it apple season, whats your favorite

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

it is finally really apple season , I love good apples , but get by with such mediocre apples so much of the year , this is is the time of the year to enjoy , really enjoy the great apples visiting the orchards to get what was just picked perfect in it's prime.

My current favorite is an Arlet they just started picking them this last week a link to a description http://www.orangepippin.com/apples/arlet-swiss-gourmet categorized a Swiss gourmet desert apple they are so good , bought a peck Sunday and I am not sure they will make it the week we are already more than a bushel eaten for the season I think last year in non store apples , the good stuff from local orchards , we ate 5-6 bushel

whats your favorite apple or favorite this week

[jcwit]

Favorite? Honey Crisp or Pink Lady!

[SSGOldfart]

Granny Smith because they make the best pie.

[avogunner]

My family makes applebutter every year and for that we only use Stayman apples (6 bushels for a full kettle). For regular eatin' apples, I prefer Fuji or Pink Lady.

[square butte]

Golden Russet - Ashmeads Kernal - Esopus Spitzenburg and Hudson's Golden Gem. Not ready yet here. We need some cold weather to set the sugar.

[fatnhappy]

Granny Smith because they make the best pie.

ding ding ding. we have a winner.

My cortland tree had limbs touching the ground it was so heavily laden this year

[JWFilips]

I'm old Fashion..."Stayman Winesap" late season though

[Hickory]

Apple dumplings for me.
Any tart apple will do.

[rockrat]

Honeycrisp or a good McIntosh

[butch2570]

wolf river applebutter, granny smith-red delicious apple pie, cortland- pink lady for snacking.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Kinda hard to say no to a nice Macintosh. All 28 of my tame/wild apple trees are ground touchers due to a huge supply this year. My yard deer can take their pick of which tree to eat from.Robert

[Lance Boyle]

I like MacIntosh and Fuji.

What I really want is a piece of my Great Aunt Anna's Jewish Apple Cake. She got the recipe from her neighbor. It was the most moist and delicious cake I ever had in my life, lots of apple chunks, loads of cinnamon and spice, walnuts. It was supreme.

Sadly when she passed my cousins cleaned out her apartment and can't find that recipe.

I will be on a mission this year and I'm going to try to recreate it. Besides what I mentioned that was in it, I do believe it had sour cream in it.

I'm going to start with this recipe and work from there.

http://www.afamilyfeast.com/best-apple-cake-ever/

[country gent]

MAcintosh or yellow delicious halved and cored then a light sprinkle of fruit fresh coated with a mix of cinimnon honey and butter ran thru the smoker with apple wood chips around 200 degrees for a couple hours then topped with carmel and ice cream.

[Lance Boyle]

Golden Russet - Ashmeads Kernal - Esopus Spitzenburg and Hudson's Golden Gem. Not ready yet here. We need some cold weather to set the sugar.


Sadly they're dropping from the tree now. I do believe the lack of rain had them quite stressed. I missed my pear trees. I checked them and thought they weren't ready, they wouldn't separate at the stem from the tree. I went out of town for work only to find when I woke up the next morning that the pears were mostly all gone, they'd dropped and were eaten by the deer, and what remained were over ripe. I went to pick a larger one and nearly got zapped by a yellow jacket that was inside the damn thing. I got one pear about the size of a plum.

I hope to do better with the apples.

I have 5 much older trees that appear to be macs or something close. The folks that built my house planted about 7 more right by the house. They're little trees and they're fairly well loaded right now despite dropping some for weeks. One tree lost it's leaves from the stress. I don't have much soil where they're at, they're in thin scratch of dirt over bedrock shale.

I think I'm going to make canned pie filling and apple sauce with a lot of them.

[square butte]

This is without a doubt the best apple year I have ever witnessed here in VT. Most all of the trees are loaded. Yes - Some of the trees have dropped some apples due to stress. But even the little old wolfy abandoned homestead trees have great apples this year. Apple butter and apple sauce made with maple syrup and fresh pressed cider will be made in abundance in our kitchen. Fortunately my wife loves to do it.

[labradigger1]

Wolf river applesauce with cinnamon.
Red delicious from a sapling I've been babying for about 7 years.
My taste likes a hard, sweet Apple.
My wife likes Macintosh. Not sure what's wrong with her lol.
Lab

[Plate plinker]

Honey crisp Then gala for the rest of the year.

[dsbock]

I'm a traditionalist. MacIntosh for me. Second place is Empire.

Either for eating or for apple sauce.

David

[Vann]

Really buttery apple crisp, and Macintosh apples.

[SeabeeMan]

Zestar's for eating and apple rings. For anything going in cans, my favorite orchard around here does bushels of mixed seconds with everything in the mix. We don't need to add any extra sugar to anything before canning.

They also have apple cider donuts which are the best thing since full auto.

[bruce drake]

I planted a 8' Pink Lady and a 8' Macintosh tree at the house this year. Wife loves Honey Crisps so in a year or so, when these two are well settled, I'll graft a few Honey Crisp branches onto both trees for the cross-pollination between the three styles. (Honey crisps require cross-pol with other apple trees for production)

Bruce

[Coyote3]

Honey crisp Then gala for the rest of the year.

