Experiment: Can I make applesauce in my slow cooker?
Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 09.25.08
Materials Needed: Please see A Year of Crockpotting for the full instructions on ideas for completing this task. I followed the instructions exactly, but doubled the recipe to make a bigger batch. I also employed the use of a blender to make the applesauce even smoother. My family has weird texture issues so that is why it was a necessary tool in this experiment. NORMAL people can handle apple chunks (like myself), but my children cannot.
Results: Today’s experiment got to happen because I have a very thoughtful and sweet neighbor across the street who brought me all of these beautiful apples. They have a friend that is a farmer so she brought over a big bag of apples for our family to enjoy. I was so excited to put them to good use and could think of no better way than making some of that homemade applesauce in my slow cooker.
I peeled and chunked up the apples for the slow cooker, and poured a little lemon juice over them to make sure that they didn’t brown. It takes me a loooong time to peel apples. I have one of those apple thingamabobs from Pampered Chef, but sometimes that takes just as long so I skipped it. I need to work on my knife skills anyway.
Since the house was already going to smell like apples, I put the apple peels and cores in a freezer bag so I could break them out when I want the house to smell nice. I love to put these in a pot with water and cinnamon and simmer them on my cleaning day.
Here’s my apples all cut up and ready to go. I sprinkled the cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla on them and added my water. I put the slow cooker on low for about five hours, and then checked the apples. They mashed easily so I gave them a good mashing and then put them in the blender to make it smoother for my strange eaters.
I served the applesauce with a rosemary stuffed chicken in my thrifted clay cooker, some herb buttered noodles, & mashed potatoes. My husband declared it a Thanksgiving feast and we dug in.
And the kids gobbled it up…except the applesauce. The color was a brown color instead of their usual yellow because of the addition of spices and brown sugar. I used my marketing background and promoted my product as best I could (“Oh, this CINNAMON applesauce is so delicious, isn’t it Daddy? I have never tasted such good applesauce in my life!”)
I fooled no one. Which was fine by me because my husband & I could have polished off the whole dish and not ever share it with anyone.
Conclusion: I might try this again without the spices and see if it goes over better with my children. If you have picky eaters, be aware of the color difference and don’t be scared to employ the use of a blender to make it smooth as pudding. Hopefully your family is better sports about trying something new than mine. Regardless, GREAT recipe and thank you to A Year of Crockpotting for sharing all of her slow cooker endeavors.
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18 Responses to “Notebook Experiment: Can I Make Applesauce In My Slow Cooker?”
My husband wants me to leave it chunkier! My son doesn’t seem to care…I can’t get him to STOPE eating it…but, like you, had to convice him that it was ok even though it was brown
I’ve made this as a double recipe and single…and I found the single recipe tasted a little better..not sure why. I also added LESS lemon juice the second time and a tad more brown sugar (a heaping tsp instead of a tsp)…I liked it better the second go ’round. We thought it made a great dessert
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I made my first batch true to the recipe with similar results – actually DD and DH both weren’t to excited about it and I thought there was a bit too much lemon. I made another big batch with just apples and water and mixed the two, that was a big success!
I love your idea of using the blender, my daughter would probably prefer I take that extra step.
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What perfect timing! I have a great big basket of apples that need to be attended to, and this would use up some of them.
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Sarah- If you try it, let us know how it turns out and post your experiment
Steph- those are EXCELLENT suggestions. I need to try that next time. I think the color wasn’t working for my kids. The blender did work though for a more apple pudding consistency.
Oh, the things I do to accommodate my picky eaters
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I’ve only made applesauce once last year, so I’m no expert, but I didn’t peel the apples, just blended them up with the rest of the apple and only added a little lemon juice to stop the browning. I was so naive that I didn’t even cook it. Amazingly, both kids loved it. My $0.02
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Dawn- Wow, now that is one simple way to make applesauce.
I will say that the cooking of the apples was a fabulous room freshener. My stomach growled all day
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When I’ve made it in the crockpot, it browns more than on the stovetop. Must be the long, slow cooking. I’ve achieved super yellow applesause without the lemon juice when I cook it on the stove.
BTW, I’ve never seen apples peeled and cored that way. Do most people do it that way and I’m just in the dark? (I peel, then quarter, then cut out the core.) Just curious….
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Ha! Well, my slow cooker cooks really fast and I wanted the applesauce to cook a little longer (to time with my dinner & for better flavor) so I peeled, then just cut off the apple in big chunks, and then cut into an angle to remove the core. I learned my knife skills from old episodes on Rachael Ray
I think the apples being big like that is why it looks different, but I could be wrong!
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Sorry about this! Perhaps it was the apples?!? I used golden and green delicious…both are sweeter varieties. I added a little cinnamon and vanilla and squeezed an orange into the mixture (I was all out of lemons/lemon juice). No brown sugar needed. The apples were sweet enough. I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. I went back to the farmer’s market 2 more times to get more apples to make more. We all loved it!
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Try leaving the peels on some of the red apples and you apple sauce will be a pretty pink color!
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I think it was the brown sugar that made it brown. I also doubled the batch so maybe that is why too. I won’t give up on it yet- we will just have to try it a different way next time.
Thanks for all of this feedback!
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Well if it makes you feel any better, I’d eat it!
I just canned my first batch of homemade applesauce ever (40 pints of it) using my Mom’s recipe, it turned out so good! Much to MY suprise.
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Amy, thank you for the link and for the beautiful post!
It is so refreshing to see that my children are not the only ones who have “issues.” There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to what my kids like/dislike on any given day. And I have a background in child psychology! I greatly appreciate your honest review.
xoxo
steph
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I’ve made that crockpot applesauce twice already and I love it! Isn’t that the greatest site – I love all of the crockpot ideas every day
I didn’t even think about it being brown, but it doesn’t bother me, and it tastes yummy!
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Thanks for sharing your experience with this. I’ve been wanting to try this for awhile. I think I still will because my kids are weird.
They love a different spin on old favorites.
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I LOVE homemade applesauce. Never thought about making in the crockpot, though I think I actually have a recipe for it. Definitely a good way to keep the house smelling good all day! I use my food processor to get rid of all those nasty chunks….I much prefer a smooth, pudding-like consistency. Adding vanilla sounds yummy, too. I have some apples left over so I think I may make some applesauce now!
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I recently made this applesauce for a gathering of friends, and it was a BIG HIT! And the aroma it gives off while it is simmering is DELISH!
I usually use a paring knife on my apples (even thouh I have the Pampered Chef thing), but when I’m in a hurry, I use my vegetable peeler (the kind you use on carrots). It makes very little waste and it makes quick work of peeling!
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