regards,
Bob

zxcvbob 21-08-2004 06:52 PM

zxcvbob wrote:
> I picked 5 pounds of crabapples yesterday and am gonna juice them today
> to make jelly. The SureJell and Certo boxes both say to remove the
> stems and blossom ends before cooking the apples to extract the juice.
> (I'm gonna simmer and mash these for 15 minutes, not use the steam
> juicer). What if I don't remove the stems and blossom ends? These are
> small crabapples, I don't know the variety, they are red skinned with
> rose-colored flesh, and about 3/4" to 1 1/4" in diameter. It would be
> *way* too much work to clean these.
>
> I just wanna wash 'em, pick out the leaves and loose stems, and boil
> them (the apples, not the loose stems and leaves).
>
> I may try juicing the next batch in the steamer and see what difference
> it makes.
>
> Best regards,
> Bob



I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
about 5 1/2 cups of water, brought them to a boil, simmered for 5
minutes, and started mashing them with a potato smasher.

It looks like mixture of ketchup and applesauce. There's no way this
will drip through a jelly bag -- and not all the crabapples have even
broken up yet. If I run this thru a food mill, I will get sour red
applesauce.

Do I need to add a bunch more water? Is it cheating to add frozen
concentrated apple juice if I water it down too much trying to get it to
drip?

Bob

zxcvbob 21-08-2004 06:52 PM

zxcvbob wrote:
> I picked 5 pounds of crabapples yesterday and am gonna juice them today
> to make jelly. The SureJell and Certo boxes both say to remove the
> stems and blossom ends before cooking the apples to extract the juice.
> (I'm gonna simmer and mash these for 15 minutes, not use the steam
> juicer). What if I don't remove the stems and blossom ends? These are
> small crabapples, I don't know the variety, they are red skinned with
> rose-colored flesh, and about 3/4" to 1 1/4" in diameter. It would be
> *way* too much work to clean these.
>
> I just wanna wash 'em, pick out the leaves and loose stems, and boil
> them (the apples, not the loose stems and leaves).
>
> I may try juicing the next batch in the steamer and see what difference
> it makes.
>
> Best regards,
> Bob



I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
about 5 1/2 cups of water, brought them to a boil, simmered for 5
minutes, and started mashing them with a potato smasher.

It looks like mixture of ketchup and applesauce. There's no way this
will drip through a jelly bag -- and not all the crabapples have even
broken up yet. If I run this thru a food mill, I will get sour red
applesauce.

Do I need to add a bunch more water? Is it cheating to add frozen
concentrated apple juice if I water it down too much trying to get it to
drip?

Bob

Melba's Jammin' 21-08-2004 07:01 PM

In article >, zxcvbob
> wrote:

> I picked 5 pounds of crabapples yesterday and am gonna juice them today
> to make jelly. The SureJell and Certo boxes both say to remove the
> stems and blossom ends before cooking the apples to extract the juice.
> (I'm gonna simmer and mash these for 15 minutes, not use the steam
> juicer). What if I don't remove the stems and blossom ends?


You'll die. HTH. :-)
(I pull the stems and trim the blossom end. Stop whining.)
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 7/22/04.


zxcvbob 21-08-2004 07:05 PM

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >, zxcvbob
> > wrote:
>
>
>>I picked 5 pounds of crabapples yesterday and am gonna juice them today
>>to make jelly. The SureJell and Certo boxes both say to remove the
>>stems and blossom ends before cooking the apples to extract the juice.
>>(I'm gonna simmer and mash these for 15 minutes, not use the steam
>>juicer). What if I don't remove the stems and blossom ends?

>
>
> You'll die. HTH. :-)


That *does* help. Thanks!

> (I pull the stems and trim the blossom end. Stop whining.)


I didn't trim them, and if you read my other message you'll see what
happened...

Bob

zxcvbob 21-08-2004 07:05 PM

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >, zxcvbob
> > wrote:
>
>
>>I picked 5 pounds of crabapples yesterday and am gonna juice them today
>>to make jelly. The SureJell and Certo boxes both say to remove the
>>stems and blossom ends before cooking the apples to extract the juice.
>>(I'm gonna simmer and mash these for 15 minutes, not use the steam
>>juicer). What if I don't remove the stems and blossom ends?

