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Home / Fruit / Canning apple slices

Canning apple slices

Filed Under: Fruit, Seasonal Fall Tagged With: Apples, Fruit

canned apple slices 001

Canned apple slices are incredibly convenient to have on hand to turn into quick pies, cobbers, crumbles, etc.

Some people just like to eat them straight out of the jar!

If you’ve ever wondered how some people produce apple-based desserts out of seemingly nowhere while doing ten other things, having home-canned apple slices is one of their secret tricks they’re not telling you about.

These directions are from the USDA Complete Guide.

Canning apple slices is one of those rare procedures where you have the choice of either water bathing, steam canning, or pressure canning. The pressure canning is not safer: it’s just an equivalent to the water bathing.

Please be sure to see additional info section after the recipe about good varieties of apples for home canning quality-wise.

Contents hide
  • 1 Quantities of apples needed
  • 2 The recipe
  • 3 Canning apple slices
    • 3.1 Ingredients
    • 3.2 Instructions
    • 3.3 Nutrition
  • 4 Reference information
  • 5 Recipe notes
  • 6 Choosing the right type of apple
  • 7 Canning apple slices raw pack
  • 8 Recipe Source
  • 9 Nutrition
  • 10 Cooking from canning recipes
  • 11 Further reading

Quantities of apples needed

Numbers are approximate guidelines.

On average, as a very rough guideline, expect to need about 1 ¼ kg (2 ¾ lbs / 6 large ) of apples per 1 litre (US quart) jar of canned apple slices.

  • 8 ½ kg (19 lbs) of apples = 7 litres (US quarts) canned apple slices
  • 5 ½ kg (12 ¼ lbs ) of apples = 9 x ½ litres (US pints) canned apple slices
  • 1 US bushel apples = 22 kg (48 lbs) = 16 to 19 litres (US quarts) canned apple slices

A ½ litre (1 US pint) jar opened, with contents including any juice tipped into a weigh-scale pan, will weigh around 350 g (¾ lb).

The recipe

Jar size choices: Either half-litre (1 US pint) OR 1 litre (1 US quart)

Processing method: Water bath OR steam canning OR pressure canning

Yield: varies

Headspace: 2 cm (½ inch)

Processing pressure:  Only applies if pressure canning. 5 lbs (35 kPa) weighted gauge, 6 lbs (42 kpa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet)

Processing time: Water bath OR steam canning, either size jar, 20 minutes. Pressure canning, either size jar, 8 minutes.

Print

Canning apple slices

Walking through the USDA method for home canning apple slices.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Apples
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 1 varies
Calories 52kcal

Ingredients

  • apples
  • water

Instructions

  • Prepare a very large pot or bowl with acidulated water in it (by adding lemon juice or ascorbic acid. This is to prevent the apple going brown.)
  • Wash, peel, core and slice the apples.
  • As you work, work in such a way that peeled apple never rests for long outside the water, to prevent discolouration.
  • Put drained apple slices in a large pot.
  • For every 2 kg (5 lbs / 16 cups ) of drained apple slices in the pot, add ½ litre (2 cups / 1 US pint) of water. Bring to a boil, then start timing and let it boil for 5 minutes.
  • Pack hot apple slices into half-litre (US pint) jars or 1 litre (US quart) jars.
  • Leave 3 cm (1 inch) headspace.
  • Top up with the blanching water or if there isn't enough, clean boiling water (such as from a kettle, for instance).
  • Leave 2 cm (½ inch) headspace after the filling liquid.
  • Debubble, adjust headspace.
  • Wipe jar rims.
  • Put lids on.
  • Process in a water bath or steam canner or pressure canner.
  • Water bath / steam canner: either size jar for 20 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.
  • Pressure canner: either size jar for 8 minutes. 5 lbs (35 kPa) weighted gauge, 6 lbs (42 kpa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet)

Nutrition

Serving: 100g | Calories: 52kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 107mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 54IU | Vitamin C: 5mg

Processing guidelines below are for weighted-gauge pressure canners. See also if applicable: Dial-gauge pressures.

Jar SizeTime0 to 300 m (0 - 1000 feet) pressureAbove 300 m (1000 ft) pressure
½ litre (1 US pint)8 mins5 lbs10 lb
1 litre (1 US quart)8 mins5 lbs10 lb

Reference information

How to water bath process.

