Making Jam from Apple/Pear Cores?

[somecobwebs]

Hey guys!

Recently, I've been getting very into using up food waste. Among other things, I've been freezing vegetable scraps for a month and a half, and successfully made tons of stock last week. (About to post another thread about ideas for using up stock. ;p)

Now I am turning my attention to fruit scraps. When the berries/grapes I eat start getting mushy I freeze them as smoothie fodder, but I'm not sure what to do about the apple and pear cores. It feels wrong to throw them out, especially since I'm in an urban apartment with no access to compost.

I've looked up jams and jellies, but the internet seems to indicate that this is the perfect solution for people who have tons of scraps left over from making pie. I don't really make pie :/ As an avid peel-eater, I never have peels left over, though of course I could get some prior to jam-making if I had to - but that would require buying lots more apples, and sort of defeat the purpose of this exercise. But are peels necessary because of pectin?

I guess in my ideal world I could freeze the apple and pear cores as we ate them, and then when I have enough, make them into a jam or jelly - the same way I've been saving vegetable scraps as we eat them, and then making them into stock. Is this possible, or is it a foolish endeavor? If so, is there a way to modify the idea so that it's salvageable?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

[deborah]

It is possible. I think the pectin is in the cores as well, so you'd be OK there. I'd use a jelly recipe rather than a jam recipe. There are some recipes for doing jelly or jam in a microwave, and these recipes are usually for small quantities. Look them up on the internet, and find one you like. As I am Australian, we have different weights and measures to the US (for instance our tablespoon is 4 teaspoons whereas yours it 3), so the recipes I like are from Australia, but I'm sure you will be able to find US recipes for this.

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

I freeze my apple cores and make juice for jelly when I have a full bag. The juice is high in pectin. I saved my peach pits and made juice from them and combined the two. The jelly was delicious. Sometimes I just throw the apple cores into a bottle of vodka, makes a great infusion.

[Moonwaves]

You can do it in small amounts, too, and use that as pectin stock when making other jams and jellies.

[somecobwebs]

Fantastic!! I'll start my first bag of apple cores tonight, soon to be joined with pear cores :) I'll see how much jelly it ends up making!

I freeze my apple cores and make juice for jelly when I have a full bag. The juice is high in pectin. I saved my peach pits and made juice from them and combined the two. The jelly was delicious. Sometimes I just throw the apple cores into a bottle of vodka, makes a great infusion.

How did you get juice from peach pits? That's hard for me to imagine. My poor little blender!

That apple vodka sounds like it would appeal to my boyfriend ;) Do you just drink it, or do you use it in cooking?

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

I freeze my apple cores and make juice for jelly when I have a full bag. The juice is high in pectin. I saved my peach pits and made juice from them and combined the two. The jelly was delicious. Sometimes I just throw the apple cores into a bottle of vodka, makes a great infusion.

How did you get juice from peach pits? That's hard for me to imagine. My poor little blender!

That apple vodka sounds like it would appeal to my boyfriend ;) Do you just drink it, or do you use it in cooking?
[/quote]

I meant to say peels and pits (from cling peaches so there's lots of flesh left on the pits). I don't use a blender to get juice for jelly.  Generally you cook the fruit with a little water and extract the juice using cheesecloth or a cloth jelly bag. The juice is going to get cooked anyway and that's the way I learned to do it from my grandmother.

We drink the apple vodka, it's delicious.  I actually infuse alcohol with whatever fruit scraps I have laying around. I've made nectarine, cherry, pineapple (from the pineapple cores), peach, blackberry, they're all pretty good.  Sometimes I add a little simple syrup to them to mellow them a bit.

[Spruit]

Have you considered making apple cider and/or apple cider vinegar? It a great non time or energy consuming way to make use of apple cores and peels. The vinegar is easiest: submerge apple parts with water in a very clean glass bowl, add a little bio vinegar if you have it (this contains the bacteria that make vinegar acid) and cover with some fine mesh. Let it sit in a warm and dark place, it will first start to smell somewhat alcoholic (the cider stage) but after two weeks it is converted into vinegar.  Then pour it through a sieve and into a bottle. Pretty easy, cheap and yummy. Nice for making chutneys, skin or hair rinse etc.

[Rural]

I've made applesauce from cores, too; just strain out the seeds using a food mill. Do the straining after cooking down...


Be just a little careful with the peach pits. Probably no harm in cooking the flesh off them, but don't grind down the pits themselves. They have trace amounts of arsenic.

[Spork]

I freeze my apple cores and make juice for jelly when I have a full bag. The juice is high in pectin. I saved my peach pits and made juice from them and combined the two. The jelly was delicious. Sometimes I just throw the apple cores into a bottle of vodka, makes a great infusion.

