Crab Applesauce from Juice-Making Pulp

crabapple pulp in the food mill (photo by jhy)

You will need:
Pulp left from making Crabapple Juice
A large pot- I use a 1- gallon kettle
A food mill
Clean jars or containers to store the applesauce

This recipe assumes that you have pulp left over from making Crabapple Juice. Don't throw that pulp away! There is a lot of food value left there. You will need to put it through a food mill, since it was cooked with the cores and skins on.

a dish of tart crab applesauce (photo by jhy)

Carefully empty the pulp from the jelly bag into the food mill. If it is this type of mill, you will need to set it over another pan to catch the sauce. A one-gallon pan works perfectly. Then press the pulp through the sides of the mill. When you are finished, wipe down the sides of the mill to capture any crabapple sauce that is sticking there and discard the pulp. As you can see, you get a wonderful pink applesauce, all with natural flavors and color.

Add sugar or sweetener to taste. I like things tart, and find that 1/4 c. sugar or Splenda to quart of crabapple applesauce is just about right. Store in the refrigerator, or package in containers for the freezer. It freezes well. This may also be canned. I'll add a post about how to do this kind of thing soon. Personally, I don't like to can applesauce. I think the extra heating time destroys some of the flavor and texture.

Tips: As you can see, one can still buy this old-fashioned style of mill. I haven't used any of the newer kinds. This one works great and I love using the tools I've worked with since childhood. At some point the pulp will become quite dry. You must make a judgement call as to when to stop forcing it through the mill. You don't want to waste good food, but you don't want to ruin the texture of the sauce.