Wow. That's a buncha jars!

I grated the apples with my food processor once. I don't recall having the shreds float any worse than the chopped apples. My old food processor makes really big or really small shreds not the in between size I get if I hand grate. I used the larger size. I decided I like chopped better but it wasn't a huge difference. I haven't tried chopping them with the regular blade in the food processor. The old one chopped very unevenly. I haven't had my new kitchenaid one very long but it does seem to chop more evenly. I might try it.

It may be that the old apple is a Baldwin type. When I planted my apple trees a few years ago, I chose types that had a high resistance to diseases, as well as remaining firm when they were partially cooked or baked. Red Free, and Williams Pride are the two I chose. Right now, McCoun apples are in stores and these also hold up very well to cooking. If your making apple pie jam, use fresh apple cider for the added liquid as opposed to water. Add the chopped apple bits about a minute or two before you start filling the jars with the boiling jam. In most cases the apple bits will float in the jars, so flipping the jars over a few times before the jam sets up, will help to suspend the apple bits. Macs, get very mushy, and even Granny Smith also get quite mushy once they get heated. If your making an apple jam, use several different types of apples, from Fuji, Delicious, to Cortlands and others. The more the merrier!

Normally I use apples from my tree, which I grow organically (don't want to harm the hummingbirds), and I still peel them. I do not peel apples that I eat by themselves. I have a device that peels, cores, and slices in one fell swoop, as discussed last month, and so the whole ordeal takes only seconds. This week-end I went out to pick the last of the apples from my tree, and I noticed that they had vanished. I am wondering how they could have disappeared, especially since some of them were at the ends of spindly branches. So I bought apples at the store, and they were a lot more expensive than I expected. Sunday we went to the farmers' market, and I could have bought them there, but they would have been even more expensive. If you are making an apple galette with thin slices of apples on top, it might look pretty to have the peelings on, but it is easier to eat if they are removed. For a pie with a top, I would definitely peel them for guests. Lars