How to steam can.

When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.

How to pressure can.

When pressure canning, you must adjust the pressure for your altitude.

What is the shelf life of home canned goods?

Recipe notes

  • If you go the pressure canning route, don’t let the pressure go over, or your jars will really vent on you;
  • If the apples you are using are more “fresh-eating apples” than “cooking apples”, be careful not to over-blanch them or you will end up with applesauce in the pot;
  • It will seem that there is not enough water to blanch the apple slices in, but they will quickly give off a lot of water of their own.;
  • No matter how much you debubble the jars, you will still frequently see bubbles in the jar after canning. There is not much you can do about it, so it’s not worth losing sleep over: apple slices are full of air, which is why they float in water. This is one reason it is important to blanch them first: to try to get a lot of that out.

Choosing the right type of apple

Take-away: Among apple varieties that old-hands suggest for holding their shape well after home canning are Fuji, Gala, Honey Crisp, Jonagolds, and Mutsu. 

The major types of apple for different types of food preparation are: Cider Apples, Fresh-Eating Apples, Juice Apples, Pie Apples, Salad Apples and Sauce Apples.

There’s also a general category referred to as Cooking Apples.

All types of apple varieties are safe for home canning, but the question arises when it comes to quality of result. When you are home canning apple slices, if you want to end up with clean, distinct slices in your jars you will want to use pie apples. If you use sauce apples, your slices may break down completely into moosh — use them for applesauce instead or another home canning recipe in which apples are boiled down, such as Apple Hot Sauce.

Often you will have apples that are “okay for pie”. This means most slices will stay together relatively well, though a few may break down. These will be less nice for pie, which is served in slices, but okay for cobblers and crumbles, etc., which are served by the scoop.

If your apple slices do break down on you after canning, it was owing to the type of apple. The resulting product is still safe, but when you go to use it, use for another purpose where puréed apple is needed.

According to old-hand canners, some of the apple varieties whose slices hold their shape well after home canning include Fuji, Gala, Honey Crisp, Jonagolds, and Mutsu. There are almost certainly others we have not heard of yet. But of course such a “quality of shape” pronouncement is entirely a personal preference and judgement, and ultimately up to you.

Mutsu apples after 5 minutes blanching in boiling water

Mutsu (aka Crispin) apples after 5 minutes blanching in boiling water. Shape has held well. They are a reliably good choice for quality results when home canning apple slices. ©HealthyCanning / 2021

Comparison of spy vs Mutsu apples after home canning

Spy apples, left. The Mutsu on the right have done a better job of holding a distinct shape. ©HealthyCanning / 2021

Canning apple slices raw pack

Google will certainly find you some bloggers saying that they “canned apple slices raw pack, and here’s how” (with the inevitable life-story directions too, no doubt.) But then the quality of bloggers’ food, cooking and canning advice overall is… shall we say.. uneven. It’s probably rare for a food blogger to come back and delete a recipe page, even if they’ve later decided the advice is bad, if that page is making ad money for them!

But then if you scroll a little further in the Google search results, you hear from old hands saying that the results of attempting a raw pack deliver bad results and do not fare well on the shelves in even short storage. (And who wants that, after all that work, plus expense if you’ve bought the apples).

Utah State Extension Service says they won’t even bother giving raw pack directions, as the results are just so bad, though they phrase it politely:

“Raw pack canning yields poor quality product; therefore instructions are for hot pack only.” [1]Brennard, Charlotte and Kathleen Riggs. How to Preserve Apples. 30 June 2020. Accessed October 2021 at https://extension.usu.edu/preserve-the-harvest/research/apples

So, that’s why there are no lab-tested directions from credentialled sources for raw-pack canning of apple slices. The resultant quality is so bad — and who can blame them for not wanting the hassle of dealing with the inevitable consumer complaints!

canned apple slices 013

Recipe Source

This recipe comes from the USDA Complete Guide (2015).

  • Apples – Sliced. In: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Complete guide to home canning. Agriculture information bulletin No. 539. 2015. Page 2-7.

