Mind Body Soul Food
  • Home
  • About
    • Work With Me
    • Partners & Collaborations
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Resources
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • Sunspiration
  • Contact

A Journey into Thought & Spirit

Homemade Slow Cooker Apple Cider - Two Ways!

11/11/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
'Tis the season for pumpkins, apples, root vegetables and holiday-spiced treats. Nothing rings in the fall season like a cup of hot apple cider. But not any apple cider. Homemade cider. 

Apples are an amazing fruit. Originating in the Tien Shen mountains, and have been a part of the human diet for thousands of years. The sweet fruit of life, was part of the Garden of Eden and spiritually, is a big part of mankind.

Picture
The apple is an important part of America's growth. Apples were cultivated in Jamestown for the settlers who came abroad in 1607. They brought seeds from Europe and many varieties grew in the New World. 

Interestingly, the cultivation of apples in the world (mainly bitter) were used to create cider. 

According to history.com, "Cider had become a popular beverage in England in the wake of the Norman conquest in 1066, after which new apple varieties were introduced from France. The New World settlers brought their taste for cider with them. Most colonists grew their own apples, and due to sanitation concerns, they often served a fermented cider at meals instead of water, including a diluted cider for the children. Cider became so popular that it was sometimes used to pay salaries, and Virginian statesman William Fitzhugh once remarked that the cider produced from his orchard of 2,500 trees was more valuable than 15,000 pounds of tobacco."

Picture
Ironically, one of the Founding Fathers of the USA, cultivated the Fuji apple in the USA. According to history.com, "And he helped bring the popular Fuji apple to the United States, albeit unwittingly. As the story goes, Edmund Charles Genet, French minister to the United States in the 1790s, gave Thomas Jefferson a gift of apple cuttings that Jefferson donated to a Virginia nursery, which then cultivated a variety of apple known as the “Ralls Genet.” In 1939, Japanese apple breeders crossed the genes from the classic Red Delicious apple variety with that of Jefferson’s Ralls Genet, resulting in the now ubiquitous Fuji apple."

How interesting that many things in taste are like a slice of tasty American apple pie. 

This recipe can be made two ways. I find the juiced version to be the easiest method. You can always use apple juice, but the freshly juiced apples taste the best. 

Picture
Picture
Homemade Slow Cooker Apple Cider - Two Ways!
Equipment: Large crockpot

Method One - Pre Juiced Version:
Ingredients: 
9 cups freshly juiced apples (about 6 lbs. of large gala w/ my juicer) or use bottled apple juice
1 orange, sliced
5 whole cloves 
2 cinnamon sticks
1 whole nutmeg

Directions:
Slice the orange and juice the apples. Place all the ingredients into the crockpot. Take one of the orange slices and squeeze it into the crock pot. Place the crockpot on the six-hour timer. The cider should be tasty enough to turn off between 4-5 hours. OR for a deeper spiced-flavor, cook on the 10-hour setting for 10 hours. 

Method Two - Whole Fruit version 
​*This method takes longer and requires a cheese cloth to strain the apple juice. 
Ingredients:
12 lg. Gala apples (5 lbs.) (or intermix fuji and gala)
1 orange, sliced
1 nutmeg whole
1 tbsp whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp all spice, grounded
1/4 cup cane sugar
water
optional: 1 cup of apple juice

Chop the apples and slice the orange. Place everything except the sugar in the crockpot. Fill the crock pot with water close to the top of the apples. DO NOT cover the apples entirely. Place the crockpot on for 8 hours. At 5 hours, mash or puree the apples. This will enhance the apple flavor. Here, I also removed the cloves. I also poured 1 cup of apple juice in to enhance the flavor. At 6.5 hours, if the mixture tastes tart, and the cane sugar. Around 7-8 hours the cider should be done. 

You can strain the juice into a pitcher with a colander. To get more juice, place the pulp, in batches, into the cheesecloth and squeeze "dry."

Have you made homemade apple cider? If so, how do you make it?


Yum
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Elizabeth Rae Kovar M.A. is  Author of her memoir, Finding Om and is a Fitness Trainer, Yogi, Reiki Master, Presenter and Lover of Life. To view her portfolio please visit www.elizabethkovar.com
    Follow her travels at: lemontreetravel.com

    Picture
    Follow
    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Categories

    All
    Body
    Food
    Metaphysics
    Mind
    Soul
    Sunspiration
    Vegan Recipes
    Wellness Travel
    YouTube

    Archives

    October 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
    • Work With Me
    • Partners & Collaborations
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Resources
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • Sunspiration
  • Contact