Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Wash the apples and ripe pears under running water. Remove stems, seeds and tough cores, leaving the peels on. Cut into similar bite-sized chunks, roughly 8 pieces per apple and smaller for very large fruit. Mix the cut fruits. The weight ranges supply fruit for filling the cooker; save extra rather than forcing it into one load.
- Fill the Ninja Foodi FD401 cooking pot about 3/4 full with mixed fruit, staying below MAX, and add 1/2 cup filtered water. Fit the pressure lid with the valve in VENT, then select Slow Cook LO and the cooking time. This is not a pressure cycle.
- Cook covered on low for 6 to 10 hours, allowing about 8 hours for planning. Test an apple piece and a pear piece: both should collapse under a wooden spoon or silicone spatula without firm centers. Pears may soften before firmer apples. Frozen chunks may take toward the longer end.
- Turn off cooking and Keep Warm. Divide the cooked fruit and liquid into shallow, heat-safe containers to cool promptly. An ice bath around the containers and occasional stirring can speed cooling. Cool to room temperature before using the Ninja BN801. If blending later, refrigerate within 2 hours and blend cold; do not blend hot fruit.
- Set up the empty full-size BN801 pitcher with its stacked blade assembly before adding cooled fruit and cooking liquid in batches below MAX LIQUID. Secure the lid and close the pour-spout cap. Blend until peels become fine flecks and the sauce is evenly spoonable. Stop before checking or scraping, and follow manufacturer blade-handling instructions when transferring the sauce.
- Stir the blended batches together. Expect approximately 2 quarts, with actual yield depending on the loaded fruit. Refrigerate promptly at 40°F or below and use within 3 to 4 days, or freeze portions with expansion room. Thaw in the refrigerator and stir. Serve cool or warm gently on the stove; pack a small portion with a cold pack for outings.
Notes
Have 5 to 10 pounds apples and 2 to 5 pounds ripe pears available for preparing the batch. Wash and core both fruits, leaving peels attached, then mix the chunks and fill only about three-quarters of the cooker, below MAX. Save excess prepared fruit for another load. Use 1/2 cup filtered water per load. Both fruits belong in this apple-and-pear version.
Choose ripe pears that give slightly to gentle pressure near the stem. Firm pears can ripen at room temperature before preparation. Check both an apple and a pear piece after cooking: each should squash easily, even if the pears become soft first.
Full GAPS after apples, pears and their skins have been introduced. Intro Stage 5 uses a different peeled-apple preparation with ghee or animal fat; this mixed skin-on sauce is separate. Serve fruit as a snack between meals. There are no dairy, egg or nut ingredients; this fruit recipe does not fit No-Plant GAPS and is not automatically ketogenic.
Twenty minutes preparation plus an eight-hour cooking estimate gives the displayed 8 hours 20 minutes. Actual cooking is 6 to 10 hours on LOW, with frozen fruit toward the longer end. Cooling and batch blending take additional time. Approximately 2 quarts is a guide, with final volume varying by the loaded fruit.
On the FD401, use Slow Cook LO with the pressure lid and valve in VENT, below MAX. Its LO timer permits 6 to 12 hours. Use wood or silicone in the cooking pot. Cool the fruit before blending in the BN801 full-size pitcher; its manufacturer prohibits hot liquids. Install the stacked blade before food, stay below MAX LIQUID, secure the lid and keep the spout cap closed while operating. Work in batches.
At 2× have 10 to 20 pounds apples, 4 to 10 pounds ripe pears and 1 cup water across two cooker loads. Keep the same fill limit and use 1/2 cup water per load. Approximately 4 quarts combined; actual yield varies. One cooker needs successive runs and more elapsed time, not twice the fruit forced into one pot.
Washed, cored fruit chunks can be frozen up to about 4 months before cooking. Cook from frozen with the same water per load and fill limit. Refrigerate finished sauce promptly in shallow containers, within 2 hours at 40°F or below, and use within 3 to 4 days or freeze portions with expansion room. Thaw in the refrigerator. Keep raw-fruit and finished-sauce labels separate.