Smoked Apple Sauce

[Shel_B]

While cruising thru the recipes here, I saw a recipe that called for smoked apples. Well, that got me to thinking about smoked apple sauce. I like to make apple sauce, and have made it a couple of ways, but never with smoked apples. It seems like a bad idea, but I couldn't help but wonder ... has anyone tried making smoked apple sauce? Any thoughts on how it may turn out? If, as I suspect, the smoke flavor wouldn't work well, how might the apple sauce be made so that the smoke flavor might work satisfactorily?

[Tri2Cook]

I think it would be awesome with pork. The easiest way to find out is to try it... then let us know how it goes. Maybe even smoked apple butter, that would definitely be rich enough to stand up to the smoke.

[OliverB]

I love smoked just about anything, but that doesn't sound appealing. Nor do smoked apples. But if you like it, I guess it could be used in a bbq sauce? If curious, what I'd do is get some liquid smoke and some apple sauce and add a bit of the liquid, taste. Not exactly the same, but should be close enough to give you an idea of what you'd get. And a lot less work and potential waste.

[Doodad]

Sounds like a fine idea to me. And yes with pork indeed.

Whenever I have the smoker going I throw on jalepenos, tomatillos and onions. Makes killer slightly smoky salsa.

[ilikefood]

I have made grilled apples a few times and I love them. Although they are not "smoked" they do get some smoke being on the grill while they cook, maybe 15 to 20 minutes (?). I then slice, and toss with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to have something like a grilled apple pie. It is very good. I would assume smoked apples and then turned into a sauce would be good, just make sure you don't over smoke them. As mentioned, I believe smoked apple sauce would taste wonderful with pork, especially grilled pork chops.

[Shel_B]

Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, a light smoke would seem the way to go. The next time I cook with fire, I'll add a few apples and see what happens. Perhaps using fruit wood would be a good way to go ...

BTW, a web search shows that a number of people have been making smoked and grilled apples and are pleased with the results.

Edited April 28, 2010 by Shel_B (log)

[nakji]

That does sound incredible. Please take pictures and write down proportions. What kind of apples are you thinking?

[Shel_B]

That does sound incredible. Please take pictures and write down proportions. What kind of apples are you thinking?

The apple choice will depend on what's available. It's not apple season yet, although I may try a test batch with whatever is in the store now. Usually I get apples from local growers at the farmers' market, and a neighbor has a couple of Gravenstein trees that we harvest come September.

Also, I don't know how the apples will hold up to time in the smoker or on the grill, so maybe a certain type is a better choice, something with a firmness and texture of a Honey Crisp.

[ChickenStu]

Unless you are cold smoking you will want to take into account the type of apple and the time of year. The wrong apple will get (more) mealy when heated. Some apples are much better out of season because of the benefits of coldstorage, and various apples coldstor better than others.

You will also want to puncture/cut/peel the apple, as the peel is only semi-permeable.

I miss living in the country and smoking meats etc. whenever I wanted...

happy smoking, let us know how it turns out if you do try it.

[Shel_B]

Unless you are cold smoking you will want to take into account the type of apple and the time of year. The wrong apple will get (more) mealy when heated. Some apples are much better out of season because of the benefits of coldstorage, and various apples coldstor better than others.

You will also want to puncture/cut/peel the apple, as the peel is only semi-permeable.

Good points. Reading some web reports it became clear that the skin needed to be removed or, as you suggested, punctured. I thought that cutting the apples into rings might be a good idea, exposing the meat while the skin holds the apple ring together.

I thought that an apple like, but not neccessarily, the Honey Crisp would be a good choice because it's firm and might hold up better to being heated and cooked. We get many, many varieties of apples here come the fall, so there will be plenty of choices. Perhaps an apple that bakes up well - i.e., not turning mushy - would be a good choice.

[ilikefood]

Perhaps an apple that bakes up well - i.e., not turning mushy - would be a good choice.

I agree. Pick an apple that you would use for cooking such as pie, if you are going to grill it, or an apple for sauce if you are going to sauce it after smoking.

Edited April 28, 2010 by ilikefood (log)

[Shel_B]

I agree. Pick an apple that you would use for cooking such as pie, if you are going to grill it, or an apple for sauce if you are going to sauce it after smoking.

I will be doing both - grilling/smoking and then making apple sauce.

[Chris Amirault]

I think that you could create a smoked-apple base that's intensely smoked and add small amounts of that to your standard apple sauce recipe. That would allow you to adjust the potency of the sauce more easily, I'd think.

As for wood, I'd go with apple.

[dhyasama]

Do whatever you can to get more apple flavor in there, e.g., use apple wood for the smoking, maybe baste with applejack or apple brandy, etc.

It might be good to make a smoked apple chutney. Smokiness tends to go well with a little heat.

[emilyr]

We smoke apples all the time, especially when doing pork butt, and them chop or grind them to serve on the side. It's kind of apple sauce-y, but the apples do lose a lot of moisture in the smoking process. I think if you want a true apple sauce, you'd have to do at least half regularly simmered apples.

[Shel_B]

Thanks for all the ideas.