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

'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.

This is the one I've used for years, it's from the Betty Crocker cookbook, 1969 version. I always leave out the nuts, as my oldest daughter cannot eat them. I use dried cranberries instead of raisins sometimes and I bake in a bundt cake pan. If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, use 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice for the pumpkin pie spice. My kids like this with maple glaze in place of the powdered sugar too. Applesauce Cake Betty Crocker Cookbook 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 cup raisins 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups applesauce 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 2 tablespoons powdered sugar Directions 1 Heat oven to 350úF. Grease bottom and side of 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening; lightly flour. Toss 1 tablespoon flour and the cranberries to coat; set aside. In large bowl, mix 2 1/2 cups flour, the pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. 2 In large bowl, beat granulated sugar and butter with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until smooth and blended. Reduce mixer speed to medium. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternately with applesauce until smooth. Stir in cranberry-flour mixture and walnuts. Pour into pan. 3 Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Sprinkle powdered sugar over cake. Annie

None other than adding flavor seasonings to cover it up. Adding cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, etc. can help as can mixing it with other fruits. I'd suspect your pot isn't true quality stainless but one of the aluminum/steel compounds. Just a guess. I've never tasted Transparent apples personally but have read that the white trans has an especially "sharp" flavor. Dave