Protective Diet Class #332
Julie Marie dons her mother’s apron to demonstrate her shortcut system for home canning organic, sugar-free, whole applesauce. Protective Diet canning and fermentation techniques preserve summer’s high-fiber harvest and ensure that nothing goes to waste.
Announcements
- Engage in our official support group, Protective Diet Living (PDL). Join Live Chats & Coaching Hour for personal assistance.
- Shop https://www.protectivediet.com/azure, the organic farm that delivers near you, for low-cost, high-quality PD staples.
- Take advantage of current savings on Protective Diet Plant-Based Broth Mix.
Vocabulary
Water Bath Canning | Altitude | Processing Time | Plant Fiber Diversity | Microbiome |
Action Steps for Canning a Batch of Sugar-Free Whole Applesauce
- Food spoilage is caused by bacteria, yeast and mold that naturally occur. They multiply in moist, warm, aerobic environments. Microorganisms in high acid (pH of 4.6 or lower) foods can be destroyed by sustained heat (212°) and anaerobic conditions.
- Both fermentation and canning involve specific steps to preserve food by killing the microbial population that causes it to spoil.
- In Water Bath Canning, hot food is placed in sterile, hot jars with sterile, hot lids, then submerged in boiling water that circulates around the jars for sufficient time to kill food-spoiling microorganisms. As the food reaches high temperatures, steam releases from the jars. As the jars cool, the steam condenses creating an airtight vacuum seal on each lid, locking microorganisms out.
- Industry-canned organic applesauce without ascorbic acid and other additives (including sugar) that harm our beneficial gut microbes can be challenging to source. Protective Diet’s Canned Sugar-Free Whole Applesauce contains nothing but the fruit.
Organize Your Storage Space
Make room in the pantry for new jars of preserves.Save the original boxes that come with your jars. They slide nicely under a bed.During the winter, as you use jars of preserves off your pantry shelves, wash, dry and place the clean jars back in the box. |
Go Microbing
Applesauce is not the most cost effective thing to make at home if you have to purchase the apples. These apples are from our neighbor’s trees. Be a “fence leaner”. Get to know your neighbors. They will light up when you compliment their garden. Ask them what they’re growing. Offer to help them pick. The most thrilling part of having a garden is sharing it, walking through it with a friend and inviting them to pick whatever they want from your exciting bounty.Our health is positively impacted by being out in nature. That’s why we feel so good after a getaway to the beach or some other outdoor space. It improves our own microbial diversity, which directly benefits our immune system and lifts our mood. When you pick apples, you pick up Nature’s microbes that live in the air, in the trees, and in the apples themselves. |
Keep Canning Equipment Handy
Store your canning supplies in a convenient location, so canning feels like a quick and easy preservation method. | |
Knife/Cutting Board | For coring apples. |
Food Processor | The first step in saucing whole, raw apples. This chunky puree gives your blender a helpful start. |
High Speed Blender | This is an essential kitchen tool on a Protective Diet. It makes apple puree into a smooth sauce. |
Canner | A canner is a large stockpot, often made of enameled steel, deep enough to cover jars with 1” of water. |
Canning Rack | A round rack that elevates the jars so boiling water can circulate underneath them. |
Canning Jars | Julie Marie uses quart jars for applesauce and 2 quart to 1 gallon jars for apple vinegar. |
Canning Lids | Most lids for canning are two-piece, with a flat lid and a threaded band that secures it in place. Re-use the rings, but buy new lids each season because they are not safe to seal properly a second time. |
Canning Funnel | A staple daily tool in the PD Workplace for Wellness that makes quick work of filling jars with no mess. |
Ladle | Any large ladle will work for filling your jars with hot food. |
Clean Cloth Towels | Paper towels will work, but cloth towels are more absorbent, lint-free, and earth-friendly. |
Jar Lifter Tongs | This tool is specially designed to grip hot jars safely and is usually included in a purchased canning set. |
Have Frequent One-Batch Canning Sessions until the Harvest is All Preserved