Modifications made:

  • None.

canned apple slices 002

Nutrition

Serving size: 125 g, drained (about one quarter of a ½ litre / US pint jar, if 500 g went into the jar.)

Per 125 g:

  • 74 calories, 0 mg sodium
  • Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 2 points (while raw apple slices are free on Weight Watchers, processed apple slices probably aren’t).

apple slices nutrition

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com

* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.

Cooking from canning recipes

Apple cobbler with biscuit topping

Apple-crumble

TIP! For fruitier pies, add a jar of home-canned apple slices to a jar of Canned Apple Pie Filling when making a pie.

Further reading

Linda J Harris. Apples: Safe Methods to Store, Preserve, and Enjoy. University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Publication 8229. 2007.

canned apple slices 003

References[+]

References
↑1 Brennard, Charlotte and Kathleen Riggs. How to Preserve Apples. 30 June 2020. Accessed October 2021 at https://extension.usu.edu/preserve-the-harvest/research/apples
Tagged With: Apples, Fruit

Filed Under: Fruit, Seasonal Fall Tagged With: Apples, Fruit

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Naomi

    January 18, 2022 at 1:53 am

    Water bath v pressure canning this one; would I expect any difference in texture after processing? (Received a pressure canner for christmas and yet to try it out!). Cheers.

    Reply
  2. Talya

    August 24, 2021 at 2:32 pm

    Hello, I’m confused about the safety of this. Every recipe I’ve ever used for canning fruit requires lemon juice to make it acidic enough to safely store. Why is lemon juice not required for this? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 05, 2022 at 11:37 am

      “Every recipe I’ve ever used for canning fruit requires lemon juice to make it acidic enough to safely store.” Now we’re confused, because aside from lower-acid fruits such as Asian Pears, figs and white peaches, almost all fruits are fine to can on their own without any added acid.

      Reply
  3. Linda Irwin

    October 18, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    After I finished processing my apples in the water bath canner some of the jars were floating in the water. The jars have lost liquid and seem to have a lot of air. I did remove bubbles before processing but evidently not enough. The jars are sealed but are they still good to eat?

    Reply
  4. Julie

    September 05, 2020 at 1:29 pm

    I have just attempted to hot pack apple slices. I put the slices into boiling syrup but before I got the syrup back to boil the apples turned to mush so I water bathed the apple as purée.

    If I try again do I need to get the syrup boiling again? Could I just let the apples heat through the put in jars? Or should I try raw pack?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 21, 2020 at 11:34 pm

      Use a different variety that holds its shape better in cooking. Pie apples, for instance. https://www.cooksinfo.com/pie-apples

      Reply
      • julie

        September 23, 2020 at 10:12 am

        Hi, thanks for your reply. I am using pue apples. Do you have any further advice – I have boxes of them.

        Reply
        • Healthy Canning

          September 24, 2020 at 2:40 am

          If you have pie apples, you are good to go. Your only decision then is whether to can with sweetener, or plain. Some people feel that plain is more flexible, because that way sugar added to the jars won’t conflict with sugar called for in recipes you might use them in. The downside with canning unsweetened is that after a year or so, you may see some darkening happening sooner than those canned with sugar, esp. if the jars are stored where light can reach them.

          Reply
      • John bonomo

        January 15, 2021 at 8:04 pm

        Try granny Smith’s, gala, fugi, these are good pie apples and gold their shape better

        Reply
    • Melissa

      October 21, 2020 at 8:56 am

      Everything I’ve read says raw pack doesn’t give good results. Maybe just branching them for one minute? Sorry I can’t be more of a help.

      Reply
    • Helen Hart

      November 13, 2020 at 5:43 pm

      Can I use apple juice instead of water to preserve the apples

      Reply
      • Healthy Canning

        June 21, 2021 at 12:13 am

        That would be fine. Though just to be clear, it wouldn’t preserve them any more than water.

        Reply
  5. Llayla

    August 15, 2020 at 5:04 am

    I have scoured the internet looking specificly for pie recipes using sliced canned apples to no avail. Here you are stating that you can make a pie, but there is only a link to apple cobbler and apple crumb. I don’t want to make apple pie filling, I want to can sliced apples, then later use some of them for a pie. Is this possible or would it be too mushy? If it would work, do you have a link to a pie recipe using these specific apple in the above text?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 22, 2020 at 1:25 pm

      Good point. I’ll add apple pie to the list of “cooking with canning” recipes to post.

