7 ms·

The article seems oriented toward raw consumption, I like to experiment with food canning and I've made many single variety batches of applesauce to experiment

by VLM 9y ago

The article seems oriented toward raw consumption, I like to experiment with food canning and I've made many single variety batches of applesauce to experiment with. Pure grannies are a little acidic to me. My kids like red delicious applesauce, for something thats basically sweet with a texture its not bad. Ida Red results in an extremely pale nearly white applesauce which is interesting looking but the taste is boring. I'd have to find my notes I've experimented with most every variety at one time or another. Its a fun relaxing hobby. Something I like about home canning my own applesauce is bug-leg-free applesauce is commercially unavailable in stores, its safe to eat buggy applesauce but pretty gross once you have a source of bug-leg-free applesauce. Also if you follow the USDA/BallBook you can't vary lemon content for food safety reasons but you can vary cinnamon and its an eternal experiment to try different ratios. Also there are USDA approved low/no sugar applesauce recipes but in the store you can only buy corn syrup or artificial sweetener applesauce. Anyway to make a long story short, store applesauce is gross, few hobbies are as delicious as home canning applesauce, and I've had "OK" results with red delicious in applesauce form. Its not pure red evil or whatever as the article claims. Next story, lets debate Concord grapes, vs Flame seedless, in raw and home canned jelly form.

cooperadymas 9y ago
I've made apple sauce a few times for near-immediate consumption (over the course of maybe a week). There is a big, notable difference in taste and quality from the store-bought. Might be time to try canning it for longer term consumption. However, stores near here do carry a no sugar added bottle of applesauce. That's all we ever buy, and I can't imagine why they would even consider adding sugar/corn syrup. I like making it at home because I can play with the tartness a little more by adding in some grannies, and I like to leave in the skin for the added nutrients.
- cmurf 9y ago
  Studies show that sugar and salt increase consumption. So they add these things to increase sales. People aren't making a decision that's in their best interest, this is a biological hack that favors one party disproportionately compared to the other.
  - cryptarch 9y ago
    Corn syrup represses the feeling of being full and is also extremely cheap to produce, it might actually make the applesauce cheaper to produce.
    - hexane360 9y ago
      >Corn syrup represses the feeling of being full Small correction, but that study (and I believe there was only one) indicated that fructose metabolism produced less satiation than glucose, not that it actually prevents it. If you add fructose to a food and eat it, you'll still be more full than if you hadn't added fructose, just less full than if you had added glucose. I think the reasoning was more like this: "Focus groups show that kids like their applesauce sweeter. What's a cheap sugar?"
  - tpm 9y ago
    Apple juice is often used as a surrogate sugar, because it is basically just sugar with a different name.
  - WillPostForFood 9y ago
    Sugar and salt make things taste better. Things that taste better also tend to sell better. If you took all salt and sugar out of food, you'd certainly eat and sell less, because it wouldn't taste good.
    - rleigh 9y ago
      This is quite subjective. Sugar and salt make things "taste better" if you already have a certain expectation that that's how food "should" taste. That's not the case if you don't have that expectation. I gave up buying products using refined sugar entirely for an extended period, and baked all my own bread, oatcakes, biscuits etc. Food which I previously found unpalatable without adding sugar or syrup, I could now eat and find perfectly tasty. When I cook porridge in the morning, water and a touch of salt are all it needs. I think it recalibrated my taste significantly--if I now try to eat even a biscuit from a supermarket, all I can taste is the excessive amount of salt in it. Likewise anything with refined sugar--it's too much, and it tastes disgusting. I think with industrially-produced food, we've become so used to the excessive amount of salt and sugar, that it has become normal to expect it even when it's unnecessary and things taste bland when they aren't included--even though it's perfectly fine. You're likely right it sells better. But it's like the music "loudness war" but with ingredients; the end result isn't that enjoyable or good for you even though it seems superficially better.
- oasisbob 9y ago
  > I can't imagine why they would even consider adding sugar/corn syrup Just about any commercial fruit processing is going to need a plan for standardizing brix. That usually will involve some form of sugar. In theory you could have very stringent requirements of your suppliers, but that will get expensive, and even if brix is good, you may need to deal with abnormal acidity in a batch.
