OFF THE SHELF
Fresher-than-fresh apples great for applesauce, jelly

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Braeburn apples, high in water content, are excellent for making applesauce. Advertiser library photo

All year long, we eat and enjoy apples that have been preserved by means of long-term storage in a chemically altered chilled atmosphere that retards aging. But a new-crop apple is another thing entirely: It's that snap when you bite into it and the juice that literally bursts out. You don't get that from stored apples.

Another thing that really fresh apples have in abundance is pectin. These long, stringlike molecules found in the cell walls of the fruit are water soluble and, in the right combination with acid and sugar, give various kinds of preserves their smooth, semi-solid texture.

For this reason, though it may be tempting to eat all those apples just as they are, fresh apple season is also apple cooking season — time to make applesauce, apple butter and apple jelly.

Two varieties that make excellent applesauce are Braeburn and McIntosh, both sweet-tart crisp apples with a high water content.

Here's food writer Valerie Foster's applesauce technique: Fill a large pot with quartered McIntosh or Braeburn apples — skin, seed, cores and all; you don't need to add water. Turn the heat on low and let the apples cook down until they are mushy (several hours). Place a food mill over a large bowl, put the pulp through the mill and out pours sauced apples. (You really need a food mill for this; it extracts the solids without liquifying the flesh.) Add cinnamon to taste. No need for sugar.

What could be simpler?