Apple waste, or is it?

**Roadking** · #1 09/14/13, 10:41 AM

Hi all,
Every year we get a bunch of apples and make sauce and fruit leather. This year, we wound up wit about 250 pounds for free between our tree, the local pastor's tree and a neighbor.
Now, the skins/seeds we toss in the compost bin, the cores go in the woods for the deer (we don't hunt, so we are not baiting), and the water we boil the apples with we usually just dump on the garden.
The last seems silly...isn't that close to watered down cider or apple juice? I know it sound silly since you press apples for that, but every year I wonder if this water has the chance to be a beverage...can it? What would I need to add/do?

Thanks in advance.

Matt

SkagitBrooms · #2 09/14/13, 11:06 AM

Have you ever considered saving your waste and using it to make apple cider vinegar. I made some last year & it turned out awesome!

jwal10 · #3 09/14/13, 11:08 AM

If you have plenty of apples just squeeze a few more. What are you boiling apples for? I don't use much water in my processing and what there is, goes in the jars. Could you use less water, keep it in the product, boil it down for the flavor, maybe? Then again is it worth it. Feed it to the chickens?

....James

**Roadking** · #4 09/14/13, 11:15 AM

We core the apples, toss in boiling water for about 5 minutes to soften before running thru the food "mulcher", as we call it. it also prevents browning. I core, boil and scoop, the boys mulch and the wife does the canning.

Chickens got wiped out last fall. Didn't do them this year...maybe next year.

Recipe for the vinegar, please...I'll give it a try!
Thanks,

Matt

jwal10 · #5 09/14/13, 11:56 AM

I see, different than we do it. Jelly? Squeeze more and add it, to make apple juice, turns to cider, then add mother to make vinegar. We make at least a barrel every year....James

**Roadking** · #6 09/14/13, 12:01 PM

That's how the wife learned from her grandmother, hence how I learned...LOL! Think I'll work towards juice and go from there...a gallon of sauce already done.
Thanks.

Matt

Forerunner · #7 09/14/13, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkagitBrooms

Have you ever considered saving your waste and using it to make apple cider vinegar. I made some last year & it turned out awesome!

This is the ticket.

Put ALL apple waste into a stainless or earthenware crock and let it ferment, then sour to vinegar. Press or drain the juice out (it may take weeks, or even a few months, to come to full strength vinegar) and voila !

You can press the juice sooner and then transfer to a glass carboy if you like more control over the process.

Feed the dregs/pulp/squeezings from the vinegar vat to any animal that will eat it.

Then compost their manure.

Your cows, sheep and chickens will enjoy more of it than you might think...

**highlands** · #8 09/14/13, 01:56 PM

We feed the apple pomace (crushed apple) to our pigs and chickens. It's good food.

wy_white_wolf · #9 09/14/13, 04:31 PM

Add 2 to 3 lbs of honey to boil water and a little yeast and you may end up wit a good little cyser.

WWW

nappy · #10 09/14/13, 08:19 PM

Read somewhere (HT maybe?) about using apple peels after dehydrating and pulverizing into powder for a tea. Google search led to this website.

http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.n...ic.php?t=18941

jwal10 · #11 09/15/13, 11:39 AM

We make our own cider mix. Dry apples and pulverize into powder. Add 2-3 tablespoons to a cup of hot water, add a teaspoon of honey and stir well....James

karenp · #12 09/15/13, 11:46 AM

Apple seeds are suppose to have a small amount of cyanide in them. Not dangerous in the amounts usually eaten, but I don't think I'd consentrate it for tea.

HuskyBoris · #13 09/15/13, 11:50 AM

lots of orchards around here that will give you their pulp for darn near nothing,,one scoop will fill a pickup to capacity and your livestock will love it,,the same goes for green beans,carrots squash etc etc

fransean · #14 09/15/13, 07:30 PM

You can use the cores and peelings to make apple jelly.

WildernesFamily · #15 09/16/13, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fransean

You can use the cores and peelings to make apple jelly.

That's what we do when we make applesauce. All the peels and cores get added to water and we make lovely apple jelly and/or syrup.

http://ayearwithoutgroceries.blogspo...ake-jelly.html

or syrup

http://simplysheryls.blogspot.com/20...ore-jelly.html

I imagine you could use the water that you normally throw out to make the jelly and/or syrup.

Once that's done we feed the pulp to the chickens.

Et voila.. no waste

Common Tator · #16 09/17/13, 11:50 PM

The water I boil my apples in has tons of flavor and natural pectin. I add sugar and boil it down into jelly.

HappySevenFarm · #17 09/18/13, 02:53 PM

I just cut up a canning pot full of apples and put about an inch of water in the bottom and steamed the apples. Put them in the sqeezo and made applesauce. The peels going to the deer. The applesauce is now in the crockpot being made into apple butter. I ended up with a little over a gallon of water which really tasted like apple juice to me so that's now in the fridge!