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Two glass mason jars filled with amber liquid—homemade slow cooker apple cider—sit on a blue plaid cloth beside a basket of red and green apples.
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Slow Cooker Apple Cider Recipe

This homemade slow cooker apple cider is made from fresh apples, orange, cinnamon and warm spices. Let it simmer in the slow cooker for an easy fall drink you can serve warm or preserve for later.
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Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:4 hours
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American, farmhouse, Homestead
Keyword: apple cider from scratch, canning apple cider, crockpot apple cider, homemade apple cider, slow cooker apple cider
Servings: 8 servings

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs apples about 8–10 medium apples
  • 1 orange sliced
  • 1 teaspoon whole cloves
  • 4 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 teaspoon whole allspice
  • 8 cups water
  • ⅓ cup brown sugar

Instructions

  1. Prepare the fruit. Wash the apples and orange. Cut the apples into large chunks and slice the orange. There is no need to peel the apples.
  2. Fill the slow cooker. Add the apples, orange slices, cloves, cinnamon sticks, brown sugar and allspice to the slow cooker. Pour in 8 cups of water.
  3. Cook for 4 hours. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours, or until the apples are very soft.
  4. Mash the apples. Use a potato masher to thoroughly mash the softened apples directly in the slow cooker.
  5. Strain the cider. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl or stockpot. Gently press the apples to extract as much cider as possible. For clearer cider, strain it a second time through cheesecloth.
  6. Sweeten. While the cider is still hot add more brown sugar if desired.
  7. Serve or preserve. Serve the cider warm, refrigerate it for later, or continue with the water bath canning instructions.

Water Bath Canning Instructions

  1. Pour the strained cider into a stockpot and bring it to a boil.
  2. Ladle the hot cider into hot canning jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace.
  3. Wipe the jar rims clean. Add the lids and screw the rings on until fingertip tight.
  4. Place the jars in the water bath canner and make sure they are completely covered with water.
  5. Bring the water to a full rolling boil. Process for 10 minutes using the processing time appropriate for your elevation.
  6. Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid and allow the jars to rest in the canner for 5 minutes.
  7. Remove the jars and place them on a towel-lined counter.
  8. Leave the jars undisturbed at room temperature for 24 hours.
  9. Check the seals. Remove the rings, wipe the jars clean, label and store.

Notes

Apples: A mixture of sweet and tart apples gives the cider a deeper flavor. Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, Pink Lady, McIntosh and Granny Smith all work well.
For clearer cider: Strain the cider a second time through cheesecloth.
For sweeter cider: Taste after adding the brown sugar and add a little more if needed.
Serving: Return the finished cider to the slow cooker on the warm setting when serving it for a gathering.
Storage: Keep fresh cider refrigerated or freeze it for longer storage.