Apple season is here!
Freezer Apple Pie Filling:
- 24 cups sliced peeled baking apples (6-7 lbs)
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 ½ cups sugar (I use half brown sugar, half white)
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 10 cups water
METHOD:
- Toss the apples with the lemon juice in a large basin, and then put the bowl aside. Sugar, cornflour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg should be mixed together in a Dutch oven (a big kettle would do) and heated gently over medium heat. Incorporate water, and bring to a boil.
- Keep stirring the mixture while it boils for two minutes. After adding the apples, bring the mixtaure back up to a boil. Adjust the heat to low,
- cover the pot, and cook the apples for about six to eight minutes. Let it cool for half an hour. Place the mixture into freezer containers that have a headspace of ½ inch.
- Remain at room temperature for a maximum of one and a half hours. Prepare for storage for up to a year by sealing and freezing. Approximately five pies measuring 9 inches in diameter may be made from the yield of 5 and a half quarts.
- I’ll give you some advice now. Instead of using quart jars, I use freezer bags that are the size of a gallon. First, let the filling to cool down a little bit before you fill the bags (one quart for each bag), and then flatten the bag so that it can be frozen.
- Through this method, you will be able to stack the “boards” of filling in your freezer and then slide one out when it is required. Requires less room, and the amount of time required to thaw is reduced. Before placing it in my pie crust, I first defrost it and then heat it up on the stove or in the microwave. After that, I dot it with butter and then seal the top crust.
- In a similar vein, you may stack your pie crusts and then freeze them. Roll them out into circles of 8 or 9 inches in diameter and place them between sheets of wax paper. Then, put them in one of those two gallon freezer bags. Before you use it, let it defrost in the refrigerator a whole night!