Smoker Trials - Smoked Applesauce

Look Out Thanksgiving YOU Are About To Be Transformed!

So when we moved to Rolling Meadows into our rental house several items came with the house including a smoker. Not that kind of smoker. That isn't super legal here...yet.

The kind of smoker most people associate with meat, but being a veg head I have been experimenting with smoking other foods. Think tofu, brussel sprouts, corn on the cob, cheeses, and apples. This post is about the apples.

I have more time to think than I care to admit and sometime in between contemplating starting a meditation practice and deciding the exchange rate of the pound versus the dollar I had this brilliant thought about smoking apples and making applesauce. 

I called my mom and asked, 'Does this sound good or gross?' Her reply in typical Mary Alice fashion was, "That sounds gross." So of course I have to make it, because now I have to know.

Mark and I made a quick trip to a local farm market to get some scratch and dent apples. Armed with a mess of random apples I prepare for my culinary experiment. 

Being new to smoking things, but knowing just enough to be dangerous...I start up the charcoal chimney and soak a few maple wood chips.

The actual process started on Monday. Mark works from home if he is in town and in typical Monday morning fashion he had several conference calls so he was holed up in his office while I was getting everything prepped. He walks out stops...looks at me and says, 'It smells like campfire.' It did. I explained the smoker was smoking.

While the smoker was heating up I peeled the apples. Years ago we bought an apple peeler. I have got to say even if you only use it once a year, it is one of the greatest inventions ever!!! Seriously. You need one.

I peeled five apples and saved the peels for my outdoor wild kingdom. The squirrels seemed pleased. I broke the apples in half and put them into the smoker. I turned them over after about 10 minutes or so and left them for a while longer. The smoker stayed in the 100-150 range and I used natural charcoal and a combination of wet and dry maple chips. I was not particularly strict on my timing, but they were in there for a while most likely about 30 minutes total. 

Next I brought them in and put them in my enameled cast iron pot with about 1 cup of water, 1T - ish cinnamon and allspice and a light dusting of cumin. Stir those suckers and let them get fully cooked. This took about 20 minutes. 

I scooped them out and mashed them with a potato masher - I prefer my applesauce chunky, but this is all a matter of personal taste.

So the final verdict? I loved it. The smokiness paired with the sweetness of the apples and the combination of spices was divine. I may try a batch without the cumin to see what that is like too...but overall this surpassed what I was expecting and it is crazy good. I am going to can what I have left and keep it to share. 

Mary Alice was wrong...this is amazing and paired with a Thanksgiving dinner the mashed potatoes and turkey (if you eat that) or stuffing I can't wait!!!