We’re always on the lookout for new food preservation projects, especially if we know people who have food crops on their property that they don’t want. We regularly harvest apples and cherries from a friend’s parents’ place, primarily turning it into juice. I’m still on the hunt for cranberries and hazelnuts, which I’ve read many times grow here in Manitoba, but I’ve not yet found a place to forage for them.

Recently, we were visiting a family member and learned she has a crabapple tree in her backyard. While we didn’t harvest any during our visit, we expressed our interest in taking some if she didn’t want to use them. A few weeks later, she arrived at our place and gifted us a box of crabapples.

I feel like the most common way to use crabapples is in the form of jelly, as that’s something I hear of quite often. However, we don’t eat jelly here, so I looked at some other possibilities, eventually landing on crabapple juice and crabapple wine (which will appear here on the site in several months, once the batch is ready).

Crabapple juice is typically much more tart or bitter than apple juice, sometimes tasting a little more like cranberry juice. However, just like with apples, there is a wide variety of crabapples. These ones are small, about the size of cherries, mostly orange in colour, and quite bitter.

While some crabapple juice canning recipes suggest adding sugar or honey, I chose to go with it straight to see what we end up with and how we use it. Given its bitterness, we’re unlikely to drink it straight, but it could be mixed with kombucha and other juices, incorporated into a cocktail, or used to create wine.

Juicing crabapples

There are a few options when it comes to juicing crabapples, so you can choose the method that works best for your equipment and available time. One option is to use a steam juicer, but I decided to go with a mechanical juicer. Most recipes go through steps for boiling crabapples and letting it sit, so the juice draws out of the apples.

Using a mechanical juicer

I received a mechanical juicer as a gift from a friend a few years ago and I’m surprised at how often I pull it out and the paces I put it through. It juices hundreds of cucumbers every year, and last month I put over 150 pounds of apples through it.

I decided to go with the mechanical juicer for the crabapples. These are the steps to follow:

1. Wash crabapples.
2. Remove stems and blossom ends. I’d call removing the stems an optional step. I didn’t have it in me to cut the stems off of hundreds of crabapples and I know my juicer is fine with stems (since I don’t always stem the apples when juicing them).
3. Run the crabapples through the juicer.
4. Mechanical juicers introduce a lot of sediment into the juice. With mine, the sediment comes out as a thick, stiff foam on the top of the juice, so I skim it off.

The dried remains after extracting juice.

Using a steam juicer

You can use a steam juicer for a cleaner and easier way to juice crabapples. The benefit is that you don’t have to pull the stems off, but the drawback is that each crabapple has to be cut in half, which can be time consuming.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Set up steam juicer as per manufacturer directions.
2. Wash crabapples and slice in half, then load halved crabapples into the top basket of the steam juicer.
3. Process for 30-60 minutes until crabapples release juice.
4. Steam juicing produces little to no sediment, so no straining is required.

Using the boiling water method

The traditional method to juice crabapples is to simply immerse them in boiling water and let them soak for a while. This can work well if you have a small harvest that can fit in one pot.

These directions are for 12 cups of crabapples, so scale the water accordingly to match your quantity of crabapples. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Wash 12 cups of crabapples, remove stems and blossoms, and slice in half.
2. Boil 5 cups of water and pour over crabapples.
3. Let stand for 24 hours.
4. Strain crabapple mixture through a strainer lined with cheesecloth.

Prepare and sweeten juice

Since crabapple juice can be tart, some recipes add sugar or sweetener.

I chose to not add sweetener to the juice and let it be as-is. We typically add juice to other drinks, such as to kombucha or for a movie night cocktail, so I’m hoping it’ll be fine since it will be mixed with other things.

This recipe says to add sugar to taste and this one adds 1.5 cups of honey (if starting with 12 cups of crabapples).

Put the juice in a large pot and put on the stove over high heat, bringing to a boil. If you’ve added sugar or honey, stir until sugar or honey dissolves.

Once boiled, remove from heat. Juice can be put in freezer safe jars and frozen, or transferred to the fridge and enjoyed soon. If you prefer to can the juice, proceed to the next step.

Canning crabapple juice

Using clean, sterilized quart (or smaller) jars, fill with hot juice, leaving a headspace of 1/4 inch.

Wipe the jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar, then attach two part lids to fingertip tightness.

Transfer jars to a water bath canner and fill with hot water so jars are submerged by at least an inch. Bring to a boil and once the water is at a full boil, process for 10 minutes, or for 15 minutes at elevations of 3,001 to 6,000 feet.

Once processing is done, remove from heat and let the pot sit for five minutes. Then, with a jar lifter, remove jars from the canner and place on a thick towel on a counter or table and let sit overnight.

In the morning, check that the jars have sealed—they should curve downward instead of upward. If they’re sealed, they can be stored at room temperature for about a year and a half. If they haven’t sealed, those jars should go in the fridge and be consumed promptly.