Old-Fashioned Kettle Apple Butter
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.Spending time with friends and…
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Spending time with friends and family, learning a new skill and having yummy goodies to show for it.
Who knew making old-fashioned apple butter in a kettle over a fire could be so much fun?
Well, I guess a whole generation of people who grew up making it that way probably knew.
My friend Sara (of Field and Flour micro-bakery and flower farm) and I decided to find out if it was actually true. We picked the brains of our parents and grandparents and read recipe after recipe. Laughed at the descriptive directions of some of them. Haha! Then planned the day.
Everyone we talked to tried to impress upon us what a long day it would be. We weren’t deterred. We had made up our minds and there was no stopping us.
A few things to know about ole timers and their apple butter
There is no recipe, at least not one any layman could understand. Also, there are no really clear directions. Lastly, don’t try to make it for the first time without one/some present. That is all. That is all you have to know about ole timers and their apple butter. Go into with flexibility and patience.
The recipe
We found so many online and in old books, some are simple and others more complicated. Most only use sugar and cinnamon, but some use other spices like nutmeg, clove. Both sets of ole timers we talked to during this adventure turned their noses up at those other spices. Just saying. They were both purists and only wanted cinnamon flavor.
The quantities of items used were not very well defined. So many of these recipes have been handed down from generation to generation and are learned by simply taking part in the day and may not be written down anywhere. Luckily, Sara’s parents had one written down version and it was our starting point. The recipe below is similar, but not exactly the same, as her family’s recipe card had a delightful story attached to it and I won’t be sharing that.
The directions
All day long we heard things like “cook it until it’s good and done,” or “until it starts smoking it’s big pipes.” I’m sorry. What? Come again?
We had some good laughs at the descriptive way we were told to cook it.
Basically, your apples will start as apples, then get tender, then turn to more liquid than apple, turn into applesauce and eventually all dissolve/melt/reduce down to the beautiful “red” NOT brown apple butter color we all recognize. Somewhere along the way right between applesauce and apple butter it starts smoking it’s big pipes. 😂
Whatever you do …DON’T scorch it!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Listen, this is a dying art and one that too many more generations may not want to continue. Let’s not let that happen. This is the main reason Sara and I did this (although I can’t speak for her, but I know she feels strongly about it too) and why we’ll do it again. The best way to learn and old art form is from someone who has done it before.
Ask for help! We couldn’t have done it, certainly not as seamlessly as we did if Sara’s parents hadn’t made it out.
Get in touch with your elders and find one who had made it before and ask them to come out for the day. Send them home with apple butter and spend time in fellowship learning from them.
After all, who else will interpret the obscure directions from the old recipe card?
Worth the work
They were right. Old-fashioned kettle apple butter on an open fire is lots of work. Lots of prep time. Lots of tending fire.
Totally worth it.
Plan ahead, get a fun group together, start wary and enjoy some of the best apple butter you’ve ever eaten, plus a super fun day with those you love.
Old Fashioned Kettle Apple Butter
Equipment
- Copper or Brass Apple Butter Kettle
- Canning equipment optional
- Containers with lids
Ingredients
- 2 Bushels Apples We used Stayman Winesap and Red Winesap, we cored, pared and peeled the night before
- 3-6 gallons Water Can also use apple cider
- 16-20 lbs Sugar Add very slowly and stir, then repeat process until it is all mixed (will take a while)
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon Oil Scant 1/4 tsp. Add slowly and stir, then taste and add more as needed
Instructions
- Core, peel, pare and cover apples the night before
- At this stage you can cook down for about 45 mins to begin softening, but we did not
- Start early in the morning and begin cooking down apples in 3 gallons of liquid to soften up over an open fire
- Stir constantly all day
- Apples will first turn to apple sauce then begin to dissolve even more to apple butter consistency and red color
- Once you have reached the red color and consistency you'd like for apple butter slowly begin adding sugar
- Add sugar while stirring vigorously a little at a time
- Continue stirring until the red color becomes even more rich (about an hour more)
- The butter will begin boiling (a slow popping boil vs rolling boil) you can begin testing the "doneness" of the apple butter by putting some on a spoon or saucer and looking for dripping liquid. If it stays in place with no liquid dripping it is ready. If you think it is ready it is probably not.
- This is when you can add the cinnamon oil, remove from the heat and add the cinnamon oil sparingly
- Jar up the apple butter, can be canned in a water bath at this time, or frozen in jars/containers, or eaten fresh (will keep for 2-3 weeks in fridge)
