I bought a fancy electronic peeler today – I thought it would be a good test with almost 75 pounds of apples that I planned to turn into sauce.  The apples were fresh out of a cellar and from our tour of Eastern Ontario.  It’s almost 11pm as I write this and I am awaiting the pressure to release from our pressure cooker to unveil the final batch of jars.

I was so excited to try our fancy new electronic gizmo.  A friend had bought one recently and told me only wonderful things.  I unwrapped the gift of the gods and set it on the counter.  A quick peak of the instructions and I was off to the races.  Peels were flying in a a single strand and the bare flesh of sweet apple was unwrapped for all (that would be me) to see.  It was like tequila at a frat house – a quick way to get everyone undressed!

After a few apples I realized I had to pull out the peeler to finish off the top and bottom of the fruit.  It wasn’t a big deal but it did take some excitement out of the deal.  I polished our favorite Zenga Star Peeler (we need to sign an endorsement deal or start selling these darn things) and I was somewhere excited to get out the old fashioned tool.  I always feel a little more connected to the past – and the present – when I slow down to use a peeler.

By the 8th or 9th apple, the electric version clogged and the blade snapped.  I was able to fix it and use it on 2 or 3 more apples before putting it in the box.  There was more than 70 pounds left – they looked daunting.  They were no match for the Zena.  I peeled all 708 pounds in a few hours by myself.

It’s almost 6 hours since starting.  There are 36 jars of sauce cooling (or soon to be) and I am thrilled with the results so far.  We’ll have a step-by-step posting soon with pics to go along with the deal.

The moral of the story is simple – Grandma did know best.  Unlike Ganny, I did need to use a single glove – the acid and sugars involved in the fruit are really, really hard on the hands.  A single glove on the fruit holding hand will save a lot of pain and also allow you to be more liberal with the peeler as the odd blow glances off the glove and saves a small cut.  I didn’t put my gloves on until after the first 10 pounds or so and it is painful to type.  The pain will be worth it’s while in flavor – but was unnecessary.

I am totally excited to be preserving again – this is something that I thought would be a few months away and I’m glad to be back in the saddle again!