THINGS I LEARNED – PART 2

Continuing my discussion about the new tools and techniques I used when I processed applesauce recently…

PEELING

The best new tool I tried while process applesauce came about after this year’s weeks of peach peeling. My hands hurt so much from peeling so many peaches that I knew I had to come up with a better solution for the apples. I decided to take a chance and bought an electric peeler.

Oh, my goodness! What well-spent money that was!

Not only did it save me from pain in my hands, because of the electric peeler, the peeling and slicing went so quickly that I could skip the step of putting the apples in a bowl with lemon juice. Anything that saves time – and dishes – is a-okay with me.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how little apple was left on the peel.

I love, love, love using the electric peeler.

CORE & SLICE

The second new tool I tried was not so successful. My basic slicer corer did okay on the Golden Delicious apples, but the Granny Smith apples are denser and were really hard to push the slicer through.

My old slicer corer did okay with the softer apples but needed Oscar-strength for the Granny Smith’s

Thinking it was difficult because I’ve used this slicer corer for more than 20 years, and it is probably a little dull, I decided it was time to get a new one. As long as I was getting a new one, I decided to try a new design. Two features I wanted (besides sharp blades) was a slicer corer that prevented me from slamming my knuckles on the cutting board and also would cut all the way through the bottom of the apple, so I didn’t have to pull each slice free. I found THIS.

It is sharp, it does cut all the way through the apple, and I don’t bang my knuckles every time I slice an apple with this slicer corer. Unfortunately, there are two issues with it that were not so pleasing.

First, the core it cut was huge and created too much waste. See how much bigger the core on the right is? That’s what the new corer slicer leaves behind.

Second, the design that allowed it to cut all the way through the apple made it nearly impossible to clean.

Apple bits collected in the grid at the bottom. I tried soaking, rinsing, and running a long-bristled brush through the bottom without success. The only way I could get the bits of apple out was to dig them out with a toothpick. It was a very tedious process. This slicer corer is likely going to end up in my next Goodwill donation bag.

SQUISH

To “sauce” the apples after they are cooked and soft, I usually use a potato masher. This works well, especially if you like chunky applesauce.

I wondered what could be used to make “less chunky” applesauce though, so I tried a couple of other methods.

I tried an immersion blender, but the results really weren’t any better than with the masher.

A food mill produced a smooth sauce but was a mess to work with and a mess to clean – I did not like using that at all. 

A hand mixer did quite a bit better than the potato masher and was definitely superior to the immersion blender and food mill.

I’m sure a blender would do the best job turning chunky apples into smooth applesauce and y’all can do that if you want but I’m just not devoted to smooth applesauce enough to transfer hot apples to a blender and then have an additional mess to clean up.  Call me lazy if you will but: my applesauce, my choice!

Coming next: wait until you see what I accomplished!