Recipe: Apple Butter

So, what to do with left over apple pulp and skins from our Hard Cider Homebrew session on the Thanksgiving weekend?

Throw it away?   That seemed like a big waste.
Turn it into compost?  Well, it has to age for about 2 years due to the high acidity - it will kill plants.
Use it to kill plants?  Not a bad idea if I had a fence line I wanted to keep weed free... but no fence lines for me right now.

How about making some apple butter?  Perfect!

Apple butter is not really butter (from milk), but it is a creamy, concentrated apple sauce with spices.  It is delicious on a piece of warm toast or on a hot biscuit.  It was a common sweet treat, side dish, ingredient in baked goods, or condiment in the Colonial United States.  I can see why.  I have only met one person (eh-hmm, Veronica), who does not like apple butter.  However, everyone else usually goes back for seconds and thirds when a jar is opened.

We ended up with a bunch of pulp after juicing close to 200 lbs of fruit.  Well over half of it was from uncored apples, so it had bit of stem and seed in it.  However, thanks to Jake's forethought, we cored a decent amount of apples and quince and saved that pulp for making apple butter.

Here is the basic recipe for apple butter:

Ingredients:

• 4 parts fruit (this can be cored apples, skins, or pulp)
• 1 part sugar (this can be brown sugar, white table sugar, or honey)
• Spices to taste (common spices are cinnamon and cloves)

 The heated apple mixture (left)

Pureeing the mixture (center)

The pureed apple mixture (right)

Method:

• Heat the fruit, sugar, and spices over low medium heat until tender - keep stirring to avoid scorching (you can see this being done in the photo at the top of this post)
• You may need to add some water to help with consistency
• Transfer to a blender or food processor or food mill and puree it until smooth (like apple sauce)
• Put back on the heat and simmer until reduced and darkened - it should be thick and almost creamy... buttery!

The spices I used in this recipe

(cloves, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and black pepper)

Notes:

• Many spices can be used.  I used cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and black pepper.  Yeah, black pepper.  If used in small amounts in sweet dishes like apple butter and apple-quince pie is basically a natural flavor enhancer.
• This is a very easy recipe to make, it just takes some time and attention.  
• A crock pot works great for cooking the pureed fruit.  I put mine in over night on low and then simmered it down on the stove for a few hours more the next morning.

The finished apple butter... dark, glossy, and creamy!  Delicious!

What I am Brewing: Thanksgiving Turkey Cider

A whole lot of apples... ready for cider!

We made two 5 gallon batches with this fruit.

From top to bottom: 

4 types of local Turkish apples

Turkish Granny Smith apples

Local Turkish quince

So I finally got around to documenting one of my brew sessions.  This time I was making Hard Apple Cider with a few of my friends (Jake and Brianna).  Local apples are rather cheap this time of year, so this is a great time to make some cider.  

There are quite a few hard apple cider recipes available online.  There are also a number of books out there on the subject as well.  This is not the only way to make hard apple cider.  There is some more professional equipment out there (i.e. grinders, presses, etc.), but we don't have it.  The bottom line is that if I can do this with the basic beer homebrewing equipment that I have, anyone can do this.

Give it a try!

I'll start first with my brewing notes:

Name: Thanksgiving Turkey Cider

History of this drink:  

Cider is a very old and very famous (and infamous) alcoholic beverage.  Yes, there is non-alcoholic cider.  This is just unfiltered apple juice.  Filtered apple juice is sold as "Apple Juice", and unfiltered apple juice is sold as "Cider" in grocery stores in the U.S.  Hard Cider, or alcoholic cider, is what we made the day after Thanksgiving with local ingredients from Turkey... hence the name.  In the U.S., cider has a long history.  It was the most popular drink in Colonial times.  This was mainly due to the fact that most water was not safe to drink (boiling and/or filtration was not yet understood).  Hard Cider remained a very popular drink in the U.S. until Prohibition (13 years in the U.S when all alcoholic beverages were illegal - 1920-1933), but it never regained its popularity in post-Prohibition times.  In many other parts of the world, especially the UK, cider and cider making has a long and respected history, and it is still a popular drink today.

