Whether it’s made from peeled or unpeeled apples, applesauce is an easy-to-make puree that goes well with lots of dishes. Apple sauce can be made from scratch at home or bought from the grocery store. It can also be sweetened to improve its taste and make your meals more delicious.
Depending on what you like, you can combine apple sauce in a number of delicacies like cakes, applesauce muffins, whole wheat waffles, and a whole lot more. In addition to its sweetness and versatility, applesauce is also beneficial to our health – especially when it’s freshly made at home. It contains antioxidants that lower risk of heart-related sickness, diabetes, and even cancer; amazing right?
Now, if you’ll be making your applesauce at home, you’ll most likely want to make it in bulk. Making it in bulk means that you won’t have to start preparing it from scratch every single time you want to use it. However, you can’t just make applesauce in large quantities without thinking of how to preserve it. Applesauce left out on the counter at room temperature will need to be discarded after 2 hours. This is because bacterial action will have multiplied greatly.
Those who plan to use the leftover applesauce after a few days can keep it in the refrigerator. Refrigeration preserves the applesauce for about a week. However, if you’re hoping to preserve your homemade or store-bought applesauce for much longer, you’ll need to consider freezing.
This brings us to the question; can you freeze applesauce? Yes, you can freeze applesauce. In fact, it’s very safe to freeze. Properly frozen applesauce (homemade) can last up to a whole year. Store bought applesauce will last for about 2 months if properly frozen.
For the best results, set your freezer to 0⁰F when you want to freeze applesauce.
There are certain easy steps to follow when freezing applesauce. Keep reading to know more.
Freezing Applesauce
Personally, I wouldn’t like to waste a good bowl of applesauce – especially when I took time to make it myself. If you’ve miscalculated and made more applesauce than you needed, you should know that there are so many things you can do with the leftovers. You can eat it as a quick snack or put it in some baked foods. However you decide to go, you’ll need to preserve the leftover’s freshness till you’re ready to consume it.
We have established that applesauce can be well preserved through freezing. One thing to take not of is the ingredients used in making the applesauce. There are certain spices that are recommended in applesauce. However, these spices can contribute to fast deterioration of the applesauce’s quality. In such a case, it is best to avoid spicing up the applesauce when you plan to freeze it – the spices can always be added later on when you thaw the frozen applesauce for use.
How to Freeze Applesauce
If you follow the correct steps, you’ll be able to preserve your homemade or store-bought apple sauce for quite some time through freezing.
Step 1: Allow the Freshly Made Applesauce to Cool
It is never a good idea to put foods at temperatures above room temperature in the freezer. After making your fresh batch of applesauce, allow it to cool down to room temperature before putting it in the freezer.
Step 2: Freeze in Ice Cube Trays
Grab your Ice cube trays and fill them up with the portion of applesauce to be frozen. Make sure you measure the amount of applesauce going into the cubes – this way you can tell exactly how much of the frozen cubes you’ll need in your recipes later on. Place the ice cube trays in the freezer until the applesauce is completely frozen.
Once it’s frozen, take the trays out of the freezer and pop the cubes into freezer-safe bags. Write the current date on the freezer-safe bag with a marker so that you always know how long the applesauce has been frozen for.
Step 3: Alternatively Store the Applesauce in a Jar
If you don’t want to use the ice cube trays for freezing the applesauce, you can also use a jar. Make sure the jar is large enough to take all the applesauce or get multiple jars. Also, the jar should be made of a material that wouldn’t crack when frozen for a while –preferably plastic.
Leave some room at the top of the jar for any possible expansion. If you fill up the jar to its brim, you can have the applesauce spilling over the sides and messing up your freezer.
How to Defrost Frozen Applesauce
When you’re finally ready to use your frozen applesauce, you’ll need to defrost it. Defrosting frozen applesauce is not a big deal. Grab the amount of applesauce you want to use from inside the freezer and place it on the countertop to thaw. At room temperature, the frozen applesauce will thaw within half an hour.
Remember we talked about not spicing the applesauce before freezing? Now that you’re ready to use the thawed portion, you can go ahead and add all the spices you like. This way, you’d have preserved the applesauce’s integrity in preparation for more delicious use.
You can also thaw your frozen applesauce in the refrigerator, but that will take longer hours of waiting. However, you can do it overnight so as to avoid waiting during the day.
Related Questions:
Here are some of the related questions that most people ask:
How Long Does Applesauce Last?
If you have store-bought applesauce at home, you should know that the unopened ones can last up to 4 months in the pantry. However, once opened, you can only keep it for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator – freezing can preserve it for up to 2 months.
Homemade applesauce on the other hand will last for up to a year in the freezer.
How Do You Know if Applesauce is Bad?
Once applesauce starts going bad, you need to throw it away. Some of the noticeable signs will be appearance of mold, bad taste and smell, and a change in physical appearance.