Apple Butter Day: Long Process Worth the Treat

The fragrance of wood smoke hits about a quarter mile from the destination: my sister Janet Ronk’s home.

Pulling in the drive brings the deep rich fragrance of cider and apples cooking at a simmer.

Summer is over and the apples are hanging in heavy clusters. The snap of cold lets all know it’s time to drag out the copper kettle and build a fire.

It’s the first time in 17 years the Ronks have made apple butter and I made the short list, an invitation to spend the day.

A latecomer to the apple butter boil party, I missed the days of preparation, most starting a week or so ago, that require the execution of dozens of details learned by this couple now in their 80s with years of apple butter experience.

“John has been wanting to do this for a long time,” Janet said. “It’s something he’s always enjoyed.”

Sons, a daughter and their significant others, some traveling a distance, show up and participate in the apple preparation, the cider boiling and the apple cook down.

The women are subdued and watch as the men keep the fire going and steadily stir the apples.

The men talk easily and laugh heartily as they recall past apple butter boilings and the keys to good fire keeping.

During a lull in the conversation the subject of tree sap on auto windshields comes up and an experienced lumberman suggests using Easy Off oven cleaner as a surefire remedy.

The day passes easily with plenty of good food and even better conversation.

But the hearty laughter may well be the best part of the cold Saturday.

The plans have been in the works for months but the true work began earlier in the week when John cleaned out the 50 gallon copper kettle and the massive food grade cider barrel.

About 50 gallons of cider were picked up at the local press then all eyes turned to the fruit.

The apple menu of the four bushels can change depending on the harvest, but this year it was a combination that pleased Janet.

It was an abundance of Jona Golds than lesser amounts of Yellow Delicious and Ida Reds.

“You want some sweet and some sour,” she said. “And we got that.”

The bulk of the week was spent sanitizing the plastic buckets, glass jars and splitting fire wood.

Friday, the women peeled and quartered the apples, some so large they did not fit the peeler.

Every effort was taken to remove all of the stem and core even that tiny hard piece that landed in the dental work of more than one person.

About 9:30 Friday night, John began the cider boiling, a chore taking all night with the goal of reducing in half the sweet fruit juice.

The men took shifts keeping the fire burning and about the crack of dawn came the assessment that the cider was ready for the fruit.

A part of the Ronk’s recipe is the addition of five copper pennies, an assurance that despite all the stirring the apples will not stick to the kettle bottom.

So begins the boil.

The apples are added in small doses to keep the pot cooking hot and the teasing and laughter of the night before resumes.

Hour by hour, the stirring continues, apples added, wooden logs slid into the hot flames.

The temperature around the kettle is taken regularly promoting discussion on wood use.

Discussion breaks out about when and if foaming will start and what to do about it.

While lard was used in bygone days, butter works as a handy replacement and is easier to find.

About 2 p.m. the women think the foaming has gone on long enough and three sticks are added.

The stirring continues and John estimates it will be apple butter at 4:30 p.m.

The apples opt to cool off a bit and 20 pounds of sugar is added about 6:30 p.m.

An hour later in goes a cup of cinnamon and the stirring continues.

The magic hour hits about 9 p.m. when Janet declares the butter is ready for the homemade bread she has prepared

Using a metal spoon, she scoops up a generous portion and, over the kettle, turns the spoon upside down.

“When it stays on the spoon, you know it’s done,” she said.

The sterilized jars were soon filled and tops turned into place.

The yield was 14 gallons of thick full flavor.

The bet is when will the apple butter making be repeated.

An exhausted Janet and John, who just turned 80, laugh heartily and make no commitments.