Ingredients:

• 3 Gallons (60%) Neutral Base: Local Turkish apples from the open air market

       - 10 kg (22 lbs) Light Green Apple
  
     - 5 kg (11 lbs) Red Apple with Green Blush
  
     - 5 kg (11 lbs) Pale Yellow Apple with Light Brown Spots
  
     - 5 kg (11 lbs) Red Apple with Light Yellow Stripes
• 1 Gallon (20%) Tart Apple

       - ~8.5 kg (18.75 lbs) Granny Smith Apples
• 1 Gallon (20%) Aromatic / Astringent Apples

       - 10.8 kg (24 lbs) Quince - yeah not technically an apple, but the only thing I could find with high tannin content
• 2 lbs Sue Bee Clover Honey
• Wyeast 4766 Cider Yeast

Method:

• Juiced all the apples in Jake's fruit/vegetable juicer
• Placed all the juice into a large stainless steel stockpot
• Brought to a low simmer - just giving off steam but not bubbles forming at all
• Added the honey
• Simmered for 45 minutes - never allowing a boil
• Let cool on the stovetop for about an hour
• Transferred to a sterilized (with bleach) glass 5 gallon (19 liter) carboy
• Stoppered and allowed to cool overnight
• In the morning, pitched the yeast
• Ferment, rack, bottle, age, drink!

Notes:

• All fruit was grown locally in Turkey.
• I hope to go back to the market and get the local names of the apples I purchased.  This would be mainly for my own reference, but it would be good to know.
• Cider is usually made from a blend of apples.  This is because there are only a few apples which contain all the characteristics needed for an "ideal" juice to ferment.  The juice should strike a good balance between Aromatic, Tart, and Astringent.  Astringency is really a measure of the tannins - the dryness factor - that makes makes your mouth feel like you have just bit into an unripe apple or piece of wood.  It is far easier to obtain a blend of apples that fit these flavor characteristics.
• Quince - I could find no apples that had a high tannin content.  The only apples I could find (other than the tart Granny Smith) were fresh eating, dessert style apples... sweet with medium acidity.  I am guessing on the acidity levels, since I didn't measure the pH.  Quinces are very aromatic and have a high tannin content.  You really can't eat a quince raw because of the tannins.  You have to poach them before eating.  I thought I would stretch the traditional cider definition and add another species of fruit, although quince are very closely related.  You can read more about Quinces here in this article.
• The honey is from the U.S.  I had planned on purchasing local honey, but did not get to it by brewing time.  Afterwards, I learned that many of the local honey producers water down their honey to increase their income.  I know a local chef who is a "honey snob", so I plan to find a honey supplier through him soon.
• It takes from about 15-20 lbs (6.5-9.0 kg) apples to make 1 gallon (3.75 L) of juice.  More if the fruit is dryer, like the quince.
• I used about 98 lbs (44 kg) of fruit for 5 gallons (19 L)... this was 19.5 lbs per gallon (2.3 kg/liter)
• For future batches, I would like to try a batch without pasteurizing and just using the apples natural yeasts - a bit more risky, but the more traditional way of making cider

The fruit was rinsed in the sink, and the larger apples and quince were cut into smaller pieces.

Jake manned the juicer.  

The juicer is the smaller stainless steel box his hand is resting on, not the larger stainless steel water filter in the back.  The juicer emptied into a small pitcher.  The very dry pulp was pushed out the back into a small receptacle.

You can use a juicer, blender, or food processor to "grind and press" the apples on a smaller level.  I hope to one day have an apple grinder and press, but that will come after I have my own apple trees.

Brianna and I organizing the flow of work.

After the apples were juiced, we strained the juice through a cheesecloth (not pictured).  

The strained juice was held briefly in this bowl before being poured into a 2 quart (0.5 gallon/1.9 L) apple juice bottle.  I used this to keep track of how many gallons of juice we had made/had left to go.

The measured juice was poured into the big stainless steel stockpot (Jake's brew kettle).

After bringing it up to a low simmer to pasteurize the juice.  We simmered for 45 minutes.  The honey was added at the very beginning of the simmering process, added slowly and stirred in.

A lot of impurities floated and collected on the top during the simmering process.

These impurities were easy to skim off the top.  

