There are about 5 apple trees between our place and our neighbors’ place.  They pick a few of the apples but leave most for us.  A friend pointed us to a recipe for making apple jelly from the peels and cores so we decided to dehydrate a bunch of apples and make apple jelly from what’s left.  Apparently back when everyone canned, this was a well known process.  The apple itself was used for apple butter or apple sauce while the peels and cores were made into jelly.

It turns out that the pectin (the stuff that makes jelly gel) is more concentrated in the peel and core. Anyhow, here is the recipe we use:

Apple peel and core jelly
peelings and core from 15-20 medium tart apples
6 cups water (for cooking cores and peels)
1 (1 3/4 ounce) box dry pectin
9 cups sugar

1. Cook peelings and cores in 6 cups water for 20-30 minutes.
2. Strain through prepared cheesecloth or jelly bag.
3. Add water as needed, to strained juice, to obtain 7 cups liquid.
4. Add pectin (whisk works well) and bring to a rapid boil.
5. Add sugar, boil hard for 1 minute.
6. Pour into sterile jars, leaving 1/8″ headspace; wipe jar rims, adjust lids and rings; water bath 5 minutes.

Besides the jelly, this peeler is a “must-have” if you plan to process a lot of apples. Some folks have trouble with them but if you properly adjust the cutting blade, you’ll peel and core apples all day long with no problem. Abigail, my 5 year old, helped peel a bunch of the apples were used for this run.

Apple jelly is the only type of jelly that Emily will eat.  We made enough from 30-40 apples to last her all year!