How to Preserve All Them Apples

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How to Preserve All Them Apples

  • Rachel Brownlee

    As a freelance writer with a background in horticulture and sustainable agriculture, Rachel's intrest in food has, over time, become her primary artistic medium. An advocate of exploring the freedoms...
Heating with wood has its pros and cons. When you wake up to cold floors and a thermostat needle just shy of 58 degrees and have to go outside to gather wood (before your coffee), it's hard to enjoy. But the pros are hard to beat, like sitting next to a crackly fire when the weather is nasty or warming your hands directly over the rising heat. I have been using the wood stove more and more each year to dry goods, from herbs to stale bread for making crumbs, and most recently,  apples. After seeing sliced apples strung on a piece of twine for drying on The Lovely Life, it seemed so obvious. Stringing takes up little space and looks so sweet during the process. Fresh apples store well in the fridge or cold sellar, but dried apples offer an extended shelf life...if you can keep them around. The chewy consistency and concentrated sugars makes them fairly addictive.  The process is straight forward:    Rinse apples and slice into 1/2'' rounds. You can core them, but the natural star center is gorgeous.      Transfer sliced apples to a bowl and arrange a place to sit and thread on to twine.            Once strung, I opted to bathe slices in lemon juice in hopes of keeping some nice color.            Hang in well ventilated spot, preferably near a wood stove or fire place. Strings will be heavy, so secure well.            Allow to dry 2-4 days.              Apples are ready when fully dehydrated and leathery.    Enjoy.