My usual policy when someone asks for something different at the cannery is to say “No.” The reason is that “different” messes with our cannery’s flow and flow is how we get all of your fruit canned. That said, if I get asked for something two or three times then I start to pay attention.

That is what happened with apple butter. I had several customers inquire about apple butter and I said "Sorry, we don't make that." When a customer who has a fruit stand asked about apple butter shortly after the first two customer requests I said "maybe" and started to think about how I could make the apple butter fit into the cannery’s flow.

Challenges Creating Apple Butter

The real challenge is the extended time the apple butter needs to cook. I experimented and discovered that 3.5 hours created the right consistency and flavor. I needed to figure out how to keep the crew productively engaged for 3+ hours between prepping the apples and then filling the apple butter jars. The solution is to prep the apples, get them cooking, then switch over to working on applesauce until the Apple Butter is ready to go. We will finish preparing the Apple Butter and then put it into jars. With this process we should be able to do 2 large batches of Apple Butter per day, producing about 200 cases each day.

The apple butter comes in 9oz jars and is the same price as a case of the 16oz jars of applesauce ($56 per box of 12 (twelve) 9oz jars), roughly the same amount of apples and labor as in a 9oz jar of apple butter as a 16oz jar of applesauce.

#1 Apples, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon & Nutmeg

#2 Just Apples, No Sweeteners & No Spices

I said “Yes” to the Fruit Stand customer and made their Apple Butter - only one batch was needed so it worked out great. It turned out so delicious that I have decided to add Hood-Crest Apple Butter to our list of products for the coming year. I had the idea that with the little time we have before this upcoming holiday season we could create some Apple Butter for everyone who reads these emails- roughly 4,000 of you at last count who actually open and read our emails- thanks so much!