Fermented Applesauce

by Jerri

Eek! Fermentation panic! All my standard airlocks were busy in other fermentation projects, and I desperately wanted to try fermented applesauce! Apples were still falling from my little tree at the end of November, so I poked around in my cabinet and as luck would have it, I had ONE type of airlock left. I forgot about this gem, awesome for all the wide mouth canning jars I own. This silicone tool from Heaven is made by MasonTops, and called a Pickle Pipe. Woohoo!

I dug out my Nourishing Traditions book in the hopes of finding a fermented applesauce recipe, but nothing.

Most of the fruit recipes in general for 1 quart called for ¼ cup whey and 1-2 tsp sea salt, so I figured I’d experiment. I don’t use whey due to dairy allergies, so subbing with kombucha is the plan. Probably a good idea to just do 1 pint in case I mess up somewhere, since I didn’t get many apples from my tree this year. The squirrels beat me to it! From this:

To This:

Let the applesauce cool or you’ll ruin the kombucha bacteria. Be ready with the kombucha and salt once it’s ready!

This ferment will go just 24 hoursbecause fruit ferments FAST, you naturally end up with something alcohol-y rather quickly depending on your room temperature. If it’s warmer, things ferment much faster! Being that it’s fall, I think 24 hours is just fine.

How’s it taste? Fast forward 24 hours. Um, it tastes like salty applesauce. Maybe another 24 hours? Fast forward another 24 hours.ugh, although surprisingly LESS salty tasting, the only one who likes it is this guy:

Thank goodness I only did one pint. Guess Sarge will have a probiotic treat the next week or so! I searched online for more recipes and came across several that still included whey and substitutes (water kefir and kombucha), but also NO salt. I am SO pitching the salt next time. Just have to wait for another batch of apples to fall!

————————— Update: I did the same procedure minus the salt almost 2 cups applesauce and 2 Tbs kombucha. I fermented for 4 days, because at 65ºF in my kitchen, nothing was happening every 24 hours that I checked. I saw no mold, so I kept going. By the 4 ^th day it seemed to have tang (or it was my imagination because I was tired of waiting?) I refrigerated it and got around to tasting it a few days later. It was pretty yummy and yep, slightly tangy. I tried it again a few weeks later, and it about knocked me over with tang! I threw some raisins in it, because I love when they plump back up in applesauce. In 24 hours I had a delicious super tangy fermented applesauce! And no, Sarge did not get any of it this time. Sorry puppers!