Same here.

[MaryB]

Honeycrisp for eating out of hand(and they are HUGE this year, almost more than I can eat in one sitting!), and whatever canning apple I can find at the local orchard for apple slices, last year I used Zestar...

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I like Macintosh , and Cortland were my favorite for a long time these Arlet are a great mid season apple , one of my favorites when I was a kid was BS429 an experimental apple variety, one of my boy scout leaders had an orchard and was always working on new varieties we camped in the oak grove north of his orchard every fall , I knew right where those trees were , and would go get a few late night apples to much on around the fire
golden delicious I would have turned my nose up at front the grocery store but the local orchard grows them and they have so much more flavor

for me an apple has to be crisp with a firm meat and good flavor , mushy , grainy , or soft may make good cooking apples but , not fresh eating for me

Friday I was finishing some cooking apples my wife bought they had excellent flavor but were a bit on the soft side Saturday morning I was driving past a farmers market an I bought a bag of honey crisp , they were crisp , but had little flavor , the frustration

so Sunday a peck of Arlet were in order
the wife had some 2 year cheddar , no that's a pairing cheese and apple slices

[quilbilly]

I am growing honeycrisp and galas but there is an old tree down at the local dump that are the best apples I have ever had and great keepers as well. I have no idea what that old tree is.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

When they are fresh picked and ripe there is nothing that compares to a Red Delicious but they do not keep well, after three days they began to taste like pulp. A good tasting apple that keeps well is the Gala. As for making pastries the Granny Smith is tops.

[quilbilly]

Question for you other apple growers. I have never done my own grafting and would like to get a branch or two off that old mystery tree. When is the best time? Do you use any grafting compounds or do you just razor cut and tape up the new branch (a method described to me)?

[dragonrider]

Fermented!!!:drinks:

PB

Absolutely +1

Beyond that it's Grannies for pies, and we make several bushels of macs into applesauce.

[bruce drake]

Question for you other apple growers. I have never done my own grafting and would like to get a branch or two off that old mystery tree. When is the best time? Do you use any grafting compounds or do you just razor cut and tape up the new branch (a method described to me)?

You graft in early spring.

Here is a link that details cleft grafting which is the easiest to master.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/grafting-apple-trees.aspx

Bruce

[4719dave]

boy which I could get a bunch of 20 oz down here in fl ..

[JWFilips]

Just a bit of thread drift; if you don't mind: Who besides me likes to sample ancient orchard apples when Fall small game season is in session. Man those forgotten apples are great! Most times have no idea what i'm tasting but they have no bugs or blight...maybe not store bought size but TASTE! exceptional !

[MaryB]

Lotof those old northern apples are crab apple varieties and some are very good eating! My grandparents had a crab apple we ate from every fall, and used to make apple butter.

[Bullwolf]

I've always been a fan of the Yellow Bellflower, or Pippin apple. I'd heard my grandparents call them Pippin's before, many years ago. Today I can barely remember the word.

I will admit to being biased though as the tree's in our Orchard were mostly all Bellflower apple trees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellflower_apple

The Bellflower apple while pretty much an heirloom variety now, is still a very hearty durable apple. My tastes always ran towards the firmer less sweet apples. My second choice favorite is the venerable Granny Smith, along with a slice of cheese.


- Bullwolf

[opos]

our Daughter in Law is a cooking author (desserts) and has a blog (it's all free if you want to look)...she has a whole section devoted to apple desserts and her stuff is killer good...so no need to sign up, no need to buy books...just take a look if you want and get some good ideas....I've gained a few pounds since she came into the family..scroll down in the blog till you find the subjects (in a blue/green color) and the first one is apples.

http://www.crazyforcrust.com/

[reloader28]

Fermented!!!:drinks:

PB


This is the one.
No fruit of any kind around here this year. Warmed up WAY to early and everything budded. Then it froze and killed LOTS of trees and bushes.
I normally like Ghalas or something like it for eating and dehydrating.

[DeputyDog25]

Granny Smith by far for me

[Silfield]

Russet or Cox's Orange Pippin for me.

[fecmech]

.I've gained a few pounds since she came into the family.
Opos, I can certainly see why! sent the link to my daughter as a hint.

[bob208]

I like red and gold delicious. I have tried just about every type. the last 5 years I worked in a plant that made apple sauce knouse foods. so I got to try them all even banana apples.

[tommag]

I used to think Macintosh were the best, until I tasted a firm empire. Love the empires, but they seem to go soft pretty quick.

[Pumpkinheaver]

I like the macs. I really love cider donuts!

[castalott]

I feel downright 'plain'...yellow delicious is my favorite but all the others are good. I've got 2 old trees on my place mom called 'pie apple trees'. They don't get much bigger than a billiard ball and are green even when ripe. It takes some sugar to sweeten for pies but are very tasty...

