I can't imagine making apple sauce in a crock pot....it's really fast and easy without.
BUT...you need a food mill or a turk's cap thingey and a masher.
I just pile the apples in the sink wash, pull off the stem and quarter...removing any worms you may find...:-(
Pile into a big pot, usually just the water clinging to them is enough but of not I may add a cup or so of cider, apple juice...or just water....cook slowly until the juices start flowing, then faster....stir often and when all are cooked,...maybe 30 to 40 minutes depending on how big a potful you have, strain the seeds and peels out and sweeten or spice to taste.
Easy peasy...if you have the equipment.
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: Sieve with masher

It's not a "MUST" to peel them, but I would certainly cut out any blemishes and bad spots. You can also use an apple corer/slicer to quickly cut the apples into slices.

I'm with Linda C, it's quicker to cook them in a pot/kettle (10-20-minutes - until apples are tender).

You can make "Chunky" Applesauce by coarsely crushing half of the apples with a potato masher and puree the rest (if you have an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor they can be used if you don't have a food mill), and combine them together.

Personally, I'd freeze it instead of canning it. Place it in small zip-lock bags and lay them flat with the opening to one side. Push out as much air as possible and zip shut. Another option is to freeze in plastic containers, when completely frozen, pop the applesauce out of the containers. Stack the applesauce "cubes" and vacuum-seal in a FoodSaver bag.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Apple, Corer, Slicer

Mom always made applesauce with the peels on. It gives it a nice rosy colour. A food mill makes quick work of separating the skins from the sauce, after it's cooked.

I peel my apples, but that's just me. I just freeze it in margarine, sour cream, etc containers.

I don't peel either. My process is the same as LindaC's except sometimes I use my big roaster and cook in the oven.
I can walk away and do something else and not worry about scorching.
I run mine through my Victorio food mill.

Exact same process for tomatoes, pears and seeded fruits for making seedless jam.

Deanna

I don't peel. But then, I often make sauce with crab-apples, and I don't even want to core them. I cook them in the microwave, and don't even have to add any extra liquid. Pressing the cooked apples though a coarse strainer or colander works to separate the skins and pips. I like the pinkish colour also.

I made applesauce and canned it this afternoon.
Same as Linda described and like Deanna, I used my Victorio food mill. I still have more to do tomorrow.

Nancy

Thank you very much everyone. I believe I will do it on the stove top then and I'll try my the Peeler Apple Corer tool that I bought recently. I'm not sure how well it will work on irregularly sized apples but only one way to find out.

Kate

I bought one of those peelers expressly to use making applesauce. It is a godsend. Plus it's kind of a fun gizmo to use! I used to use my Foley mill to separate out peels, man that was a pain! Now I have a Victorio kind, which makes everything a snap. Oddly, I don't think Foley or Victorio are even in business anymore, but that's the only way I know to describe the two types of food mills. I guess you could press the stuff through a colander, that might also do the trick. But if you have one of those peelers, go to town! You could always save some peels to throw in to the pot to give it color. But Fuji peels aren't that red. Throw in some blueberries or cranberries, that also works for color.

Thank you for additional feedback on applesauce prep. I absolutely love the idea of blueberry or cranberry applesauce. Glad the weekend is finally arriving so I can do some cooking. The idea of adding some peels for a little color and texture is great as well.

Have a good weekend.

Kate

Here's the recipe I use and my daughter too. Made in the crock pot.

How to make apple butter - easily!

Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of 18 months to 2 years, and require no special attention. A side benefit is that your house will smell wonderful while it is cooking - much better than potpourri! You can also skip the last canning steps, and just store it in your refrigerator (2 or 3 months) or freezer (indefinitely).

Directions for Making Apple Butter

Yields about 9 - 10 pints
Ingredients and Equipment

9 quarts of Applesauce, fresh or canned (See step 1)
2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
4 cups sugar or Splenda, or an equivalent amount of sweetness to taste, from honey, Stevie or frozen concentrated apple or white grape juice.
Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sanitize them. ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page)
Jar funnel ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page)
1 Crock pot (slow cooker) 6 quart size (if your crock pot is smaller, just reduce the ingredients proportionately)
Large spoons and ladles
1 Canner
Ball jars quart jars including the lids and rings)

Apple Butter Recipe and Directions
Step 1 - Make unsweetened applesauce!

That's right, apple butter starts with applesauce! You can use store bought applesauce, but the apple butter won't taste nearly as good. It's better with your own applesauce (either previously canned or fresh made). So if you haven't made some applesauce yet start here with how to make applesauce. Otherwise continue to step 2.

Step 2 - Fill the crock pot
Fill the crock pot to within an inch of full with applesauce, mine takes about 5.5 quarts. You will add the remaining applesauce later, in step 5. Now, you CAN do this using a regular large pot on very low heat on the stove, but the crock pot works much better, because its heat is very low. I've never had a batch burn in the crock pot.

Step 3 -Add the spices
Add:
2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
2 cups sugar (the other 2 cups are used in step 4)

In place of sugar, you can use an equivalent amount of Splenda (sucrose) OR 1 twelve ounce can of frozen concentrated fruit juice (preferably a neutral juice, like white grape or apple). You could use honey or Stevena, also. The sweetener is present ONLY for your taste, not as a preservative, so you can use anything that is heat-stable, in quantities that suit your own tastes.

