When I was a boy we would occasionally make a meal out of apple butter on bread, doused with fresh, rich, Jersey milk. Not just a little bit of apple butter either. The bread was placed in a dish, and a big dollop of apple butter was spread on it, followed by the milk. It was quick and easy, and delicious too. Our apple butter was always store-bought though, and I wasn’t even aware
that some people made their own.
That changed when we moved to Wayne County, and we learned that one of the families in our church, the Atlee Weavers, made their own apple butter in a large copper kettle over a wood fire, and they shared some with us. For them, it was a tradition passed down from previous generations.
Since that time I’ve learned that—in these parts at least—making apple butter is a long-standing fall tradition for many Amish families, and some Mennonites too. In fact, it was a great delight to learn that my Neuenschwander family did this every fall, and when I became a part of the family, it was a pleasure to join in with the project.
On a Friday evening in October, several bushels of apples from the home orchard would be schnitzed in preparation for the apple butter. Oh, should I explain? Schnitz is a German word used in this community, but it means peeling, coring, and quartering the apples. Literally translated, "schnitz" means “carving.”
Mom and Pop Neuenschwander have those old-fashioned peelers like Lehman Hardware sells, and on schnitz day, the older kids did the peeling, and the adults quartered and cored. It was fun to work together as a family. The next morning the fire was started, and cider was boiled down in the kettle. This would add extra apple flavor to the finished product. Next the apples were added, and later in the afternoon, sugar was added. By early evening, after cooking and stirring all afternoon, the apple butter was ready for canning, and an assembly line formed to get it done.
Cooking apple butter in the old copper kettle.
In later years, the process was streamlined somewhat. A victorio strainer was used to quickly produce applesauce that was then used instead of schnitzed apples. No more peeling necessary, and the end product was the same. Those were great family times, with many pleasant memories of tending the fire and taking turns stirring the apple butter with a long handled paddle that had a lot of holes in it. We haven’t done it for a number of years, and I miss those days, but it is still possible to enjoy the same apple butter by making it right at home in our kitchen. The flavor is just the same, and the ratio of ingredients is the same--only using a fraction of the apples, cider, and sugar that are cooked in the large copper kettle.
A few days ago, Juanita and I made applesauce from one-half bushel of Honey Crisp apples. It made twenty pounds of apple sauce, and while it was still hot, it was poured into a large roaster and placed into our oven that was heated to 300 degrees. At the same time, I began cooking down two gallons of cider to quickly reduce it to less than one gallon before adding it to the sauce. Approximately eight hours later, after stirring the sauce once an hour with a silicone spatula, it was time to add six cups of sugar, and begin testing it for completion. This is easy. You simply put a spoonful of apple butter in a dish and watch for liquid to run out of it. If there is still quite a bit of liquid, keep on cooking for another half hour. Every half hour, test it again. It is finished and ready for canning when very little juice runs from the spoonful of apple butter in the dish.
I like to use a small kettle to dip the apple butter, and using a canning-funnel, fill the pint jars. Quickly and firmly a cap and ring are screwed on, and the jar is briefly turned upside down. The apple butter is so hot that this sterilizes the lids, and according to family legend "helps them to seal.” (It pays to wear a glove to do this, as the jars are hot.) Another method to sterilize the lids would be to boil them before using. But tipping the jars upside down for a little bit is the traditional Neuenschwander way of doing it, and I’m sticking with it. :)
Applesauce going into the oven.
Cooking the cider. The froth should be skimmed off.
Testing the apple butter. Not quite there yet.
Finished and ready for dipping into jars.
The apple butter is delicious! It is thick and rather coarse too, not at all like the finely pureed store-bought product. Some people like to season it with cinnamon and other spices, but we prefer the straight apple butter with no additional seasoning. Apple butter is amazingly delicious when hot and fresh, slathered generously on buttered homemade bread. Kingly food!
Our one-half bushel of apples produced eleven pints of the good stuff. This will be plenty to get us through until next fall. One more note. We generally use Grimes Golden apples, but decided to try Honey Crisp this year. The flavor turned out a little sharper and potent this time. Still excellent, but I think we’ll go back to Grimes Golden next year.
From Kidron, Ohio, where the good men who were homely a year ago have managed to improve only slightly; where the beautiful women remain as lovely as ever; and where the children are still energetic and mischievous, and now they’re about a foot taller. We wish for you a wonderful weekend, and take a few moments each day to enjoy this season of Advent. Until the next time.
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