Applesauce - Part I

I've been making and freezing applesauce for several years. Last year, for the first time, I canned applesauce. The 12 pints got us through to about April.

I wanted to go apple picking last week so I did some Internet surfing for the local u-pick operations. Unfortunately, a hail storm in August wiped out several orchards' crops to the west of here. I also learned that it's a bit too early for Crispin (Mutsu) or Fuji apples. Last week, at Costco, I bought two 6lb. bags of Paula Red apples which were supposed to be OK for making sauce.

Today was the day for applesauce making. I did up one bag and wasn't that pleased with the flavour. It was somewhat apple-y but not that sweet. I also overcooked the batch and couldn't use the sauce at the bottom of the pot (the darker jars in the photo below). For the second bag, I sweetened it with some Splenda. We are avoiding sugar and find Splenda to be an acceptable sugar substitute. It tasted better but I'm hoping to find better apples in a couple of weeks when the Mutsu apples will be in season.