Start by washing your apples. Once that is done, peel, cut, core and slice.

Put these slices into a large stockpot. If your apples are really dry, you need to add about a quart or so of water to a very large stockpot full. If your apples are very juicy, you need little to no water. You will have to gauge it by the juiciness of your apples, so that they do not burn. Stir continually.

Shut them off when they are mostly cooked, but still a little hard.

To a large stockpot, add:

4 cups Brown Sugar

3 Tbsp Lemon Juice (optional)

2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Nutmeg

Warm water if very thick until it reaches desired consistency

Canning Preparation:

Fill your canner half way with water, and turn on. Put your empty jars in your oven on ‘warm’. If your oven doesn’t have a ‘warm’ setting, just put it on the lowest setting it has.

When everything is hot/warm, you are ready for the next step.

Fill your hot jars with the hot filling, leaving an inch of head space in the top of your jar. Pack filling tightly into jar. Put a butter knife down the insides of your jar (between the glass and the sauce) to let out any air bubbles in the jar/filling. Wipe your rims clean with a rag or paper towel to remove any filling. If you don’t do this, it can prevent your lids from sealing tightly to your jar.

Put on your pre-warmed lids and screw on your rings tightly. Put your jars into your warm water in your canner, with a jar lifter, pictured below.

Canning/Water Bathing

When all the jars are in the canner, you want there to be about 1” of water covering the top of all jars. Put your canner lid on, but do not lock it. Watch for when water starts to boil. When it does, turn heat to medium, and set your timer for 25 minutes.

When timer goes off, shut off canner. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Place a towel on your counter. Take your jar lifter, and carefully remove your jars from the hot canner and onto your towel. Do not tighten your rings if they loosen.

Let cool for 12 hours. Check seals and store.

The reason you want to check the seals is to make sure they are all secure before you store them.

You check the seals by tapping the jar lids with one finger. As you tap them, listen for a jar that sounds different than the rest of them. It will usually make a hollow sound.

If you find a jar that hasn’t sealed, put it in the fridge and use it soon. If you are planning more canning, you can try to can it again. Make sure there are no nicks in the top of jar and a good lid on it.