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The Best Way to Juice Crab Apples

September 7, 2019

There’s nothing like the taste of homemade crab apple juice, and you can’t buy it in stores. If you love crab apple juice, the only way to get it is to make it yourself. And while it’s a lot of work to pick the apples, make the juice, and can it, it is definitely worth it.

Over the years, I’ve made and canned a lot of crab apple juice using different methods. Each method has it’s pros and cons, and I have my favourites depending on what my goals are. Yes, you can have goals when it comes to canning and preserving, as silly as that may seem.

In this post, I’ll go over the three different methods I’ve used to make crab apple juice, what you need to make them, and the pros and cons of each of them. So get your crab apples ready and let’s make some juice!

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting Shifting Roots!

The Low Tech Way: Making Crab Apple Juice Without a Juicer

Making crab crab apple juice without a juicer is the most labour intensive of the three juice making methods, but it’s also the cheapest and best use of the whole apple.

In short, you cut the crab apples, removing the stems, cores, and blossom ends. You then put these apples in water along with some lemon juice, and either leave them overnight in the fridge, or cook them for 15 minutes and mash them.

After either of these processes, you strain out the crab apple bits and either can or freeze the remaining juice.

An extra-large bowl like this one and a sharp knife are all you really need.

Because you’ve already cleaned the crab apples and there’s no inedible bits, you can then make apple sauce with the leftover crab apple parts.

I like making juice this way when I don’t have one huge stretch of time to make everything. I can cut apples in the evening, leave them in the water overnight, and then deal with everything else the next morning.

  • Pros: No expensive equipment required. Work can be spaced out.
  • Cons: Lots of cutting. The juice can get darker and not as clear.

Grab Your Extra Large Bowl Here

The Fast Way: Using an Electric Juicer

We were recently given an electric juicer to try out this harvest, and I’m not sure I’m a fan. On one hand, it’s very fast to put the apples through the juicer. There’s not cutting and slicing–just press the crab apples into the juicer and that’s it.

This is the juicer I used… I don’t recommend it.

On the other hand, I don’t like the “juice” you end up with. There’s a large amount of pulp that’s left behind and it was so slow trying to remove the juice from the very fine pulp. In the end, I decided that it wasn’t worth trying to separate the two, and just made the whole works into a smooth apple sauce.

I realize that I might not have used the best electric juicer on the market. However, I don’t juice vegetables or fruits on a regular basis, so it wouldn’t be worth it to me to invest in a high quality juicer. If you juice more regularly, then this might be the method for you.

Maybe this electric juicer would be better?

Use this method if you have a lot of apples to process and very little time to do so.

  • Pros: Fast to process the juice
  • Cons: Juice is more like sauce if you use a low quality juicer

Get the High Quality Electric Juicer Here

The Best Quality Way: Using a Steamer Juicer

I’ll be the first to admit that using a steamer juicer to make apple juice is a finicky affair. You must watch the water levels in the bottom of the juicer. The whole contraption is heavy. And finally, you have to watch your clamp and be sure the hose is perfectly secured. I have had the pleasure of having chokecherry juice spilled all over my wooden floors because I didn’t secure the clamp properly and didn’t lift the hose up. *whomp whomp*

But, if you want to make the prettiest and nicest textured juice, you’ll invest in the steamer juicer and do it anyway. Of the three methods, the steamer juicer makes the nicest juice, and the juice comes out hot enough to can it immediately.

Related: How to Juice Crab Apples

Steamer juicers are not cheap. But in my opinion, they are worth the investment because of the quality of the juice. You should also never have to replace it, except for the hose and clamp every 5 years or so.

  • Pros: Beautiful, clear juice. Can can juice immediately.
  • Cons: Expensive equipment. Learning curve to use the equipment without making mistakes.

Order Your Steamer Juicer here!

Which Crab Apple Juice Making Method with you Choose?

Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear about your experiences and if you agree with me.

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

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Filed Under: Uncategorised Tagged: Crab Apples, Juice, Juicing

Delicious Maple Spice Crab Apple Butter

August 17, 2019

Do you have a favourite smell?  One that brings back all your favourite memories?  Of crisp Autumn days or happy times in the kitchen?