>
>
> You'll die. HTH. :-)


That *does* help. Thanks!

> (I pull the stems and trim the blossom end. Stop whining.)


I didn't trim them, and if you read my other message you'll see what
happened...

Bob

Melba's Jammin' 21-08-2004 07:06 PM

In article >, zxcvbob
> wrote:

> zxcvbob wrote:
> > I may try juicing the next batch in the steamer and see what
> > difference it makes.
> >
> > Best regards, Bob


>
>
> I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
> crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
> about 5 1/2 cups of water, brought them to a boil, simmered for 5
> minutes, and started mashing them with a potato smasher.
>
> It looks like mixture of ketchup and applesauce. There's no way this
> will drip through a jelly bag -- and not all the crabapples have even
> broken up yet. If I run this thru a food mill, I will get sour red
> applesauce.
>
> Do I need to add a bunch more water? Is it cheating to add frozen
> concentrated apple juice if I water it down too much trying to get it to
> drip?
>
> Bob


Sweeten the mush for sweeter applesauce. Or make crabapple butter. I'd
pitch it, myself. Your mush problem is exactly why I don't boil my
fruits -- they turn to mush and the juice takes forever to drip, if it
does. I've got time, but not forever. Mashing them didn't help a bit.
What were you thinking? I sliced in the food processor the first batch
of Dolgos I did; I threw the second batch in whole, with the trimmed
ends. The steam extracted great juice from both of them. I don't know
about adding more water. Heck, add the apple concentrate if you think
it's gonna be too wimpy. <sigh> I don't even think I'd pressure cook
the apples to cook them -- that would really turn them to mush, I think.
Good luck.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 7/22/04.


Melba's Jammin' 21-08-2004 07:06 PM

In article >, zxcvbob
> wrote:

> zxcvbob wrote:
> > I may try juicing the next batch in the steamer and see what
> > difference it makes.
> >
> > Best regards, Bob


>
>
> I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
> crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
> about 5 1/2 cups of water, brought them to a boil, simmered for 5
> minutes, and started mashing them with a potato smasher.
>
> It looks like mixture of ketchup and applesauce. There's no way this
> will drip through a jelly bag -- and not all the crabapples have even
> broken up yet. If I run this thru a food mill, I will get sour red
> applesauce.
>
> Do I need to add a bunch more water? Is it cheating to add frozen
> concentrated apple juice if I water it down too much trying to get it to
> drip?
>
> Bob


Sweeten the mush for sweeter applesauce. Or make crabapple butter. I'd
pitch it, myself. Your mush problem is exactly why I don't boil my
fruits -- they turn to mush and the juice takes forever to drip, if it
does. I've got time, but not forever. Mashing them didn't help a bit.
What were you thinking? I sliced in the food processor the first batch
of Dolgos I did; I threw the second batch in whole, with the trimmed
ends. The steam extracted great juice from both of them. I don't know
about adding more water. Heck, add the apple concentrate if you think
it's gonna be too wimpy. <sigh> I don't even think I'd pressure cook
the apples to cook them -- that would really turn them to mush, I think.
Good luck.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 7/22/04.


Kathi 21-08-2004 11:25 PM

zxcvbob > wrote in message >...
> zxcvbob wrote:
> > I picked 5 pounds of crabapples yesterday and am gonna juice them today
> > to make jelly. The SureJell and Certo boxes both say to remove the
> > stems and blossom ends before cooking the apples to extract the juice.
> > (I'm gonna simmer and mash these for 15 minutes, not use the steam
> > juicer). What if I don't remove the stems and blossom ends? These are
> > small crabapples, I don't know the variety, they are red skinned with
> > rose-colored flesh, and about 3/4" to 1 1/4" in diameter. It would be
> > *way* too much work to clean these.
> >
> > I just wanna wash 'em, pick out the leaves and loose stems, and boil
> > them (the apples, not the loose stems and leaves).
> >
> > I may try juicing the next batch in the steamer and see what difference
> > it makes.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Bob