We tried skimming two ways, first with just a spoon and second with a spoon and this small strainer.

I think I prefer the spoon by itself.  It appears that the strainer left a lot of smaller particles in the juice and resulted in a more cloudy finished product.  However, it may not make any difference after proper racking (siphoning the fermented cider off the sediment that collects at the bottom of the carboy).

The strained and pasteurized apple-quince juice (aka "must") with honey added.

A beautiful reddish-orange color.  This was stoppered and allowed to cool overnight.  You can see that I didn't quite make 5 gallons of juice.  I was closer to 4.5 gallons.  This may be from the skimming process.  In the future, I think I will shoot for about a 10-15% overage.  Whatever doesn't fin in the carboy, I will just drink straight as non-alcoholic cider.

Primary Fermentation

After the yeast was pitched (added to the juice), a "blow off" tube was added to the carboy, and the free end was placed in a water trap.  You can see just the beginnings of the fermentation getting started... it is the thin layer of foam at the top of the juice.  This will turn into a vigorous, rolling fermentation at the beginning of primary fermentation.  When this settles down, I will take off the large tube and put a much smaller air lock in place.

The water trap allows only air to escape, but not work back into the carboy.

I used an old pitcher from a Brita Water Filter.  The spout firmly holds the tubing in place.

The carboy is covered with an old, clean towel.  

This acts just a little as insulation, but mainly as a light barrier.  UV light can cause off flavors to develop in your fermenting cider.

I'll update this post as the cider making process progresses... stay tuned!

Recipe: Apple-Quince Pie

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Apple-Quince Pie
Since I just posted about Quinces and mentioned my holiday pie, I thought I would share that today. For more information about Apples and Quinces, read these previous posts.

Ingredients

• 4 quinces
• 4 apples
• 1 lemon
• ½ cup dried raisins or other berries
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch of ground black pepper
• 1 bottle of sweet white wine
• 2 Pie Crusts

Information on ingredients:

• Quince:  Use quinces that are just barely soft, completely yellow, and very fragrant. 
• Apples: Traditionally use Granny Smith, but just about any variety of apple will work just fine.  I’ve used Macintosh and Pink Lady and had good results.
• Lemon:  We just need the juice of one lemon.  Meyer Lemons are great with this, but any lemon will do.
• Dried Fruit:  I typically use a mix of dried golden raisins and other dried berries (cherries, blueberries, cranberries, currants, and a mix of other raisins), but I have also thrown in some fresh currants and fresh blackberries as well.
• Vanilla Bean: cut lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and use both the bean and the seeds.
• Black Pepper: The little bit we add will not be noticed as “spicy” but will enhance the flavor of the pie.
• Wine: Many types of wine can be used, and I don’t think I have used the same one twice.  A sweet dessert wine, like a Muscat, is great, but I have used a sweet Riesling with good success as well.
• Pie Crusts:  If you have the time, energy, good recipe, and good success, then make your own pie crusts.  I usually cheat and buy some premade, rolled pie crusts in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.  Since I typically make this pie with many other dishes as part of a holiday meal, I just don’t have the time or energy to make pie dough from scratch, although the few times I have, I think the pie is better for it.

Directions:

• Peel the quince.  Save the peelings.  Halve the quinces. 
• In a saucepan, add quince, peels, vanilla bean and seeds, ¼ cup sugar, wine, and just enough water to cover.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.
• Simmer until quinces are tender when poked with a fork.
• Strain the contents of the saucepan, reserve the liquid, set aside the tender quince to cool.  Toss the peels and vanilla bean into the compost pile.
• Add the liquid back to the saucepan and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced by about 2/3 to ¾.  The liquid should be like syrup.  Can take about 30 minutes.
• Add the dried fruit to the hot reduced poaching liquid and let soak.
• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Peel and core the apples.  Cut into wedges.  Place in a bowl and toss with lemon juice.
• Add flour, remaining sugar, and spices to apples and toss to coat.
• Either with a melon baller or a pairing knife, seed and core the cooled quinces.  Slice into wedges.  Add to the apple mixture.  
• With a slotted spoon, strain out the soaked dried fruit (which should have plumped up a bit) and add the fruit to the apple mixture.  Toss to mix.  Make sure to save the remaining poaching liquid.  
• Place one pie crust in a 9 inch pie pan or dish (I have even seen a very similar pie made in a cast-iron skillet, but I have yet to try it).  
• Fill with the fruit mixture.  Add some of the poaching liquid.  I have also added a small pat of unsalted butter.
• Cover with remaining pie crust.  Pinch the crusts together to seal the edges.  Cut vents in the top in whatever pattern you choose.  Alternatively, you can cut the top crust into pieces and arrange them over the top leaving the center of the pie open – giving a more “rustic” appearance.  You can lightly brush with water and sprinkle with sugar if desired.
• Bake for about one hour to one hour and 20 minutes.  Until the crust is golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling over.  You can always cover the pie with foil if the crust starts to brown too quickly – a lot depends on the type and quality of the oven you are using.  If you leave the center open, and the center begins to look dry, then you can spoon some of the poaching liquid on top a little at a time.
• Allow to cool for a bit – enough to allow the fruit to “set” a bit.  I like to serve it while it is still a little warm with a scoop of homemade or good quality vanilla ice cream.

How Permaculture Saves Money: Plant a Fruit Tree!

Planting a fruit tree can save, and maybe even make you, money!

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Permaculture can save you money!  There are many ways this is true.  I plan on using posting examples of this from time to time.  The first example I want to use is by planting a fruit tree.  Please hang in there if some simple math causes you to glaze over... it will be worth it.

Initial cost of the tree: $26.50 (Williams Pride Apple Tree, full-sized)
Seller states this is an apple that is highly rated for flavor.  Large red fruit with a sweet rich spicy flavor.

Cost of fruit in a grocery store: $1.50 per pound
No, you cannot get this excellent tasting apple in stores.  This is just an example price, about average, for apples in the produce department.  Many are cheaper, and some are more expensive.

Years to begin producing: About 5 years to begin and up to 10 for maximum average production

Quantity of fruit produced: 100-400 lbs of fruit per season after it is about 10 years of age

Years of productive life: 35-100 years
Note: You can buy a dwarf apple tree that will begin bearing fruit in only 3 years; however the amount of fruit produced is less and the tree doesn't live as long.

Net total of fruit produced:
     Minimum: 100 lbs a year for only 35 years = 3,500 lbs of apples
     Maximum: 400 lbs a year for 100 years = 40,000 lbs of apples!

Cost of fruit produced (in today's prices):

     Minimum: 3,500 lbs of apples x $1.50 per lb = $5,250

     Maximum: 40,000 lbs of apples x $1.50 = $60,000!

So, am I saying that we will be rich (monetarily) if we plant some fruit trees?  No.  While, it is fun to run the numbers and see what the theoretical potential of a scant $26.50 investment, it would be highly unlikely to earn $60,000 dollars from one apple tree.

However, it is very possible to save $5,000 by planting one apple tree over the course of its productive years.  If we never had to buy an apple again in our life, how much would we save?  If we sold all the apples, we could make a little extra money as well.  If we produced value-added items (applesauce, apple jelly, apple butter, apple pies, apple juice, apple cider, etc.) we would be able to make even more, but it would also cost us some of your time.

Now what if we had early, mid, and late-season apples (apples that matured through the growing season)?  What if we also had pears, persimmons, plums, peaches, medlars, cherries, paw-paws, walnuts, etc.?  We would have the ability to significantly cut our food costs, and this is just from trees!  We would have healthier food as well.  If we incorporated all of this into an Edible Food Forest, then we would substantially cut our time as the system helps to govern itself.

This is just one reason I am such a huge proponent of Permaculture.  This food cost savings is why Permaculture is sweeping through the developing world.  When the majority of your money is going to buy your and your family's daily food, a well designed Permaculture system can be like winning the lottery.  But don't be so arrogant to think that we in the western world don't have to worry about food costs.  Our food costs are beginning to significantly rise as well, and many experts believe this trend is going to continue and worsen in the next 5-15 years!  (Read more in this post about the soaring costs of food.)

The best time to plant a tree is today!  Get out there and do it.  Don't just read about it and plan and plan and plan.  Just get it done!  It will be worth your time and money to do so.  Trust me.

