Dehydrating Applesauce - Easier Than You Would Think

Applesauce!  Who’d a thunk it? 

Can you believe this chewy wafer is actually ¼ cup of applesauce?

Now you can dehydrate your applesauce and take it with you. Make sure you measure your portions, so you know how much is in a serving.  What could be easier?

Take a look at those jars and cans of commercially prepared applesauce. Most of them have high fructose corn syrup in it, which is very bad for you and your kids.  If you happen to have some that doesn’t have all that junk in it, go ahead and dehydrate it and pop a wafer or two in your kids or hubby’s lunches. 

Somebody needing a  Sweet Fix?  Give ‘em a couple of applesauce wafers.  

Oh, and they are great with ham, pork, chicken and all sorts of dishes. 

Quartered

My first attempt at making applesauce started with  a batch of crab apples someone had given me.  They were too small to comfortably peel.  

I looked at them and thought about the arduous task of coring and stemming them.  Then I took the easy way out!  I decided to run them through the Squeezo hand crank puree machine I had just purchased at the thrift store and see what would happen. 

The first thing I did was roughly quarter them. Then I simmerd them until they were tender.

 

Squeezo Away !

 

What a fantastic deal the Squeezo is!  Chunks of apples went in the hopper. Apple puree squeezed through the screen, and cores, pits, and stems came out the end.   

If you don’t have a machine like this, you can core the apples by using a mellon baller. Cut your apples in half and use it to take out a perfect little ball of core.   Then after they are cooked, just puree the apples. 

For making applesauce, you might want to peel them first.  Save and dehydrate those peelings, though!

Fresh, Unsweetened Applesauce

My eight quart pot of apples produced two good-sized bowls of applesauce.

 

• Lightly mist your fruit leather trays with non-stick spray.
• Measure out ¼ cup portions.  My Facebook  group coined the term ‘plops’ for them!
• Dehydrate at 115º to 120º