Today on The Stay At Home Chef
I'm showing you how to make Slow Cooker Apple Cider.
This recipe will make your house smell amazing and it's also super delicious.
I like to make large batches and freeze some so I can enjoy it later on during the fall and winter.
For this recipe you'll need 8 apples.
Now the apples that you purchase in the grocery store are covered with a little bit of wax,
so the first thing you want to do is rinse them off in hot water or you can soak them to melt off that waxy layer.
There are hundreds of different varieties of apples.
Today I'm using a combination of gala and red delicious apples,
which are both on the sweeter side.
I'll include a list of other options on my website.
You'll want to quarter 8 apples,
and I like to also remove any stems or woody parts of the apples as well,
but there's no need to actually core them.
Then place all of the apple quarters into a 6-8 quart slow cooker.
Once you have all 8 apples in we're gonna pour in 10 cups of water.
So here's 4, 8, and 10.
We're gonna add some spices in,
but before we do that, you can keep your apple cider with just apples,
but a lot of people also like to include an orange.
Rinse it just like you did with the apples and then cut off the ends,
and then I slice mine into thick slices that are about 1/2 inch thick.
Then you can just tuck those in with your apples.
You'll also need 4 whole sticks of cinnamon,
and mine are a good 6 inches long.
Add those in with your apples and orange slices.
Next you'll need 1 teaspoon of whole allspice.
Now allspice is not a spice mix it's actually a dried berry.
We're gonna sprinkle those in,
and then you'll also need about 1 tablespoon of whole cloves.
When making apple cider I use whole spices because they'll infuse the liquid with all of their flavor
along with the apples and the orange slices if you use those,
without adding any grit or sediment that may settle to the bottom of your apple cider.
Then you'll just pop the lid on and cook this on high for 3 hours,
but of course I already have some apple cider in another slow cooker that's already cooked for those 3 hours.
After 3 three hours your apples should be nice and soft,
so what you want to do is take a masher and mash the apples.
This will allow the apples to release more of their juices and flavor,
but it can be a little cumbersome with those whole spices and orange slices,
so if you want you can also fish out some of the apples and mash them on a cutting board
and then return them to the pan,
but you will lose a little bit of the juices which are right here on the cutting board.
Now you understand why I prefer to mash mine directly in the slow cooker
so I don't lose any of that apple goodness.
At this point we're also going to add in 1/2 cup of tightly packed brown sugar.
Kind of stir that around and mix it in.
The heat will dissolve this so that it doesn't separate.
Then we're going to pop the lid on and let this steep for an additional 1 hour on high,
or you can let it steep for up to 3 hours on low.
Once the final steeping process is done you'll need either a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth,
and some sort of container to catch all of your liquids.
Now I'm not super strong so I don't want to try pouring this.
I found that the easiest way for me is to just use a ladle and scoop out all of these solids,
and start straining the liquid.
All of the solids will get discarded.
They actually make for great composting materials.
Now once the strainer fills up and I'm ready to discard,
I like to give these all a final press to get out as much of those liquids as I can.
Once I get to the end and most of the solids are gone, especially the large chunks,
I can then strain the remainder through the fine mesh strainer.
You can serve this in a punch bowl or whatever kind of container like a saucepan that you strained it into,
or you can rinse out the slow cooker and return it there,
that way the slow cooker can keep it warm.
This is great if you have like a party with guests who want some warm apple cider.
If this is too much apple cider for you or you end up with extra you can also let it cool completely,
and then ladle it into gallon sized freezer bags and lay them flat to freeze for later use.
When you're ready to drink, simply heat it up on the stove.
Mmm! This smells so good.
Thanks for watching.
You can find the full written recipe in the video description,
as well as a link to my website where you can find more information.
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