Start with soaking your apples for a few minutes in a vinegar/water bath, then rinsing them. This will help to kill any bacteria and remove some of the sprays that the farmers put on the apples during growing.
Next, put like two inches of water in a very large pot. The pots that I have pictured here are 16qts and 22qts. Both of these together use a bushel of apples. You can do smaller batches if you dont have a pot this size. Let the water begin to heat while you cut your apples.
Quarter all your apples.
Place your cut apples in the boiling water in your pot.
Let the apples cook covered on med/high. Stir ever once in a while and make sure there is enough water to keep the from sticking to the bottom and burning. If you have a pot with a think bottom, and you keep it covered most of the time, sticking should not be a problem. If they begin to stick, you can add a little more water and turn the burner down a little. You just dont want to add too much water because you dont want your applesauce to be really runny. Also, while your apples are cooking this is a good time to sterilize you jars. There are many ways to do this, but I like to run mine through the dishwasher.
Cook until the apples are soft enough that you can easily push a fork through them. For me this takes about 30minutes, but time varies depending on the apple, the temperature, and the size of your pot.
Set up your machine.
Using a cup or a measuring cup transfers from the pot, begin to run through strainer (while you are doing this you may want to fill your Water Bath Canner half way up with water so that it can begin to get warm).
Whala....Applesauce!
Gather your jars, and lids, and rings. My Water Bath Canner holds 7.
Bring your lids to a slight boil to sterilize. Do not boil tho.
Ladle hot applesauce into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles.
Wipe around rim with a clean damp cloth to remove anything that would keep it from having a tight seal.
Place lids on the jars and them screw the ring bands on semi tightly.
Place jars into canner. water should cover the jars by 1 inch. (Caution: the water in the pot should not be hotter than the jars them self when you go to put them in otherwise the jar may break.) If the water is too hot...take some out and replace it with cool water until the desired temperature is reached.
Cover and bring canner to a boil. Start timing at the boiling point. Process quarts and pints for 20 minutes.
When time is up...take out of water and leave on counter for 24 hours to cool. Check all the lids AFTER the 24 hours rest time to make sure that lids have sealed properly before storing (if your lid pops up when you touch it in the middle it did NOT seal right and should be put in the refrigerator and used soon).
Note: since this is my first time posting something on canning I've included a few canning sites below that you can check out for some more tips and info on it. :)
Simply Canning
Pick Your Own / Applesauce
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