Project by firefighterontheside | posted 09-09-2015 11:14 PM | 10938 views | 0 times favorited | 19 comments | ![]() |
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My family has a long tradition of making Apple butter. The original stirrer has been chewed by critters so we made a new one. It has to be 50 years old. The new one is based on the old one. It is 9’ long and 27” tall. Made with a pine handle and soft maple paddle. This was a joint project between my dad and I. It only took about 2 hours. The handle is mortised into the paddle and has an oak corner brace.
-- Bill M. "People change, walnut doesn't" by Gene.
19 comments so far
DIYaholic
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19921 posts in 3649 days
#1 posted 09-09-2015 11:17 PM
Well done.
A nice family project….
Both the stirrer & the apple butter!
Will you be sending out samples????
-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow! If good things come to those who wait.... Why is procrastination a bad thing?
lightcs1776
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4263 posts in 2628 days
#2 posted 09-09-2015 11:29 PM
Funny, I thought for sure it would be made of apple wood. Looks great though. Good apple butter is a thing of beauty.
-- Chris ** If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. — Tom Paine **
gfadvm
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#3 posted 09-09-2015 11:58 PM
I’m thinkin Jim (mudflap) uses a different recipe for his apple butter as I can’t see him wielding that 9 foot long spoon!
-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm
CFrye
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#4 posted 09-10-2015 12:06 AM
Nicely done, Bill and Dad! Mmm Apple butter, mmm mm mmmm. Will the square-ish end fit the kettle better? Make something cool out of the old paddle :-)
Thanks for sharing.
-- God bless, Candy
JL7
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#5 posted 09-10-2015 12:16 AM
Way to stir things up Bill….......
-- Jeff .... Minnesota, USA
jack1
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#6 posted 09-10-2015 12:22 AM
You done good! This is a special project you’ll always have to look back to. Nice.
-- jack -- ...measure once, curse twice!
BurlyBob
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#7 posted 09-10-2015 12:23 AM
If that’s stir stick, how big’s the pot?
firefighterontheside
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#8 posted 09-10-2015 12:55 AM
Thanks all.
Candy, the old one used to be more square, but is worn down.
Bob, the kettle is about 24” tall and 30” across.
-- Bill M. "People change, walnut doesn't" by Gene.
TopamaxSurvivor
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#9 posted 09-10-2015 03:00 AM
Nice job Bill. It must have taken a lot of apple butter to wear the old on out. Hoe many kettles full do you make in a year?
-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
Monte Pittman
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#10 posted 09-10-2015 03:46 AM
Very cool. I would like to see it in action.
-- Nature created it, I just assemble it.
firefighterontheside
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#11 posted 09-10-2015 11:52 AM
Thanks folks.
Bob it used to be several per year. It was made as a fundraiser for a church group at my grandparents house. Now it is made once per year at most just for our family and friends who want some. I enjoy it because we usually do it once it turns cool and it’s nice to be around the fire and smelling the apple butter as it cooks.
Monte, I’ll take some pictures on October 3.
-- Bill M. "People change, walnut doesn't" by Gene.
Rick Dennington
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#12 posted 09-10-2015 01:02 PM
Bill,
Stellar job on the apple butter stir sick…..I’ve never heard or seen one….It’s a first for me….It’s good that you and your Pop made it together….When my son and family comes over from Tennessee he always wants to build something together in the shop….Nothing like father-son time….Thanks for posting….Now I know what an apple butter stirrer looks like…..
-- " There's a better way.....find it"...... Thomas Edison.
Scott Oldre
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1128 posts in 4405 days
#13 posted 09-11-2015 04:37 PM
Would love to see how that 9’ stir stick works in the small pot. Cool that you can keep a family tradition going like that.
-- Scott, Irmo SC
firefighterontheside
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#14 posted 09-11-2015 05:45 PM
Small pot? 30” across. The main reason for the long handle is that the applebutter cooks over a live fire. You do not want to stand too close or you will burn your pants off. It is a fun tradition. The best apple butter is the stuff that collects on the edges of the kettle.
-- Bill M. "People change, walnut doesn't" by Gene.
firefighterontheside
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#15 posted 09-11-2015 11:11 PM
deleted
-- Bill M. "People change, walnut doesn't" by Gene.
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