Homemade Instant Pot Canned Apple Sauce

Instructions (ish)

• Add water to instant pot.
• Peel and chop or slice apples. Shape doesn’t matter so much as consistent sizes so they cook evenly.
• Add apples, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice to instant pot and stir to coat apples evenly.
• Put the lid on the instant pot and turn valve to seal it.
• Set pot on high pressure for 8 minutes.
• Quick release when time is up.
• Use an immersion blender, or put apples straight into your regular blender. Make sure you put enough of the juice in the blender with the apples to keep things moving smoothly.
• Once blended you can refrigerate your apple sauce if you are not canning. If you plan to can it, do so right away before it cools.

Canning in the Instant Pot

To be honest, I do not know anything about the science of canning, the old fashioned way or in new ways. I just know that this method works so I do the same each time now. Some good resources are out there, I just haven’t done all the research yet.

Process

• Heat your canning jars by pouring boiling water into them.
• Place trivet in bottom of the instant pot. Place a penny on the bottom too (you’ll see why momentarily.)
• One at a time, pour water out of each jar and fill with apple sauce, cleaning any that drips, and turn lid until you get a little resistance but not more.
• Place each jar onto the trivet.
• Pour 3-4 cups of water into the pot.
• Put lid on your instant pot and turn the valve to vent.
• Set pot on steam and wait while it tries to build pressure (this won’t work since it is set on venting, so the timer won’t count down.)
• When you start to hear that penny jingling around that means its starting to boil in there. This is important since your pot will not tell you when it is boiking if that ventnis open. The float valve should pop up shortly, even while venting. Set a timer for 22-24 minutes.
• When timer ends turn off or unplug instant pot. When the penny stops jingling you know that the water in the bottom is no longer boiling.
• When float valve drops you can open you pot and use jar tongs or a thick mit to remove jars carefully. Set on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely to room temp.
• Do not refrigerate at this point.
• You will hear a little pop when the jars seal and the metal top will be tight. You can tighten the ring once this happens.
• Let sit in room temp for 12 hours before refrigerating or putting away. If a jar hasn’t sealed by then it should be refrigerated only, not stored in a pantry.

From what I have read, food canned in this manner is good for 6 months before it should be refrigerated and eaten, but I haven’t left anything that long yet to test the shelf life.

And now you’ve canned your own homemade apple sauce! Congratulations!

Its a lot easier than you would expect, right? I was so intimidated before I tried this, but I did it out of necessity so that those apples wouldn’t go bad. We had already made a double batch of apple crisp and I didn’t want to waste any food, so instead I swallowed my fear and learned a new skill! Apple sauce is the only thing I have canned so far (and my toddler loves it!) but I am going to try my hand at canning some homemade pickles this week and see if I can’t expand my skill base yet again!

Hopefully you will join me in conquering any fears we have in the kitchen! Happy canning!

Let me know in the comments if you use your instant pot for canning but use a different method, or if you have great apple sauce variations!