>
>
> I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
> crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
> about 5 1/2 cups of water, brought them to a boil, simmered for 5
> minutes, and started mashing them with a potato smasher.
>
> It looks like mixture of ketchup and applesauce. There's no way this
> will drip through a jelly bag -- and not all the crabapples have even
> broken up yet. If I run this thru a food mill, I will get sour red
> applesauce.
>
> Do I need to add a bunch more water? Is it cheating to add frozen
> concentrated apple juice if I water it down too much trying to get it to
> drip?
>
> Bob


Hey Bob,

Sounds like you're having about the same problem I had 2 weeks ago.
Here's what I did:

After cooking down the apples and ending up with 'ketchup and
applesauce', I forced it all through a strainer in small batches to
get out the big chunks (skins, core, blossom ends, whatever) and ended
up with pretty pink (but VERY tart) applesauce. I also had a high
pectin problem (read the 'too much pectin thread') and like you said,
there's no way it'll drip through a jelly bag. So I added a little
more water, not much, and then stuck it in the jelly bag in small
batches. It took about 4 days, 24 hours each batch, but I did get
juice. And because of the high pectin, it's cloudy, so squeezing the
bag didn't really make a difference.

Now all you have to do is decide if it's worth all that work. Me,
well, I got them free, but after all that work there's no way I'm
throwing it out. However, I was so sick of looking at crabapple mush
for 4 days that I froze it all. I'll do something with it later.

Have fun,

Kathi

Kathi 21-08-2004 11:25 PM

zxcvbob > wrote in message >...
> zxcvbob wrote:
> > I picked 5 pounds of crabapples yesterday and am gonna juice them today
> > to make jelly. The SureJell and Certo boxes both say to remove the
> > stems and blossom ends before cooking the apples to extract the juice.
> > (I'm gonna simmer and mash these for 15 minutes, not use the steam
> > juicer). What if I don't remove the stems and blossom ends? These are
> > small crabapples, I don't know the variety, they are red skinned with
> > rose-colored flesh, and about 3/4" to 1 1/4" in diameter. It would be
> > *way* too much work to clean these.
> >
> > I just wanna wash 'em, pick out the leaves and loose stems, and boil
> > them (the apples, not the loose stems and leaves).
> >
> > I may try juicing the next batch in the steamer and see what difference
> > it makes.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Bob

>
>
> I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
> crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
> about 5 1/2 cups of water, brought them to a boil, simmered for 5
> minutes, and started mashing them with a potato smasher.
>
> It looks like mixture of ketchup and applesauce. There's no way this
> will drip through a jelly bag -- and not all the crabapples have even
> broken up yet. If I run this thru a food mill, I will get sour red
> applesauce.
>
> Do I need to add a bunch more water? Is it cheating to add frozen
> concentrated apple juice if I water it down too much trying to get it to
> drip?
>
> Bob


Hey Bob,

Sounds like you're having about the same problem I had 2 weeks ago.
Here's what I did:

After cooking down the apples and ending up with 'ketchup and
applesauce', I forced it all through a strainer in small batches to
get out the big chunks (skins, core, blossom ends, whatever) and ended
up with pretty pink (but VERY tart) applesauce. I also had a high
pectin problem (read the 'too much pectin thread') and like you said,
there's no way it'll drip through a jelly bag. So I added a little
more water, not much, and then stuck it in the jelly bag in small
batches. It took about 4 days, 24 hours each batch, but I did get
juice. And because of the high pectin, it's cloudy, so squeezing the
bag didn't really make a difference.

Now all you have to do is decide if it's worth all that work. Me,
well, I got them free, but after all that work there's no way I'm
throwing it out. However, I was so sick of looking at crabapple mush
for 4 days that I froze it all. I'll do something with it later.

Have fun,

Kathi

William R. Watt 22-08-2004 03:48 PM


wash the crabapples and rub off the blossom ends.
a good way to wash them is cover in water and stir,
they clean themseves by rubbing together. this is also a good way to
wash potatoes. I dump crabapples in a tub of water where they clean as I
stir and take them out one-by-one to rub off the blossom ends, a
pleasant, relaxing way to pass a warm afternoon seated outdoors.
removing the stems is optional. it might affect the tase but I've never
noticed. if you don't boil the stems they can't do much so long as they are
clean.
I put the pot on low heat and just simmer until the skins start to split (no
need to waste electricity), depending on how big the crabapples are. I mash
smaller varieties without waiting for any skins to spit.

as for saving your jelly at this point, just collect as much juice as you
can and proceed.

lesson learned: jelly making is a labour intensive activity which is why
people in industialized countries don't do it anymore except as a hobby,
the cost of labour being what it is these days, and except perhaps in
France where anything remotely agricutural is heavily subsidised by
taxpayers.