Permaculture Plants: Apple Trees

This is the first of hopefully many entries on specific plants to be used in a Permaculture System.  I attempted to document every aspect of a plant that would be useful, but I am sure there are things I missed.  However, this should be a fairly holistic overview.

Heirloom Apples

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Common Name: Apple
Scientific Name: Malus domestica or pumila
Family: Rosaceae

Description: Hardly needs description. Moderate sized tree to small dwarf trees.

History: Originated in Western Asia (Turkey?). Likely the first tree to be cultivated. First brought to the U.S. in the 17th Century.

Trivia: China is the main producer of apples. The U.S. is second.

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USING THIS PLANT
Primary Uses:

• Fresh eating, cooking
• Fresh juice
• Drying
• Preserving
• Fermenting: Cider, Apple Jack

Secondary Uses:

• Coppicing
• Smoking  - wood is commonly used for smoking meats
• Nectar source for insects (especially bees)
• Winter food source for birds and mammals
• Dynamic Accumulator (Fair potassium accumulator) - The term "Dynamic Accumulator" is used by Dave Jacke in Edible Forest Gardens as a way to describe plants that either keep nutrients around (like in fallen autumn leaves) or pull nutrients up from the subsoil.

Yield:

• Standard 100-400 lbs (45-180 kg)
• Semi-dwarf 77-155 lbs (35-70 kg)
• Dwarf 55-120 lbs (25-55 kg)

Harvesting: Harvest when ripe
Storage: Store in cool place

http://www.danmarquisphotography.com/photos/apple%20blossoms.jpg

DESIGNING WITH THIS PLANT
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Plant Type: Medium-sized Shrub to Medium-Sized Tree
Forest Garden Use: Canopy Layer in Smaller Forest Gardens, Sub-Canopy Layer
Cultivars/Varieties: Over 7,500 cultivars


Pollination:

• Most require cross-pollination
• Note that not all species will cross-pollinate – review a chart before planting. Here is one example.

Flowering: May-June

Life Span
Years to Begin Bearing:

• Standard 5-8 yrs
• Semi-dwarf 4 yrs
• Dwarf 3 yrs

Years to Maximum Bearing:

• Standard 10 yrs
• Semi-dwarf 10 yrs
• Dwarf 5 yrs

Years of Useful Life:

• Standard 35-100 yrs
• Semi-dwarf 30-50 yrs?
• Dwarf 10-30 yrs

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS PLANT

Graphic showing the different sizes of rootstocks.

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Table showing characteristics of some rootstocks.

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Size: Depends on root stock

• Own root, Standard: 20-26’ (6-8m) high x 20’ (6m) wide → tall, not for fresh eating apples which should be picked from the tree, but can be used for juice/cider apples which can be picked up off the ground
• Semi-Dwarf: 13-16’ (4-5m) high and wide
• Dwarf: 8-13’ (2.5-4m) high x 12’ (3.5m) wide

Roots:  Flat, mostly shallow roots
Growth Rate: Medium

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Apple Tree in Fall

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GROWING CONDITIONS FOR THIS PLANT

Light: Full Sun preferred
Shade: Tolerates mild shade
Moisture: Medium
pH: 6.1-7.0

Special Considerations for Growing:

• Tolerant of most garden conditions
• Not tolerate to Juglone, a natural growth inhibitor produced by members of the Walnut Family: Hickory, Pecan, Walnut, Wingnut

Propagation: Typically by grafting.  Seeds are not true to type - meaning they produce apple trees that produce apples that rarely taste anything close to the parent stock... often they do not have a good fresh eating flavor, but could be used for hard cider.

Maintenance:

• Pruning annually to every 2-3 yrs
• Needs nitrogen and potassium to sustain cropping

Disease/Pests:
Numerous diseases including various types of Apple Scab, Blotch, Rot, Canker, Mildew, Rust, Pit, Scald, Mottle, Blight, and pests including Nematodes, Codling Moth, Aphids, Bird, to name just a few.

Concerns:
Seeds and leaves are poisonous – contain a precursor to cyanide (large amounts need to be eaten for this to be toxic).

Red Astrachan Apple

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