Seeds do have a trace of arsenic. Adding not only seeds, skins, blemishes, stems, cores, blossom ends, and the all important husks surrounding the seeds are not going to cook down to nothing. Within this forum recently mentioned, is a very inexpensive cranking device that will peel, core and even slice the apples in a spiral. If you have a lot to do, this will take the job from a few hours to a maybe less than hour . I did over a bushel in about 2 hours. Applesauce that has none of these unecessary things and also be done by cutting in quarters, and cooking them, down to soft, then run through the Villaware type food strainer, which wll take out all seeds, skins, hard debris, and anything else that may not give it a smooth texture. To can this, you would have to be sure that no mold or bad spots are on the apples, or any worms or other insect damages inside. I can't part with mine which is in the link below, as its been in use almost 30 years now. With more apple trees reaching maturity, in future years, it will be a welcomed tool to prepare apples for sauce, butter, or pie fillings, not to mention apple pie jam. Removing the corer/slice, it will peel an apple in 2 seconds flat!

Here is a link that might be useful: Inexpenisve apple peeler, corer and slicer

I use the same peeler Ken describes. I do neaten up the finished slices to get out the last of the core. Then I cook the apples and mash them into a chunky sauce.

Other times I make smooth sauce. In this case I quarter the apples and cook them skin and all, then put the whole cooked mess through my Villaware food strainer. The skin and seeds come out the end while a smooth sauce more like store-bought consistency comes out the side.

If I could only have one device for apples, I'd choose the peeler, because I also freeze a lot of slices in the amounts my favorite pie recipes call for. (You can freeze baked and unbaked pies too.)

I don't worry about eating the occasional seed since it would take a lot to hurt you, but I do think it's a quality issue in terms of the sauce appearance and texture. If I were peeling by hand I'd try to get rid of all of the seeds and most of the core.

Melissa

My apple types have loose seeds inside that are surrounded by that stiff 'husk' that holds them in place. Because of the size of these husks around the seeds, sometimes my peeler just cant get to all of it. Its easy to fix however, as when I pull off the sliced cored apple, I simply cut in thirds, and cut out any of that hard stuff that remains. The reason my apples have that bigger tougher husk is because they have a lot of disease and insect resistance bred into the types of apples.

I hope to core apples soon with my new corer/peeler.
I bought myself one this summer, saw the neighbors had 5 cases of apples for sauce and said they could test drive the peeler/corer, so far it hasn't returned home, lol.
Prior to my purchase I never cooked with the cores or seeds.Although I would add some peels to make a pretty pink sauce

I don't remove any cores or peels. I do cut out bad spots and remove stems. I halve or quarter the apples, toss them into my biggest stock pot and cook them, then run them through my Squeezo.

There is a bit of arsenic in apple seeds but I've been assured by my county extension service that the amount is so miniscule that it's not a consideration, even when grinding the apples through the Squeezo for sauce.

My applesauce does come out a lovely pink color, though, because of the peels.

Annie

I am with Annie, although I use my fruit and veggie strainer on my Kitchenaid instead of a squeezo. I don't always remove the stems either, I do cut out any bad spots though.

I believe you would have to eat an entire bowl full of apple seeds to even get sick.

-Robin

Robin, I'm so happy to see you here! Ashley asked if I'd make another batch of your prize winning nectarine freezer jam, but I haven't found good nectarines yet, they're dry, mealy and tasteless.

since Dad's death, I've been getting rid of a lot of stuff. Wanna buy a cow? LOL.

Annie

I have one of those hand-cranked apple corer/peeler/slicers, too, but I find their performance...uneven. With smaller, firmer apples, it works great, but mine destroys larger and/or softer apples. So this year, I went a different way when making my apple butter. I washed the apples very well, and then used a regular apple corer/wedger that you press down over the apple which handily removes the cores and seeds and cuts each apple into eight pieces. I tossed those pieces into the stock pot with some apple cider and simmered them until soft. Then I ran the apple mixture through my new Roma tomato mill to puree and remove the peels. Easy!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious (my cooking blog)

I do it both ways.

I usually make some of what I think of as "fancy" applesauce, for gift-giving or for opening up in front of company. I peel, using a crank-peeler from Lee Valley (unless apples are v. soft and/or oddly shaped, in which case I peel by hand). Then I slice & core with the old-fashioned "mash it down" slicer thing described above that is like a blade in form of a circle and six "wedges" so it cores & slices at once.

I am careful to pop the slices RIGHT into the Fruit Fresh, and the applesauce comes out lovely, pale, and sweet.

But I make lots of what I think of as "homestyle" applesauce, for which I usually do like Annie---just remove stems and bruises, cook down, and then mash/strain, but I use my beloved stainless-steel Foley-style food mill, which takes out any seeds, hard bits of core, tough bits of peel, etc. It comes out sometimes pinkish, sometimes a little darker, may have a few tiny flecks in it here and there (probably wee bits of seed) and doesn't taste perhaps quite as sweet (though that depends much more on the kinds of apples used). But it's real quick to make lots, and it's DARNED good (I prefer it not too sweet, in fact).

Zabby

Here is another vote for de-stem, quarter, remove bruises and cook. My hand cranked food mill squeezes out the good stuff and I am left with skin and seeds. The food mill is hard enough to work without wearing my arms out beforehand with peeling and coring. We are not big apples suace eaters so I only make one batch a year and buying anything more expensive is not justifiable. Kay.

Annie, I have used basically the same recipe to make freezer jam without the nectarines. I just briefly cooked the lemon and liqueur to cook off the alcohol. You could also sub another fruit like peaches, plums, apples.

I would love to buy a cow. I saw the prices you sell it for. I wish Michigan and Vermont were side by side. Hope you are doing okay with everything. I have been here, just not posting much. My schedule recently has allowed for reading but not posting much.

-Robin (off to work)

My dad makes apple sauce using a Norpro Sauce Master, he was wondering IF the blossom needs to be removed prior or would the machine remove it? He doesn't want to ruin an entire batch. Thank you.

Hi Lin... I'd pull out the blossom end while cutting the apples. The sauce master will probably pull out the blossom end well enough but I would be inclined to think that it could make it bitter.