How to Make Apple Cider Syrup

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This apple cider syrup recipe can be easily multiplied for a larger yield.
This apple cider syrup recipe can be easily multiplied for a larger yield.
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In “Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How,” Andrea Chesman shows you how to bridge the gap between field and table.
In “Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How,” Andrea Chesman shows you how to bridge the gap between field and table.
3 hours DURATION
2 pints SERVINGS

Ingredients

  • 1 gallon fresh or frozen and thawed apple cider
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar

Equipment:

  • 2-gallon heavy stockpot
  • Smaller heavy saucepan for finishing
  • Funnel
  • Thermometer or chilled plate (set in the freezer), for determining syrup point
  • Boiling-water-bath canner (optional)
  • 2 sterilized pint canning jars and lids

Directions

  • Boil. Pour 1 gallon of fresh or frozen and thawed apple cider into a heavy stockpot. For a clearer syrup, avoid any sediment that has settled to the bottom of the jug. Add 1-1/2 cups sugar. Then bring to a boil.
  • Judge doneness. Continue boiling until the syrup reaches the syrup point, which is 7 degrees F (4 degrees C) above the boiling point of water at your elevation, or until a spoonful dropped on the chilled plate will allow you to leave a trail if you run your finger through it. For 1 gallon of cider, it will take 2 to 3 hours to reach the syrup point, depending on the heat of the burner, the sugar content of the cider, and how well the pot conducts heat.
  • Bottle and store. Pour the hot syrup into the hot canning jars (using a canning funnel to avoid making a mess), leaving about 1/4- inch of headspace, and seal with canning lids. Either cool and store in the refrigerator or freezer or process in a boiling-water bath for 5 minutes. Store in a cool, dark place.

    More from The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How:

    How to Cut Up a RabbitHow to Render Poultry Fat
    Excerpted from The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How © Andrea Chesman. Illustrations by © Elena Bulay. Used with permission of Storey Publishing. You can buy this book from our store: The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How.
PRINT RECIPE

The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How (Storey Publishing, 2015) by Andrea Chesman, is your comprehensive guide to the techniques you need to get the most from homegrown foods. Author Andrea Chesman teaches dozens of simple and delicious recipes, most of which can be adapted to use whatever you have available.

You can purchase this book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How.

Apple Cider Syrup Recipe

Here’s how to make cider syrup. If you want, you can multiply this recipe by a factor of four (to still fit in a 5-gallon stock pot and make about 8 pints, or a boiling-water-bath canner load), but the time to reduce the syrup will also increase significantly.

I make mine 1 gallon at a time and store it in the fridge, without bothering with the boiling-water bath. My timing for the boiling-water bath is the same as the USDA canning time for apple butter. Sweetened apple cider will reach the syrup point at about 7 degrees F (4 degrees C) above the boiling point of water at your elevation, or 219 degrees F (104 degrees C) on a thermometer (at sea level). But note that the jelling point to make jelly is just 8 degrees F (4-1/2 degrees C) above the boiling point of water at sea level. So when boiling apple cider, it is easy to cross the line from making syrup to making jelly (though other factors come into play as well). My point is this: pay attention at the end of the process.

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