APPLES

Here are six ways in which canned apples may be used:  as a breakfast dish, with cream and sugar; baked like fresh apples; in apple salad, often served for lunch or supper; as a relish with roast pork—­the apples may be fried in the pork fat or the cores may be cooked with roast pork for flavoring; and for apple dumplings, deep apple pie and other desserts in which whole apples are desirable.  The sirup of canned whole apples can be used for pudding sauces or fruit drinks.

Apples are another hard fruit which require blanching, as it greatly improves their texture and appearance.

Apples and some other fruits, such as pears and quinces, have a tendency to turn brown when allowed to stand after they are cut.  To prevent their discoloring the pieces may be dropped into mild salt water as they are pared and sliced.  Let them stand for five minutes, then wash them in clear water and pack.  Use a thin sirup for canning apples.

Summer apples are not firm enough to keep well when canned.  They cook up and lose flavor.  They may, however, be canned to be used in a short time.  Windfall apples may be pared, cored and sliced, using water, and only a small quantity of that, instead of sirup, and canned for pies.

To be able to can windfall and cull apples and thus have them for home use through the entire year is a great advantage to all farmers who grow them.  They can be sold on the market canned when they would not bring a cent in the fresh state.

The windfall and cull apples may be divided into two grades.  The first grade would include the whole reasonably sound fruit; the second grade the worm-eaten, partially decayed and injured fruit.  Do not can any injured or decayed part nor allow apples to become overripe before canning.

Canning Whole Reasonably Firm Apples.  Wash the apples.  Remove cores and blemishes.  Place whole apples in blanching tray or blanching cloth and blanch in boiling hot water for one or two minutes.  Remove and plunge quickly into cold water.  Pack in large glass jars.  Pour over the product a hot thin sirup.  Place rubber and top in position.  Seal partially—­not tight.

Sterilize jars twenty minutes in hot-water-bath outfit and in condensed steam, fifteen minutes in water-seal, ten minutes in steam-pressure outfit with five pounds of steam pressure, five minutes in aluminum pressure-cooker outfit, under ten pounds of steam pressure.  Remove jars, tighten covers, invert to cool and test joints.

Firm and tart apples may be cored and peeled first, then canned by the above recipe.

Canning Apples for Pie Filling.  Use second grade of windfalls or culls.  Wash, core, pare and remove all decayed spots.  Slice apple quickly into a basin containing slightly salted cold water—­about one tablespoon of salt per gallon—­to prevent discoloring.  Pack fresh cold product in glass jars.  Add one cupful of hot thin sirup to each quart of fruit.  Put on the rubbers and screw on tops, but do not seal completely.  Sterilize twelve minutes in hot-water bath or condensed-steam outfit; ten minutes in water-seal outfit; six minutes under five pounds of steam pressure; four minutes in aluminum pressure cooker.  Remove jars, tighten covers, invert to cool and test joint.  Store.