Homemade Apple Juice

Fall is my favorite season albeit a busy one with all the harvesting to be done around the homestead. Apples are one of our favorite homestead treats. One tree yields so many things for us, but so many of these things are time consuming and a bit tedious. Well one thing I do with apples that is very hands off, but super rewarding is make apple juice. Turning those apple scraps, blemished or bruised fruits, or the ones that are just too small to bother with into juice is a great way to waste less and get the most out of your apple harvest with minimal effort. Here is my process for making homemade apple juice that turns out delicious every time. My family no longer needs to purchase junk juices from the store too.

1. Get 4 quarts of water boiling on the stove. While you wait for the water to boil, fill an ice cream bucket with apple chunks and scraps. 

2. dump the apples into the 5 gallon bucket and sprinkle them with 3 teaspoons cream if tartar.

3. Pour the boiling water over the apples and cover with the sealing lid. Let them sit undisturbed for 24-36 hours. I find the juice to be more flavorful after 36 hours, but any longer and it'll start tasting vinegary. (which is another thing you can make with apple scraps btw).

4. Next day, strain the apples from the juice. Then I filter the juice into mason jars to get a good measurement for how much juice it made, how many jars I'll need, etc. I have found milk filters to be the best, or even jelly straining clothes. Something fine enough to catch any pulp so you have nice clear juice. Coffee filters are agonizingly slow. 

5. Once you have your juice filtered, get it warming in a kettle and add your sugar or sweetener of choice. I usually start out with 1 cup of sugar for 4 quarts of juice. Then taste. If it seems watered down, you can either boil it down or add more sugar. This only ever happens if I use too many peels and not enough cores and apple chunks though.

6. Process or drink. There's 2 ways I have processed my juice. 1). I used to sanitize jars and lids, bring juice to a rolling boil and jar it up hot. Let it sit undisturbed for 24 hours. As it cooled the jars would seal and it was shelf stable for a good 2 years. 2) I now fill up my water bath canner with hot water, warm up the juice just enough to dissolve the sugar well, then jar it. Place the jars in the canner, letting everything warm up to a boil together, boil for 20 minutes. So it doesn't siphon, let jars sit in the water until the water stops boiling. Once the water is calm, lift jars out of the water but still sitting on the rack in the canner until the inside juice stops bubbling. then lift the jars out and place them on a towel on the counter to seal for 24 hours.  I do it this way because it is easier to jar everything cold than to sanitize jars, and by water bath canning the juice, I feel more confident that it is safe for my kids to drink years down the road since it is drank cold, not boiled first. 

That's it! Healthy, delicious, organic apple juice made right in your own kitchen.

Enjoy! 

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