  - pfranz 9y ago
    Simply Orange Juice seems to do it using "a computer-modeled blending of orange juice sources, intending for the consumer to have a uniform taste year-round" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simply_Orange_Juice_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simply_Orange_Juice_Company
  - rsync 9y ago
    Any Whole Foods in the US has several brands of applesauce with no ingredients other than apples. I'm sure even safeway has at least one. If you are grocery shopping at the dollar store or walmart, perhaps your mileage varies...
- tgb 9y ago
  No need to can it, you can freeze them in ziplock bags with no loss of flavor or texture. My family makes a whole year's worth at once, though of course you need spare freeze space.
MegaDeKay 9y ago
We make apple sauce using our pressure cooker from the tart apples that grow in our area and freeze it instead of canning it. The taste is phenomenal, rendering store-bought inedible.
- DamnYuppie 9y ago
  Growing up this is how we had apple sauce. It is so delicious and makes store bought totally unappealing. My mom made hers quite chunky making it ideally as a topping for homemade vanilla ice cream.
  - jdpigeon 9y ago
    Mmmm, that sounds good. The first time HN has made me hungry.
- shostack 9y ago
  Looking to expand my Instant Pot repertoire... Mind sharing your recipe?
  - MegaDeKay 9y ago
    Core apples and cut into slices. Put in pressure cooker with some water, maybe 1/4 cup. Bring pressure cooker up to pressure and keep at pressure for 1 minute. Turn off stove and allow pressure to come down on its own. Voila! We do not add any spices or sugar, but do so to taste if you wish.
    - MegaDeKay 9y ago
      And I should have mentioned that after the pressure comes down naturally, carefully open the pressure cooker and puree the apples with a stick blender.
donw 9y ago
If you haven't tried it, a splash of cognac really makes the applesauce pop.
- tomcam 9y ago
  And actually you don't even need the applesauce
- VLM 9y ago
  I greatly enjoy canning with liquor and the classic brandied apple chunks is delicious. I also make a batch of peach rum sauce every year which tastes incredible. I know the stuff is not good for me from a carb and alcohol standpoint but making it myself is an inherent limiter to consumption and if I'm going to eat junk food its going to be fantastic amazing junk food. Pork chops taste good. Homemade canned brandied apples as a side dish to pork chops is delicious.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
phaus 9y ago
>Next story, lets debate Concord grapes, vs Flame seedless, in raw and home canned jelly form. For raw grapes, there's no debate, thick-skinned grapes are amazing.
rsync 9y ago
"Also there are USDA approved low/no sugar applesauce recipes but in the store you can only buy corn syrup or artificial sweetener applesauce." I don't understand what you're saying here ... there are many, many national brands of applesauce that consist of just a single ingredient - apples. Santa Cruz is one, as is Cadia, as is the Whole Foods "365" brand ...
- VLM 9y ago
  Its one of those single percentage anecdotes don't matter things. My boring regional employee owned chain supermarket does not sell unsweetened applesauce at all, nor do any of the other nearby supermarket chains. I've heard of Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) and was motivated to pull the stats. Some google work indicates Whole Foods gross sales revenue last year was $15B vs the US supermarket chain stores gross sales of $649B. Of course this doesn't count "superstore" concepts like walmarts and targets (and probably others) selling food, nor online or delivery groceries, independents, organic stores, etc etc. So "much more" than 98% of applesauce is not sold at Whole Foods. Assuming that all applesauce sold at whole paycheck is unsweetened, etc. Assuming goods distribution is similar, from my own experience at whole paycheck most people are buying specialty goods like alcohol, meat, produce not bulk processed goods although they do stock them.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- michael_h 9y ago
  Kroger sells unsweetened applesauce under their house brand as well as the national brands.
Angostura 9y ago
Do you not get Bramley apples over there? Large green cookers that are delightful for apple sauce?
alistoriv 9y ago
My grandmother always used to make applesauce with Winesaps. There's a little orchard around here that always kept a couple trees for her and they're still there. Every season we go and get some to make applesauce out of em. Always better than store-bought, plus I can't for the life of me find a store-bought chunky applesauce that doesn't have sweeteners and all that in it.