I thought peach pits contained a pretty decent amount of cyanide.  I don't think one or two is going to hurt you... but I don't know that I'd start crushing/concentrating them.

Edit: didn't realize Rural said the same thing.... too quick to reply before scrolling I guess.

[somecobwebs]

Yikes, good to know about peach pits! Will absolutely keep in mind.

Have you considered making apple cider and/or apple cider vinegar? It a great non time or energy consuming way to make use of apple cores and peels. The vinegar is easiest: submerge apple parts with water in a very clean glass bowl, add a little bio vinegar if you have it (this contains the bacteria that make vinegar acid) and cover with some fine mesh. Let it sit in a warm and dark place, it will first start to smell somewhat alcoholic (the cider stage) but after two weeks it is converted into vinegar.  Then pour it through a sieve and into a bottle. Pretty easy, cheap and yummy. Nice for making chutneys, skin or hair rinse etc.

I looked up some recipes... I guess I am afraid of screwing it up, though. Fermenting seems more imposing to me somehow.

[Spruit]

The vinegar is pretty trouble free. Ever had wine turn sour? Same process. Just work with a clean container en rinse your apples before putting them in. You can smell whether your "brewing" is turning out as it should. Remember, folks are doing this since way before the middle ages and way before info on bacteria and hygiene. I'd say start a batch and see/smell what happens. Either way, it is not going to kill you.

[TomTX]

You're eating apples wrong. Seriously. Pears too. The only waste should be the seeds and stem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdCGnuccRv0

[Dulcimina]

I've made applesauce from cores, too; just strain out the seeds using a food mill. Do the straining after cooking down...


Be just a little careful with the peach pits. Probably no harm in cooking the flesh off them, but don't grind down the pits themselves. They have trace amounts of arsenic.

For what it's worth, I make almond extract from peach and cherry pits.  I use the lazy person's recipe for noyaux http://www.thekitchn.com/yes-or-noyaux-using-stone-fruit-kernels-in-the-kitchen-192153

[TomTX]

Be just a little careful with the peach pits. Probably no harm in cooking the flesh off them, but don't grind down the pits themselves. They have trace amounts of arsenic.

Cyanide,  not arsenic. Peach, apricot have a lot, cherry and apple seeds have some.

Rice tends to have arsenic if grown wet, some other heavy metal if grown dry.

[Rural]

Be just a little careful with the peach pits. Probably no harm in cooking the flesh off them, but don't grind down the pits themselves. They have trace amounts of arsenic.

Cyanide,  not arsenic. Peach, apricot have a lot, cherry and apple seeds have some.

Rice tends to have arsenic if grown wet, some other heavy metal if grown dry.

Right you are.

[TomTX]

Be just a little careful with the peach pits. Probably no harm in cooking the flesh off them, but don't grind down the pits themselves. They have trace amounts of arsenic.

Cyanide,  not arsenic. Peach, apricot have a lot, cherry and apple seeds have some.

Rice tends to have arsenic if grown wet, some other heavy metal if grown dry.

Right you are.

As a bonus, doses which are not immediately toxic are less of a problem with cyanide than arsenic. Easier for the body to process out.

[somecobwebs]

Okay, I just boiled my first batch of jelly!! Tastes delicious, although I am still waiting to see how it will set.

Kept it small because I wanted to test, so there's only one jar's worth, which I'd like to eat immediately. That brings up a question -

Since I'm not storing it for more than the two weeks it will take to eat this, is it okay that I didn't use any of the traditional sterilization methods for my little container? It was clean but not boiled or anything. If people are worried that it will be unsafe for the jelly (which guaranteed will not last past Halloween, since I will bring any remaining to a party I'm throwing), maybe I could put it in the freezer?

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

I make small batches to stick in the fridge on a regular basis.  As long as the jar was clean and you store it in the fridge you should have a good 3 months on the jelly - of course it never last that long in my house! I hope it came out great, if not you can always reboil the liquid, it just needs to hit 212 degrees or so to set.

[somecobwebs]

I make small batches to stick in the fridge on a regular basis.  As long as the jar was clean and you store it in the fridge you should have a good 3 months on the jelly - of course it never last that long in my house! I hope it came out great, if not you can always reboil the liquid, it just needs to hit 212 degrees or so to set.

Great, good to know! Alas, it doesn't seem to have set - I found some tips on how to reboil it, so that's what I'll do tomorrow. Wish I had a candy thermometer...

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

Great, good to know! Alas, it doesn't seem to have set - I found some tips on how to reboil it, so that's what I'll do tomorrow. Wish I had a candy thermometer...
[/quote]

Just bring it up to a boil that can't be stirred down. Check online for how to do a set test in the freezer.