Quote Originally Posted by TahoeDirtGirl View Post
BG- fess up how to do the apple butter in the crockpot!
ok...

First, you cut up a whole SLEW of apples and cook them in a big spaghetti pot for about 45 minutes or an hour with an inch or so of water. Stir and mash occasionally....and you get apple sauce. Add a little sugar if its too tart.

Then, to make that into apple butter, you take batches of apple sauce you just made and continue cooking it on LOW for hours with the top propped open a little, to let it evaporate and get thicker. I use slow cookers for this, about 6 qt size ones. Be sure to leave at least an inch of space at the top when you fill the crockpot with apple sauce.
After about 12 hours in the crockpot on LOW, with an occasional stir every few hourts, it's brown and thick but tastes like very concentrated apple, not burnt at all. It should be stiffer than apple sauce. I then add some sugar and a little allspice and cloves (I prefer this to the usual cinnamon)....to give it a hint of spiciness. You could try coriander or mace too. At the end if it's too chunky, I give it a quick zap with my hand held blender stick to make it a bit smoother than my chunky apple sauce.
Let cool and pack into containers and freeze.
Note: Unlike stovetop cooking, you can safely leave your crockpots cooking on LOW overnight if you place them on a safe surface and prop the lids open a crack with a metal teaspoon handle. They need to be open a crack to allow the apple butter to thicken while cooking.