If I could pick one smell, it would be crab apples.

Their pretty red-pink might also win for best colour too.  I digress.

Lessons in Crab Apples

I vividly remember picking crab apples growing up on the family farm.  I would pick all the apples as high as I could reach while my mom or grandma got the taller ones with the ladder.  My grandma’s voice still rings in my head, gently lecturing me to not waste a single apple.

Any apples that fell while picking could still be collected for juice.

At the time I thought it was silly.  There were so. many. apples.  Surely one or two going to waste wouldn’t be a big deal?

While I haven’t heard of anyone dying from lack of crab apples, the lesson still sticks in my mind.  Now that I’m older, I confess that I take a certain amount of pride in being able to make my own crab apple pies, juice, and sauces.

Related: How to Organize an Apple Pie Making Day

Have a crab apple tree full of apples and no idea what to do with it? You'll want to make this maple spiced crab apple butter! All the smells and tastes of autumn. Spread it on toast or fresh bread, use it as a pancake topping, or use it to flavour plain yogurt.

Use Early Autumn Apples to make Delicious Crab Apple Butter

Every year I like to try something new.  This year crab apple butter was calling my name.

Despite having the word butter in it’s title, there is actually no butter in apple butter.  Think of it as a thick jam, or a jazzed up version of apple sauce.

Did you know there's no butter in apple butter? It's still delicious.Click To Tweet

The ingredients are simple: crap apples, lemon juice, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice.  Cook, blend, cook again, and serve.  Don’t worry, I’ll go into slightly more detail below and provide the recipe in an easy to read format at the end.

Related: How to Make Crab Apple Juice 

Have a crab apple tree full of apples and no idea what to do with it? You'll want to make this maple spiced crab apple butter! All the smells and tastes of autumn. Spread it on toast or fresh bread, use it as a pancake topping, or use it to flavour plain yogurt.

Use it up!

I can hear you already, “That sounds great, Kristen, but what will I actually DO with this marvellous crab apple butter?”

Eat it like you would apple sauce, serve it over pancakes, serve it IN pancakes, or add it to your plain yogurt.  You can even serve it on top of crackers and cheddar cheese.  Whatever you do, I know that you’ll be coming back for more.

Related: How to make a Simple and Impressive Charcuterie Board

Yield: 6 250ml jars

Slow Cooker Spiced Crab Apple Butter

Slow Cooker Spiced Crab Apple Butter

A delicious apple sauce to use up crab apples.

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 4 hours
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 6 hours

Ingredients

  • 5 cups apple sauce,
  • 1 cup apple juice,
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup,
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice,
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon,
  • 1 tsp allspice.

Instructions

1.Clean and cut your crab apples, removing all stems, cores, and blossom ends.

2.Fill a large pot approximately 1/2 full of crab apples. Add four cups of water and boil. You may need to add more water as your apples cook so they don't burn.

3.When the apples are cooked through and mushy, remove from heat and put them in a blender. Blend on medium low for 30 seconds, or until smooth.

4.Measure out five cups of crab apple sauce and return to the pot. Add apple juice. I use the crab apple juice I make, but apple juice from the store is fine too. Add maple syrup, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and allspice. Feel free to adjust the spices to suit your tastes.

5.Heat and cook until boiling. Set heat to medium low and simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Transfer to sterilized jars and process in boiling water for 10 minutes, or let cool and store in freezer-safe containers. If canning, it is recommended to follow the procedure and guidelines as outlined here.

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Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

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Filed Under: DIY, Fruit Season, Recipes, Simple & Easy Tagged: apple butter, apple sauce, Autumn, Cinnamon, crab apple butter, Crab Apples, maple spice, maple syrup, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon

How to Organize an Apple Pie Making Day

October 3, 2017

My childhood memories of both of my grandmas revolve heavily around apple pie.  Both of them always had tons of pies stored in their freezer, ready to whip out at a moments notice for company, or to send to a friend in need of encouragement.

I’ve only managed this feat once before, and it was very nice to have something homemade, ready to take to a friend with a new baby or potluck at church.

