Here are 5 different ways that we preserved our apples when we happened upon a killer sale!

When you come across a rare, good deal in San Diego, CA… you load up!! We found delicious organic Ambrosia Gold and Granny Smith apples for $.75 a pound, and the fact that they don’t last forever without ample cold storage didn’t stop us from buying half a crate full! Between canning, dehydrating and freeze drying, we knew we could take care of the load. Keep your eyes open for killer deals to be able to practice food preservation to prevent the burden of trying to learn when it really matters!
Preserving Legacy
I grew up with preserved fruit being the ultimate symbol of comfort: Grandma’s House. My grandma was not the cozy, “let me drop everything and play with you” kind of grandma (she WAS that kind of great-grandma to my kids!) but there was always warmth and nourishment, and she welcomed us into whatever she was doing. I learned so much working along side her in her garden—about what she was cultivating, politics, and our family history. The refreshment once we came inside was usually dehydrated bananas or a cobbler with her canned fruit. One time when I was 12, that came with a side of homemade rhubarb wine! Ha ha… that’s another post!
My precious grandma is no longer with us, but her legacy is still alive and well! My dad took up the “charge” of drying fruit in a magnified way. Now, Snyder grandkids get full gallon ziplocks full of fruit when they visit, and canned fruit is always available for topping our oatmeal. Shopping with my dad is so fun because he does not have any reserve when it comes to a good deal on fruit (or anything, for that matter!). It’s fun seeing people’s eyes when they see his cart loaded with boxes of bananas, etc… Clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He gave us our first dehydrator soon after Charlie and I were married, and no matter what our spacial situation has been, we find room for that treasure!
First way to preserve apples: dehydrate in a dehydrator.
I love apples any way I can get them, but I think the basic dehydrated variety is my favorite. Look at its beautiful curled edge and the sweet little “flower” the seed holes leave behind! Because I’m a hopeless pursuer of beauty, I twist the stem out, then start cutting where the stem was. This orientation gives you the cute little flower in the center. My dad, the drying extraordinaire, cuts his thick enough that he only gets about 6 slices per apple. They are deliciously chewy that way! However, I cut mine thinner for a more manageable bite for my kids since they take them for snacks in public! Ha ha


To Dehydrate:
Slice apples about 1/4 inch thick. If you want the “flower” left by the seeds, cut from top to bottom, not side to side. If you have a dehydrator, arrange on screens without touching and set the dehydrator to 135 degrees. I like to do this in the afternoon, then check on them the following morning. They are mostly done by the morning, but I always check to make sure they are all completely dry. If any need more time, I pull out the ones that are finished and just let the soggy ones get a little more time. If you don’t have a dehydrator, set your oven to its lowest setting, place the apples on cookie cooling racks, and check them often. There’s no exact time on this, because it varies so much according to temperature and thickness of the apples! My dehydrator is an antique, but this is the modern version of mine. My dad had a fire with the plastic trays one time, so be careful with those!!
Second Way to Preserve Apples: Freeze Dry
Harvest Right freeze dryers have sure made their way into the homesteading world! We were able to get ours for a great price (bulk purchase— several of our extended family members all ordered together, so we got a wholesale deal). I can’t say that it’s super beneficial for us to have it now, without a huge garden, but I’m grateful that we got it when we did at the price that we did! Without preserving a bountiful harvest, we mostly use ours for fruit. It is a TREAT, and incredibly surprising how much they taste like fresh apples, just dehydrated! They are light and fluffy, not chewy like the dehydrated ones. San Diego is just humid enough, that when we open a fresh bag of the freeze dried apples, we need to eat them all in one sitting. Once any moisture gets into freeze dried food, it starts getting mushy.
To Freeze Dry:
Line the freeze dryer trays with parchment paper. Slice apples 1/4” thick and line the trays. It’s okay if these ones touch! Pre-freeze for a day, (if you have the space, to save on electricity) then place it in the machine and press start! It senses when moisture is completely gone, but I still like to check them and give a little more time to any that need it. Place in Mylar bags with oxygen absorber asap to keep the humidity away from them!

Third Way to Preserve Apples: Can Applesauce
I don’t know if it’s just our part of the country or what, but I cannot find organic applesauce that’s not in the baby food squeezie packs! Apples are part of the “dirty dozen” (as are most fruit that doesn’t have skin you peel off) so that means we rarely have applesauce. We love it in our family, so having our own canned applesauce has been such a treat! I love canning fruit, because you don’t have to use a pressure canner, (we don’t have one yet) and it’s a great opportunity to get comfortable with canning before being overwhelmed with a legit harvest!
To Make Applesauce:
Peel, core and quarter the apples. Place in a large pot, and fill with as many apples as you want! Place on medium low heat with a lid. I add a little water to the bottom just to get them steaming before they release their own juices. We love cinnamon applesauce, so I sprinkle an even layer of cinnamon over the top of my apples. Check on them occasionally, stirring when you do. Once they have completely turned to mush and are the texture of applesauce, you’re done! Sterilize jars by submerging in boiling water for 10 minutes. Ladle applesauce into jars and follow this canning how-to, or any that you are familiar with!
*For an extra special treat—more so for an apple-pie-filling type of “applesauce” I love Ina Garten’s recipe! Applesauce with butter? Yes please. I sub her sugar for honey. But for straight up applesauce, you can’t go wrong with the simplicity of cooking down delicious apples.

(We found a deal on frozen strawberries, too, so those made their way into the photo!)
Fourth and Fifth Way to Preserve Apples: Apple Juice Two Ways
You can see, it was a whole family affair (over the course of a full week!) We started coring the apples so we could have the most delicious by-product: Apple juice! All the weird nubs, skin from applesauce and the center of the apples went into the juicer. Charlie fermented a few bottles, and I canned about 4 quarts. You know I love turning trash into treasure! Even though I’m happy to eat them with the core, this was a great way to get one more good out of this bounty.
To Make Fermented Cider:
After juicing clean apple bits, pour juice into flip top bottles and place out of direct light at room temperature. It gets very pressurized right away, so burp twice daily for seven days. Place in refrigerator and enjoy a probiotic-rich drink!
To Make Apple Juice:
Run all of the apple discard through the juicer— everything that is not moldy/buggy! I even juice the seeds. Sterilize quart jars by submerging in boiling water for 10 minutes. Pour juice into jars, then follow canning instructions. *We did not refrigerate and skim, per the instructions. In classic Campbell style, we strained it and called it good. And it is DELICIOUS!!

Family Affair
You can see that this was a big undertaking, but when we put all of our effort together, it didn’t take much time at all. I am always grateful for opportunities for us to have projects where we need everyone. When the kids (younger ones, especially) see that their contributions are actually needed, they gain so much self confidence. We can fill them with endless words of affirmation and give them all that modern psychology says will make for a happy child, but I have seen with my kids, and my own experience as the youngest of 4, that old fashioned hard work in a loving environment accelerates every other effort we might make for raising stable kids. They were all excited for the delicious outcomes of our labor, and were happy to dig in to the work. We put on fun music and came at the task with a spirit of joy, not drudgery, and the “fruit” of that was delightful attitudes!
Let me know what deals you find and how you preserve them in the comments, or tag me @ournomadichomestead on instagram!
2 responses to “5 Beautiful Ways to Preserve Apples”
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We loved your comments about Grandma!!! The pictures and graphics — top notch — go well with the story!
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Thank you Mom! She was such a TREASURE!!!
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