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Applesauce darkening in jars...why?

16 years ago

A batch of applesauce I BWB'd less than a month ago in 8 oz & 12 oz jars darkened. I've never had this happen before so soon after canning. So I opened them all, tasted them & made applebutter. Any idea why? I've noticed alot of the things I preserved this year are darkening quicker than usual. Why?

(I can applesauce in 8 oz jars for my mother, because she loves it but she does use enough to give her pints.)

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Comments (5)

ksrogers
16 years ago
Oxidation is common with apples. Thats is what they usually mention adding something like Ascorbic acid to apples and other things that can darken over time. Even though its air tight, there is still air trapped inside, not matter how its made. This air will cause darkening. I had some nice purple grape jelly and after about two yars it was brown color. Same thing happened with apricot preserves. Thsi time, I added some ascorbic acid and its not browned yet. Usually with apple butter you do want it to brown and darken. Some years acdidty can be lower than others, so thigs can darken naturally.
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bejay9_10
16 years ago
I like to soak my cut apples in lemon juice before using them in a recipe.

My kids are very fond of my apple pies, and I believe it is because of the lemon juice pre-treatment. If apples are allowed to sit awhile before making the pie, the pie then changes character and become an "apple cider" variety.

And as Ken mentions, ascorbic acid would work here too.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay
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The lemon juice is a relatively new recommendation. Ball Complete Book includes it NCHFP does not. Your choice for now but it also helps preserve the color so is a good thing to do. Too thick applesauce is a common problem for many. It always needs to be thinner, more soupy, going into the jars than we think it should be. We have to force ourselves to make it thinner - put a big sign on the fridge - "Soupy Sauce -It will get thicker!!!" :) If processed for the full time it will be safe to eat because of the natural acidity but have a shorter shelf life before darkening from the air. Mark the jars and use them up first. Of if less than 24 hours you can reprocess it and thin it out at the same time. Some use water, I use apple juice to thin mine down. Dave
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'Maybe I didn't heat a couple of the batches up enough before going in the canner.' I suspect that is where the glitch occured. After if you made the sauce, what didn't fit in the jars in the first batch went in the fridge. Mold and yeast spores actually float in the air, so it was inoculated. It needs to be essentially boiled AGAIN when you take it out and jar additional batches. Simmered enough to kill organisms, all over again and then jarred when it is hot as possible. I would treat any in the fridge like I would an unprocessed batch, because it essentially is. Just out of curiosity, how long did any of it sit in the fridge before you got around to jarring it? If you have more than a canner full, and some left over, did you know you don't need an actual canner to process them? I have pressed any deep pot into service for BWB if I have too much for the canners I have. All it has to do is be deeper enough to leave at least an inch of water over the jars, and provide some sort of protection to the bottom, even a dish rag, so the jars don't knock about and break. Sorry about your experience. It's frustrating.
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I know, it's a pain that there are these inconsistencies. That wait time comes out of the NCHFP, which is USDA-supported, and I expect it will be standard in the new USDA guide now in the works. The nice thing about the wait time is it does reduce siphoning from jars and I've noticed a lot of jars seal more quickly once they come out of the water. There's also a new wait-time standard for pressure canners. Remove the weight once the canner's at zero and leave the product where it is for 10 minutes then remove the lid. That really helps reduce liquid loss. Added lemon juice for applesauce is starting to come out in some guides, like the new Ball/Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving. But the regular Ball Blue Book doesn't call for it. I expect that will become standard in the new guidelines too, to cover all the situations where people use bruised over-ripe apples. If you do want to go the lemon juice route, it's 1 T. per quart jar. It's a real trick keeping up with everything, especially when one Ball book says one thing and a second one says another. It drives me nuts. You can see the new standard for boiling water baths at the link. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Using Boiling Water Canners
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I think actually any apple will make good applesauce. My grandmother always used Rome apples because they are so mealy but I actually prefer a crisper, more tart apple. I have a yellow delicious and a red delicious in my back yard garden and both are good for all kinds of things, including applesauce. I think the kind of apple you pick for applesauce is just a matter of personal taste. And yes, freezing is fine if you're cooking the apples to soften them and not just whirring the raw apples around in a food processor. I freeze apple slices and the way I keep them from darkening in the freezer is that I slice them into water that has about a tablespoon of canning salt to about a gallon of water. Before I freeze I strain off the water and then I pack them in gallon freezer bags. They are great for cooking or for eating frozen. They do turn light brown and watery if thawed completely, but the water is apple juice, so if you had an abundance of apples and wanted to make juice, you could probably freeze apples and then thaw them and get juice quite easily that way.
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Linda_Lou
16 years ago
You processed for the correct time ? Was it really hot when you put it into your jars ? Did you add any spices ?
I put Fruit Fresh directly into my applesauce as I cook it. It is ascorbic acid and will make it so nice and fresh looking and tasting.
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karen_b
Original Author
16 years ago
Linda Lou, I mixed the sizes of jars when processed, 8, 12 & 16 oz jars. Only the 8 & 12 oz jars turned brown. I BWB them for 20 min. No spices or sugar. But, I was in a rush and didn't get the applesauce up to the temp recommended, I don't remember what temp I did get it to but it was hot. I prefer to use fruit fresh as little as possible, so I don't add it to applesauce and I was out of ascorbic acid. I've had applesauce darken after 9 months but never less than a month.
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ksrogers
16 years ago
Fruit Fresh is he same thing as ascorbic acid, which is also the same thing as vitamin C. They are all the same but with brand names added, just to confuse some people. May I ask why you prefer not to use an antioxident such as Fruit Fresh? Without any oxidation protection, especially for apples, its more of a necessity. Every year even off the same tree, an apple can contain more or less of the acid that protects it from oxidizing, in most cases, most apples will quickly turn brown within minutes after slicing one open. Not heating to a boiling temperature can also cause some oxidizing.
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