      Reply
    • Venna Davidson

      September 24, 2020 at 8:24 pm

      I can my apples for use mostly in pies. The recipe I use is in a Betty Crocker cookbook for pies. You might check there and it might be for fresh apples but the recipe is the same either way. I just goggled Betty Crocker apple pie and it came up but it does say fresh apples just like my recipe but I use my bottled ones.

      Reply
      • Healthy Canning

        September 26, 2020 at 1:55 pm

        What do you do to your bottled slices? Do you dump them into the pie, water and all, or do you drain them?

        Reply
  6. Maria

    June 17, 2020 at 11:12 am

    Can you please tell me what is the shelf life of these canned apples? Thank uou

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      June 17, 2020 at 1:53 pm

      Shelf life: https://www.healthycanning.com/the-shelf-life-of-home-canned-goods/

      Reply
    • Maria

      June 19, 2020 at 1:49 am

      Thank you for your speedy response!

      Reply
  7. Lee

    March 27, 2020 at 2:20 pm

    How long can you keep them stored

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      May 19, 2020 at 5:47 pm

      How long can you store home-canned goods.

      Reply
    • Emily

      August 19, 2020 at 3:57 pm

      Do you not sugar to apples for canning

      Reply
      • Healthy Canning

        September 22, 2020 at 12:51 pm

        There is no need to. However if you wish you may can them in a sugar syrup. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/syrups.html

        Reply
  8. Sue Osborne

    October 04, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    I need recipes that are based on using canned apple slices–NOT apple pie filling. Can you provide some or direct me to some sites that use canned apple slices–NOT apple pie filling. Thanks for your help.

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 11, 2019 at 4:26 pm

      Directions for canning apple slices are above.

      Reply
  9. Sarah

    October 12, 2017 at 2:26 am

    Can I keep the peels on?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      October 12, 2017 at 2:43 am

      Most of the bacterial load is on the exterior of the apples, embedded in the peel. They would need to re-test the processing times to see if the existing times were adequate to deal with the increased bacterial load of leaving the peel on, or, if the times needed to be longer. So, in short, if you do leave the peels on, you’re on your own: the quality / safety assurances from the USDA don’t apply. For more info on peeling, see: https://www.healthycanning.com/why-you-have-to-peel-some-vegetables-for-home-canning/

      Reply
      • Darrell Fluman

        September 04, 2019 at 9:07 am

        The article you reference for your answer discusses the need to peel root vegetables, not fruit. There is no part of the article that talks about the necessity of peeling apples, peaches, nectarines, etc…

        Reply
        • Healthy Canning

          September 08, 2019 at 2:06 pm

          Good point. Added that to todo list. Thanks.

          Reply
  10. Kristin

    September 05, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    I did this recipe and my apples absorbed all the liquid in about 2-3 weeks. I have like 3 inches left at the bottom. They are not changing color so are they still ok to eat? The Jars are all sealed yet but I am just not sure what went wrong or if this is normal??

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 05, 2017 at 6:06 pm

      How much water gets absorbed will depend on the variety of apple, but that is normal for many varieties. If you followed the USDA Guide directions, you will be fine. I’ve had a few jars that ended up nearly solid after processing, owing to jar venting or apple slices swelling and pushing water out during processing. The key thing is that we followed directions in preparing the jars, and then in processing. If you wanted to discuss the matter more, try one of these Master Food Preserver groups: https://www.healthycanning.com/master-food-preserver-help-groups/

      Reply
    • Slass

      October 31, 2019 at 2:27 am

      Is it safe to can any leftover syrups from this if canned in a heavy syrup per nchfp recipe? what if lemon is added?

      Reply
      • Healthy Canning

        May 20, 2020 at 12:02 am

        Just freeze any leftover syrups.

        Reply
If you need FAST or relatively immediate canning help or answers, please try one of these Master Food Preserver groups; they are more qualified than we are and have many hands to help you. Many of them even operate telephone hotlines in season.

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— USDA Radio Service. Housekeepers’ Chat. 14 September 1933.
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