You can skip the sweeteners entirely, too; but it loses a lot of the richness of flavor, in my opinion. 95% of folks seem to like using a total of 4 cups of sugar. Some folks prefer 3 cups of honey instead, and diabetics obviously like Splenda or Stevena.

Step 4 - Cook down the Apple butter

Set the crock pot on low or medium heat.

Cover it loosely or use a large pot splatter-guard. It will spatter as it boils slowly, so I also cover nearby surfaces with towels. You don't want to seal it tightly because you want the steam to escape so it can reduce in volume and thicken. A visitor suggests, take a couple of butter knives, and lay them across the top of the crock pot. They are parallel and located about 2/3 of the way out from the center. Then put the lid on these supports, leaving it "covering" the pot and keeping the splatters under control, but, leaving a good gap for steam to escape. I just made a batch and tried this approach, but I used a pair of wooden chopsticks or bamboo kebab skewers - they worked great!

Leave it to cook for 6 - 18 hours. How long depends on the size and power of your crock pot, and how thick you like it, If you want to stir it occasionally, that's fine but not necessary. I start mine around 8 pm on high for 1 hour, then on medium until I am ready for bed around midnight, then leave it on low overnight.

But do be careful: if your crock pot does not heat evenly, and has hot spots; you can get localized burning. So once in a while, use a rubber or silicon spatula to scrape the sides and look for any burned apple butter. If it does burn: pour the apple butter out of the crock pot into a bowl. The burned apple butter will cling to the crock pot. Clean the crock pot, discard the burned bits and pour the unburned apple butter back in!

Step 5 - Add the remaining applesauce
It will reduce in volume by about half overnight. As it cooks down (the next morning), add the remaining applesauce (about 2 or 3 quarts) and 2 more cups of sugar. Then let it cook a couple of hours more to mix the flavors.

Step 6 - Wash the jars and lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.

Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot apple butter.

Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
Step 7 - Blend the apple butter (optional)

You want a smooth, creamy texture, right? The easiest way is to use a hand-held drink blender. It does a great job of making it smooth. You can also put it into a regular blender, but if you are going to do that, you might want to blend the apple sauce before you put it in the crock pot (it will be much thicker afterwards and won't move in a regular blender). Another visitor says running it through a food mill with a fine screen or through a sieve works, too.
Tips:

Too thick? if the apple butter cooks down too much or is too thick for your liking, just add a little bit of apple juice and blend it in.
Not thick enough? Just let it cook some more, with the lid off so the steam can escape!

Step 8 - Fill and seal the jars home canning jars, lids and rings

If the crock pot isn't keeping the apple butter boiling hot, you will need to briefly return the butter to the stove to get it hotter. It varies from crock pot to crock pot. I find that if I set my crock pot on high for the 15 minutes before I fill the jars and stir frequently, it gets it boiling.

Fill the jars to within 1-inch of the top, wipe any spilled apple butter of the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them.
Step 9 Process the jars
Process means put them in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. if you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint jars for 5 minutes and quart jars for 10 min. If you are at an altitude of 1,000 feet or more, see the chart below. Even though these times are right from the USDA, I usually tend to err on the side of safety and let mine go for 15 minutes; there's no harm in going longer.

Recommended process time for Apple Butter in a boiling-water canner.

Jar Size

Process Time at Altitudes of

0- 1,000 ft

1,001 - 6,000 ft

Above 6,000 ft

Half-pints or Pints

5 min

10

15

Quarts

10

15

20
Step 10 - Done

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.

Linda

Thank you Linda. Great!

Kate

I am a huge applesauce lover. I've tried other fruits in applesauce, strawberry is good but it disappears as far as color. I make a variety of types of applesauce. Cut up oranges are good to cook in with the applesauce too, but fished out at the end. Of course that won't give you the traditional applesauce flavor, but like I said, I make several kinds.

What's your method on adding the oranges? Slice them up skin and all and then remove before canning or do you take off the peel first? I'd love to hear. Thanks.

Kate

I slice them up, stick them with a few (very few) cloves and cook them with the sauce. Before canning up I take them out, squeeze all the yuminess from them and then discard the peels.

I love that. Thank you.

Kate

My mom used to throw in a handful of cinnamon red hots. Made the sauce super pretty and add a bit of cinnamon. :)

Okay so we made applesauce today and here's how it happened: We used our peeler-corer-slicer tool to use up about half of one box of the apples. We kind of borrowed here and there from the above advice which resulted in making it on the stovetop using a stock pot. We did add four oranges to each batch which resulted in five quarts and four half pints of apple sauce. We had fun experimenting. We made the first batch with twice as much sugar as was called for by accident. It was good! But super sweet. The next batch we used agave and the last batch we actually put in the appropriate amount of sugar only. Then my husband used the peeler tool on a few more apples and they are processing in the food dehydrator right now. Whew! Busy afternoon but very enjoyable. Again thank you all.

Kate

Canning chaos in the kitchen.

My husband and his little makeshift apple processing counter.