Apple butter in an instant pot
This time of year I like to buy apples from Azure Standard in bulk. They are amazing quality and we all love the flavor. When buying perishables in bulk, you have to make sure you can store the product without spoilage. My favorite way to do that with apples is making apple butter.
My mother taught me how to can. I have memories of us making apple butter, pear butter, canned tomatoes and peaches. I also recall the sticky mess of making apple butter in her stock pot which took several hours. The instant pot has made this process easier, although it’s still a sticky mess. If you have two instant pots, it’s even easier. I have also linked the products I use, because this is a question that I often receive.
You’ll need about 4 pounds of apples, that’s about 16
4 cups cane sugar
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
Wash and dice all your apples. Remove the stem and blossom ends, but don’t core or peel. Dump them into your 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot.
Add 2 cups of water to the apples.
Turn Instant Pot to “Manual” and pressure cook on high pressure for 90 minutes. Allow to natural release for 10 minutes before releasing any remaining pressure.
Use an immersion blender to puree the apple butter until smooth. If you don’t have one, dump the hot apple mixture into a blender. Don’t burn yourself. Hot sugar is evil! Should make about 2 quarts.
In a medium bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples and mix well. Dump this mixture in with the apples.
Turn Instant Pot to “Slow Cook” and cook on high for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, with the lid propped on about halfway to allow steam to release. (Do not latch lid.) The test is that the mixture will round up on a spoon.
Ladle the hot apple butter into the hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust the 2 piece caps.
Process 10 minutes in a. boiling water bath.
You should get 5 pints from this recipe. Now repeat with all the other apples!
