HOMEGROWN Life: Making Apple Jelly From Apple “Waste”
I spent all day today processing apples from our trees. After I finished peeling and coring them I ended up with a pretty substantial pile of apple bits. It would be a shame to just throw them out so I decided to use them for all they were worth. I was originally thinking of making them into apple cider vinegar but I didn’t really have a container I could use for that. Instead I decided that I’d make jelly out of them. Since you generally just throw out the fruit when you make jelly it kind of seemed appropriate to use the unusable parts of the fruit to start with.
What you will need:
Apple peels and cores
Water
Sugar
1 Tbs lemon juice for every 2 cups of liquid
- Put the peels and cores in a large pot. Add water until you can see it just under the top layer of fruit. Bring to a boil.
- Boil fruit, uncovered, until it is soft. Strain liquid into a new pot.
- For each cup of liquid add 3/4 cup of sugar. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil. Watch it carefully so that it doesn’t boil over.
- To check consistency: put some ice in a bowl. Scoop up a small amount of liquid with a spoon and place the spoon on the ice to get it to cool quickly. Turn spoon sideways. If the liquid has jelled onto the spoon and doesn’t appear syrupy then it is done and ready to can. If you have a candy thermometer, you want the temperature to be 220 deg F.
- Ladle hot jelly into sterilized jars. Put on sterile lids and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
My friends in college used to call me a Renaissance woman. I was always doing something crafty, creative, or utilitarian. I still am. My focus these days, instead of arts and crafts, has been farming as much of my urban quarter acre as humanly possible. With my husband, we run Dog Island Farm in the SF Bay Area. We raise chickens, goats, rabbits, dogs, cats, and a kid. We’re always keeping busy. If I’m not out in the yard I’m in the kitchen making something from scratch. Homemade always tastes better!
November 9th, 2011 at 7:45 am
this is awesome 🙂 thanks for sharing!
November 9th, 2011 at 8:11 am
This is a great tip. I recently went through 20 lbs of apples and wondered what to do with the peels and cores. How many apples would it take to make the above?
November 10th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Yum! We just had the first frost of the season here in Austin, TX, and I spent a night making hot pepper jelly from about 15 pounds of frantically harvested serranos. It was the first time I ever made my own jelly and I was surprised at how easy it is!!
Thanks for all your tips Rachel!
November 10th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Yum! I have also heard of people coating the peels with sugar and cinnamon and dehydrating them in the oven for snacks. Making apple pie or applesauce soon and can’t wait to have fun making use of the peels.