S13:E43. 10.24.2026

Tennessee Apple Butter Making in Appalachia

Today, we are setting the table with a traditional food of Appalachia, apple butter. Each year in the fall in the Mountain South, you can find pockets of people who get together and cook down bushels of apples, sugar and sometimes cinnamon into this biscuit-slathering favorite. It is one of those old-fashioned foods that is still a favorite on dinner tables near and far and makes a favorite gift for the holidays. Almost as important as the final product is the sense of community and preservation of culinary traditions that these “apple butter makings” preserve.

Our featured guest is Derek Blankenship, who is an orthopedic therapist at a long-term health care facility in East Tennessee. Derek and his family keep a family tradition of making apple butter each fall in Fall Branch, Tennessee. The recipe they use dates back to 1905.

Fred Sauceman, professor of Appalachian studies at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, shares a segment on apple butter making in the Mountain South and a recipe for sausage balls with apple butter.

And I, Amy Campbell, also share a recipe for apple butter pork roast from Allrecipes.

Links:

Fred Sauceman: -https://www.facebook.com/fred.sauceman?fref=ts

Fall Branch Volunteer Fire Department: https://fallbranchvfd.org/

Apple Butter Pork Roast Recipe

Serves 6, Cook time: 3 hours, Prep time: 15 minutes This recipe was found on the website: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/60492/apple-butter-pork-loin/

Ingredients:

2, 2 pound boneless pork loin roast (for a total of 4 pounds).
Seasoning salt to taste
2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup apple butter
1/4 c brown sugar
2 Tb water1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350
Step 2: Season the pork loins with seasoning salt, and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish or small roasting pan. Pour apple juice over the pork, and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
Step 3: Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. While the pork is roasting, mix together the apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, and cloves. Remove pork roasts from the oven, and spread with apple butter mixture.
Step 4: Cover, and return to the oven for 2 hours, or until fork-tender.