Making Applebutter The young and the older enjoy carrying out this age-old tradition at Salem to make apple butter. Each year, over 100 bushels of apples are turned into apple butter, the old fashioned way, in huge copper kettles over the fire. The process starts with the cleaning a peeling of the apples. The kettles are carefully leveled. The apples that were peeled and cored the day before are washed before carrying them to the kettles to be cooked.
Fresh water is used for rinsing the apples.
Many buckets of water are carried to fill each kettle of apples. The fires are lit under each of the 14 kettles as they are filled with apples and water.