My grandma and her sister-in-law used to get together every fall and bake over 30 pies in one day.  While I don’t think I’ll have that kind of time until I’m retired, my friend and I were able to crank out 10 in one day around teaching schedules and kindergarten/daycare pick up and drop off.

I’ll show you what you need and how to get fancy if you want.  I’ve also linked to some blogger friends favourite versions of apple pie.  I personally use the crust recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

P.S. This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase something I make some extra coffee money at no extra cost to you.  thanks for supporting my morning caffeine addiction!

Channel your inner grandmother and learn how to organize your own apple pie making day. Easy apple pie recipes, tips, tricks, and advice. P.S. crab apples work just as well! #applepie #crabapples #piemaking

[Read more…]

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

1 Comment
Filed Under: Baking, DIY, Fruit Season, Harvest, Recipes, Use it up! Tagged: apple pie making, apples, Autumn, butter, Cinnamon, Crab Apples, crust, fall, food preservation, food storage, lard, shortening

How to Make Crab Apple Juice

August 5, 2016

One of my happiest childhood memories is of drinking crab apple juice straight from the jar at my babysitter’s house.  The juice was always accompanied by some tasty home baked cookies and delightful conversation.  Now that I’m older, I wanted to recreate the magic.

IMG_2821

[Read more…]

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

7 Comments
Filed Under: Fruit Season, Gardening, Harvest, Outdoor Life, Tutorials Tagged: Apple season, Canning, Crab Apples, How-to, Juice, Juicing, picking, Preserving

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

P.S. First time gardener? You'll want to download the quick start gardening guide below!

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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I love seeing the world through this loving boy’ I love seeing the world through this loving boy’s eyes.  Honestly, I’ve been so sick that I wasn’t really in the mood to “do Valentines Day” but there was this sweet little voice going on about how excited he was for today and how much he loves his family and I just couldn’t resist.  So whether you’re on your own, part of a couple, or in the thick of life-with-littles craziness, Happy Valentines Day!

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How do you pass a cold -28 day? By planning your How do you pass a cold -28 day?  By planning your garden, of course!  Today in my stories I’ll be going through the steps I take to start planning everything out.  I’m curious, do you start planning now or wait until the last minute?

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Curious about growing lettuce indoors? My experim Curious about growing lettuce indoors?  My experiment is a success so far, although it’s still going to be awhile before I’m eating another salad off of them.

Okay, so maybe a little rant today.  I think sometimes in the gardening space we’re guilty of making things seem easier than they are.  Myself included.  This lettuce project is a case in point.

Was it easy?  Yes.  But will it provide me with endless salads all winter long? Nope.  Or at least not at this scale.  I’m going to estimate that I’d need at least 15 plants this size, especially since it’s winter and everything just grows slower.  And I’m the only person in my family who really eats salad.

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Part of the mystery of seed starting is knowing ex Part of the mystery of seed starting is knowing exactly what to start when.  Every two weeks, I'll be posting these handy guides so you have enough time to order your seeds and be ready to plant when it's time for your area.  To find out when these veggies, herbs, and flowers need to be started where you live. . . ⁠
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If you follow me because we're in similar zones--don't panic, it's not time yet!! I won't be starting my 10 week seeds for another two weeks, and even that is slightly on the early side. (I'm starting everything a bit early so I can hopefully plant it out before baby gets here--I won't be physically able to do it after.) I like posting the info early for followers in warmer zones and so you can save it and still have time to order/buy seeds & supplies.⁠
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These plants are notoriously hard to grow, especially when you live somewhere cold with a really cold growing season—and if they get a hint of frost on them they turn to mush and all my hard work is ruined.

Gulp.

But gardeners are born optimists, so I’m giving it a shot—because you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

P.S. if you’re trying luffa in zone 3 like me, just basically ignore all the directions on the seed packet.  Start them immediately (two weeks ago would have been ideal) and follow along because I’ll show you exactly what to do and when.  I’ll be popping these under a grow light once the sun goes down.

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Is there such a thing as a no-fail houseplant? I Is there such a thing as a no-fail houseplant?  I think the Sansevera or Snake Plant or Mother-in-law’s tongue comes close.  Sure, it might be the vanilla of the plant-loving world, but it is so good for so many situations!⁠
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