by VLM 9y ago

cooperadymas 9y ago

I've made apple sauce a few times for near-immediate consumption (over the course of maybe a week). There is a big, notable difference in taste and quality from the store-bought. Might be time to try canning it for longer term consumption. However, stores near here do carry a no sugar added bottle of applesauce. That's all we ever buy, and I can't imagine why they would even consider adding sugar/corn syrup. I like making it at home because I can play with the tartness a little more by adding in some grannies, and I like to leave in the skin for the added nutrients.

cmurf 9y ago
Studies show that sugar and salt increase consumption. So they add these things to increase sales. People aren't making a decision that's in their best interest, this is a biological hack that favors one party disproportionately compared to the other.
- cryptarch 9y ago
  Corn syrup represses the feeling of being full and is also extremely cheap to produce, it might actually make the applesauce cheaper to produce.
  - hexane360 9y ago
    >Corn syrup represses the feeling of being full Small correction, but that study (and I believe there was only one) indicated that fructose metabolism produced less satiation than glucose, not that it actually prevents it. If you add fructose to a food and eat it, you'll still be more full than if you hadn't added fructose, just less full than if you had added glucose. I think the reasoning was more like this: "Focus groups show that kids like their applesauce sweeter. What's a cheap sugar?"
- tpm 9y ago
  Apple juice is often used as a surrogate sugar, because it is basically just sugar with a different name.
- WillPostForFood 9y ago
  Sugar and salt make things taste better. Things that taste better also tend to sell better. If you took all salt and sugar out of food, you'd certainly eat and sell less, because it wouldn't taste good.
  - rleigh 9y ago
    This is quite subjective. Sugar and salt make things "taste better" if you already have a certain expectation that that's how food "should" taste. That's not the case if you don't have that expectation. I gave up buying products using refined sugar entirely for an extended period, and baked all my own bread, oatcakes, biscuits etc. Food which I previously found unpalatable without adding sugar or syrup, I could now eat and find perfectly tasty. When I cook porridge in the morning, water and a touch of salt are all it needs. I think it recalibrated my taste significantly--if I now try to eat even a biscuit from a supermarket, all I can taste is the excessive amount of salt in it. Likewise anything with refined sugar--it's too much, and it tastes disgusting. I think with industrially-produced food, we've become so used to the excessive amount of salt and sugar, that it has become normal to expect it even when it's unnecessary and things taste bland when they aren't included--even though it's perfectly fine. You're likely right it sells better. But it's like the music "loudness war" but with ingredients; the end result isn't that enjoyable or good for you even though it seems superficially better.
oasisbob 9y ago
> I can't imagine why they would even consider adding sugar/corn syrup Just about any commercial fruit processing is going to need a plan for standardizing brix. That usually will involve some form of sugar. In theory you could have very stringent requirements of your suppliers, but that will get expensive, and even if brix is good, you may need to deal with abnormal acidity in a batch.
- pfranz 9y ago
  Simply Orange Juice seems to do it using "a computer-modeled blending of orange juice sources, intending for the consumer to have a uniform taste year-round" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simply_Orange_Juice_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simply_Orange_Juice_Company
- rsync 9y ago
  Any Whole Foods in the US has several brands of applesauce with no ingredients other than apples. I'm sure even safeway has at least one. If you are grocery shopping at the dollar store or walmart, perhaps your mileage varies...
tgb 9y ago
No need to can it, you can freeze them in ziplock bags with no loss of flavor or texture. My family makes a whole year's worth at once, though of course you need spare freeze space.

MegaDeKay 9y ago

We make apple sauce using our pressure cooker from the tart apples that grow in our area and freeze it instead of canning it. The taste is phenomenal, rendering store-bought inedible.

DamnYuppie 9y ago
Growing up this is how we had apple sauce. It is so delicious and makes store bought totally unappealing. My mom made hers quite chunky making it ideally as a topping for homemade vanilla ice cream.
- jdpigeon 9y ago
  Mmmm, that sounds good. The first time HN has made me hungry.
shostack 9y ago
Looking to expand my Instant Pot repertoire... Mind sharing your recipe?
- MegaDeKay 9y ago
  Core apples and cut into slices. Put in pressure cooker with some water, maybe 1/4 cup. Bring pressure cooker up to pressure and keep at pressure for 1 minute. Turn off stove and allow pressure to come down on its own. Voila! We do not add any spices or sugar, but do so to taste if you wish.
  - MegaDeKay 9y ago
    And I should have mentioned that after the pressure comes down naturally, carefully open the pressure cooker and puree the apples with a stick blender.

donw 9y ago

If you haven't tried it, a splash of cognac really makes the applesauce pop.

tomcam 9y ago
And actually you don't even need the applesauce
VLM 9y ago
I greatly enjoy canning with liquor and the classic brandied apple chunks is delicious. I also make a batch of peach rum sauce every year which tastes incredible. I know the stuff is not good for me from a carb and alcohol standpoint but making it myself is an inherent limiter to consumption and if I'm going to eat junk food its going to be fantastic amazing junk food. Pork chops taste good. Homemade canned brandied apples as a side dish to pork chops is delicious.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

phaus 9y ago

>Next story, lets debate Concord grapes, vs Flame seedless, in raw and home canned jelly form. For raw grapes, there's no debate, thick-skinned grapes are amazing.

rsync 9y ago

"Also there are USDA approved low/no sugar applesauce recipes but in the store you can only buy corn syrup or artificial sweetener applesauce." I don't understand what you're saying here ... there are many, many national brands of applesauce that consist of just a single ingredient - apples. Santa Cruz is one, as is Cadia, as is the Whole Foods "365" brand ...

VLM 9y ago
Its one of those single percentage anecdotes don't matter things. My boring regional employee owned chain supermarket does not sell unsweetened applesauce at all, nor do any of the other nearby supermarket chains. I've heard of Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) and was motivated to pull the stats. Some google work indicates Whole Foods gross sales revenue last year was $15B vs the US supermarket chain stores gross sales of $649B. Of course this doesn't count "superstore" concepts like walmarts and targets (and probably others) selling food, nor online or delivery groceries, independents, organic stores, etc etc. So "much more" than 98% of applesauce is not sold at Whole Foods. Assuming that all applesauce sold at whole paycheck is unsweetened, etc. Assuming goods distribution is similar, from my own experience at whole paycheck most people are buying specialty goods like alcohol, meat, produce not bulk processed goods although they do stock them.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
michael_h 9y ago
Kroger sells unsweetened applesauce under their house brand as well as the national brands.

Angostura 9y ago

Do you not get Bramley apples over there? Large green cookers that are delightful for apple sauce?

alistoriv 9y ago

My grandmother always used to make applesauce with Winesaps. There's a little orchard around here that always kept a couple trees for her and they're still there. Every season we go and get some to make applesauce out of em. Always better than store-bought, plus I can't for the life of me find a store-bought chunky applesauce that doesn't have sweeteners and all that in it.