Crock Pot Apple Cider

Who doesn't love hot apple cider?  The Brave Astronaut is having an Open House on New Year's Day - this will likely make an appearance!  From Gimme Some Oven via BuzzFeed.

Slow Cooker Apple Cider
Yield: 14-16 cups
Total Time: 4 hours 10 mins
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 4 hours

Ingredients

• 9 medium apples, assorted types
• 1 orange
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 whole nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice (optional)
• 12-16 cups water
• 1/3 – 2/3 cup brown sugar

Directions

1. Wash apples and the orange, and then roughly cut into quarters. (Don’t worry about removing peels, seeds, or stems.) Place in the bowl of your a large cooker. Add cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. Cover with water, filling the slow cooker until it is nearly full. (I left about 1/2 inch of space at the top of my pot.) Cook on high heat for 3-4 hours, or on low heat for 6-8 hours.
2. About an hour before the cider is done cooking, use a potato masher (or tongs or the side of a spoon) to mash the apple and orange slices once they are soft. Finish cooking for one more hour.
3. Strain out the apple cider juice into a clean pitcher or pot. To get the maximum juice out of the apples, you can press them through a fine-mesh strainer or strain through a cheese cloth. Stir in your desired amount of sweetener until it is dissolved.
4. Serve hot. (You can also transfer the cider to a heat-safe sealed container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Just rewarm the cider to serve.)