--
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William R. Watt 22-08-2004 06:26 PM


William R. Watt ) writes:

> removing the stems is optional. it might affect the tase but I've never
> noticed. if you don't boil the stems they can't do much so long as they are
> clean.


for people who want to remove the stems from crabapples, the fastest way I
know is with a pair of scissors. Pick up some crabapples by their stems,
hold them over the pot, and snip, snip, snip, the crabapples drop stemless
into the pot.

--
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William R. Watt 22-08-2004 06:26 PM


William R. Watt ) writes:

> removing the stems is optional. it might affect the tase but I've never
> noticed. if you don't boil the stems they can't do much so long as they are
> clean.


for people who want to remove the stems from crabapples, the fastest way I
know is with a pair of scissors. Pick up some crabapples by their stems,
hold them over the pot, and snip, snip, snip, the crabapples drop stemless
into the pot.

--
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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
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William R. Watt 22-08-2004 10:14 PM


zxcvbob ) writes:

> I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
> crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
> about 5 1/2 cups of water


<...>

> Do I need to add a bunch more water?


the water should just cover the top of the apples in the pot

I was thinking about this problem and wondering if the apples were over
cooked. It might be a case of permature jelly. I use low heat and simmer
until soft enough to mash. Get lots of juice.


--
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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

William R. Watt 22-08-2004 10:14 PM


zxcvbob ) writes:

> I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
> crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
> about 5 1/2 cups of water


<...>

> Do I need to add a bunch more water?


the water should just cover the top of the apples in the pot

I was thinking about this problem and wondering if the apples were over
cooked. It might be a case of permature jelly. I use low heat and simmer
until soft enough to mash. Get lots of juice.


--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

zxcvbob 22-08-2004 10:32 PM

William R. Watt wrote:
> zxcvbob ) writes:
>
>
>>I picked out the dead blossoms with my thumbnail as a sorted the
>>crabapples, then washed them, and put them in a big stockpot. I added
>>about 5 1/2 cups of water

>
>
> <...>
>
>>Do I need to add a bunch more water?

>
>
> the water should just cover the top of the apples in the pot
>
> I was thinking about this problem and wondering if the apples were over
> cooked. It might be a case of permature jelly. I use low heat and simmer
> until soft enough to mash. Get lots of juice.
>


I had maybe half that much water. Do you freeze and thaw the apples
first? I wonder if that would help them release their juice?

Bob

William R. Watt 23-08-2004 02:13 PM


zxcvbob ) writes:

> I had maybe half that much water. Do you freeze and thaw the apples
> first? I wonder if that would help them release their juice?


I use the water recommendation in a free government booklet on jams and
jellies from the 1970's.

I've never tried making jelly from previously frozen fruit. Personally I
try for lowest cost jelly and would want to avoid the electricity cost of
freezing. It might be interesting to try just to see if there is any
difference. There could be some change in the level of acid or pectin
which would affect jelly formation.
--
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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
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Melba's Jammin' 23-08-2004 03:18 PM

In article >,
(William R. Watt) wrote:

> zxcvbob ) writes:
>
> > I had maybe half that much water. Do you freeze and thaw the apples
> > first? I wonder if that would help them release their juice?


> I use the water recommendation in a free government booklet on jams and
> jellies from the 1970's.
>
> I've never tried making jelly from previously frozen fruit.


:-)

>Personally I try for lowest cost jelly and would want to avoid the
>electricity cost of freezing. It might be interesting to try just to
>see if there is any difference. There could be some change in the
>level of acid or pectin which would affect jelly formation.


I've never experienced that pectin change, William. This year's Plum
Jelly was frozen in 1996; the jelly is a good as ever and I made no
changes to my recipe.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 8/22/04; check the Fairs Fare tab.



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