Maximize your time by canning as much product as possible in each batch. This means using quart-sized jars.Julie Marie’s One-Batch Canning Session includes the following (steps 1-3, 6, 8, 10, and 12 are optional, but very fulfilling): Set the tone. Wear your mother’s apron, or use another heirloom piece to get in touch with this heritage homemaking art. Make a cup of PD Swamp Water—Japanese green tea matcha run through a “Whirly Gig” Breville Milk Café Milk Frother. Make a Sheet Pan Apple Cake for the neighbors who gave you the apples/peaches/pears. Collect ingredients from your well-stocked Protective Diet pantry. Fresh mill wheat. Slice seasonal fruit and set cake to bake before the oven pre-heats. Rinse applesauce apples. This will take care of any dust or bugs. Use a repurposed frosting bucket from your local bakery. Set up your canning space and equipment. Remove the Sheet Pan Apple Cake from the oven to cool.Can Sugar-Free Whole Applesauce. Follow the recipe description, directions and notes along with these tips: Use ALL parts of the apple If core smells fresh, place it in a 1-gallon jar to be made into Apple Vinegar.If core smells like earth it is already decomposing, place it in a compost bucket.If a piece looks wormy, but smells fresh and beautiful, trim it and add to the food processor bowl for saucing. Keep the temperature as consistent as possible throughout the entire process Heat the sauce, jars, and lids. Be sure water in the canner is simmering, not boiling when jars are lowered in.Do not fill jars with cold applesauce or lower cold jars into boiling hot water. Drastic temperature changes can cause jars to explode or crack, or applesauce to siphon out of the jars. Use the exact processing time for your altitude (refer to the Ball Blue Book) Water boils at lower temperatures at higher altitudes. We can still eliminate food-spoiling microorganisms by adding more processing time. This is critical for your microbiome health and safety. Do not guess. Look it up.Go on a garden tour while applesauce is processing. Take pictures of what amazes you. Breathe deeply. Enjoy the sunshine.Remove canner lid and set a timer for 10-15 minutes. This gives jars time to temper and stabilize before being moved.Meanwhile, mix Sugar-Free Royal Icing. Cut Sheet Pan Apple Cake into large squares and separate slightly so frosting will drip down the sides. Drizzle with the Royal Icing. Go heavy! We eat with our eyes! Chill cake slices in the refrigerator.Lift jars out of canner with jar tongs. Set them on a towel. Keep them out of a draft. Allow them to cool naturally. Leave them for 12 hours at least. Tomorrow afternoon, take the rings off, check the seals, and use a sharpie to label for storage.Wrap cake slices individually in parchment, like little presents. Have fun delivering them to all your fruit-sharing friends. |
Make Apple Vinegar
This is a two-stage, yeast-based, aerobic ferment. In stage one, the yeast in the air establishes itself in the jar, making alcohol. In stage two, we strain out the alcohol to make vinegar. Fill the 1-gallon jar of discarded apple cores with water to rinse out any floating bits. Fill with fresh water to the brim.Use a weight to hold the apples below waterline and cover jar with a coffee filter secured with a rubber band. Put the date on the jar and allow it to ferment for 2 weeks. Follow the recipe for full guidance including variations for peach and plum vinegars. |
Cooking Tips
- 7-day Sauerkraut, Probiotic Pickled Onions, Fermented Salsa and Fermented Tomato Sauce can be water bath canned. Fermenting them first changes the acidity so it’s perfect for water bath canning. Use a pH meter to be sure if you are skeptical.
- Some ferments, like tomato sauce and salsa, get a bit runny when canned. Anything that has high water content may separate with solids floating to the top. Stir or strain before using. Strained Fermented Tomato Sauce makes the best pizza sauce!
Encouragement
- On a Protective Diet, our taste buds get more sensitive by the day because we are not eating sugar, dates, or raisins.
- It is so worthwhile to do what we are doing and be in control of what goes into our body as we learn about our microbiome.
- You will lean down and reverse disease while enjoying your food. There is no restricting on a Protective Diet.
- The PD Apple Cake is part of the PD Bakery recipe collection. I never imagined we would have things that tasted and looked like this when I first started writing recipes on a whole food plant-based diet. These show-stopping recipes are a dream come true.
- You can eat PD bakery items as your meal if you wish. Especially when you are going through detox.
I live for good food. So do my microbes.
Class Description:
Julie Marie dons her mother’s apron to demonstrate her shortcut system for home canning organic, sugar-free, whole applesauce.
Protective Diet canning and fermentation techniques preserve summer’s high-fiber harvest and ensure that nothing goes to waste.
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