[Frank46]

Golden delicious. used to go hunting in Pa. with my cousin. One of the places we used to go was an old apple orchard full of golden delicious apples. The owner said take all you want as he was getting on in age and couldn't pick them anymore. He gave me a couple baskets so I could take some home. Came back with a 5th of canadian club as his wife said he liked it the best. Almost wouldn't take it but after some talking as my mom came from the same town gave me another basket so went home with bushel baskets of apples. Mom went nuts the next few days making pies, jelly, and some other stuff. Frank

[40-82 hiker]

Stayman, Gala, and Fuji. I really like the tough/chewy skin on the Staymans, and I think the flavor is great. I use Gala and Granny Smith for drying, as I think they dry better than others (sic, I just like them better).

I know this is out side the OP, but a really good Asian Pear is hard to beat. I don't buy more than a few a year due to the cost, but geez, those things are just flat good.

[40-82 hiker]

I feel downright 'plain'...yellow delicious is my favorite but all the others are good. I've got 2 old trees on my place mom called 'pie apple trees'. They don't get much bigger than a billiard ball and are green even when ripe. It takes some sugar to sweeten for pies but are very tasty...

Where I'm from we call those hard, small, green apples "cooking apples", and I just love them! I got some this year from a friend I did what I like to do best: I cut and core them, and put them in a frying pan with some butter and sugar, and cook them up for breakfast with biscuits and bacon. Oh geez! But to have another mess this year for breakfast! Alas, have to wait 'till next year.

[castalott]

Where I'm from we call those hard, small, green apples "cooking apples", and I just love them! I got some this year from a friend I did what I like to do best: I cut and core them, and put them in a frying pan with some butter and sugar, and cook them up for breakfast with biscuits and bacon. Oh geez! But to have another mess this year for breakfast! Alas, have to wait 'till next year.

Grandma used to do something like that. I had forgot all about it. It was very good.

Mom made 'wham' cobbler. When short of time she would put fruit in the bottom of a baking dish and 'wham' a can of biscuits on the counter to open them. Put the biscuits on top of the fruit, add sugar and spices and bake until the biscuits were done. Very tasty. Must be a trick to it as mine aren't as good.

[40-82 hiker]

I like the macs. I really love cider donuts!

I have never heard of cider donuts before. I just googled them, and found a recipe from Yankee magazine (never heard of that magazine before either). Do you make them, and if so would you share your recipe with us? I have never made donuts, but it is the only way I'm ever going to be able to get a cider donut, so it is what it is. They sound too good to never try one. The recipe I got from Yankee magazine looks pretty straight forward.

Thanks,
Bob

[woody1]

Yellow Newtowns, may also be called Newtown Pippin. Anyone know where I can find some? Regards, Woody

[jcwit]

Headed for The Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, IN, tomorrow, will partake of many apple dishes there.

Now just show my sugar doesn't spike to high.

[MaryB]

We turned those into apple butter, mom made 60 quarts of it one year. We had it every morning on our toast for breakfast!


Where I'm from we call those hard, small, green apples "cooking apples", and I just love them! I got some this year from a friend I did what I like to do best: I cut and core them, and put them in a frying pan with some butter and sugar, and cook them up for breakfast with biscuits and bacon. Oh geez! But to have another mess this year for breakfast! Alas, have to wait 'till next year.

[40-82 hiker]

Yellow Newtowns, may also be called Newtown Pippin. Anyone know where I can find some? Regards, Woody

Woody,

Your location is somewhat cryptic to me (NY ? or Oregon? - think I might get it now!), but it doesn't matter. I googled your apple and came up with a website that shows local orchards growing particular apples, including your Newtown Pippin Apple. You can search by state.

Good luck finding them.

http://www.localharvest.org/ark-product.jsp?id=254&st=34

[EMC45]

Wine sap or Granny Smith. I like them tart. We used to pick wine sap in NJ and Mom would make all kinds of stuff with them. I like large Granny Smith apples that when you bite them large chunks snap off like splitting firewood.

[Clay M]

I'm old Fashion..."Stayman Winesap" late season though

These were always my favorites growing up.
I like to cut them in thin slices with an apple cutter and put them in a dehydrator.
They make good snacks in my carry bag when hunting.

[osteodoc08]

HoneyCrisp without a doubt for general eatin'.

Granny Smith for pies and baked apples.

[bob208]

corn bread with apple butter and bacon on the side is a good breakfast.

[jonp]

Northern Spy

[Houndog]

A little bit OT, but maybe you all can help me identify an old apple strain. They are a red apple with a rust colored top that looks like you poured Caramel over the top. They grow to about baseball size. My great-great Grandfather planted the trees and the last tree was destroyed by a storm several years ago. I've been to every Apple orchard I can find near here and nobody has any idea what they may be. They were the absolute best eating Apples I ever had and they would store well all Winter.

Thanks,
Houndog

[square butte]

Google "Trees of Antiquity" and look through their apple section. Chances are pretty good you will find a photo of that apple and a good write up on the variety. One of the best sources I know with photos of heirloom varieties - Not just apples.

[Houndog]

I very much appreciate the link square butte, but that Apple doesn't appear there. This particular orchard had to have been planted in the 1865-1875 time frame. I'm the 6th generation of my family to live on this farm and I'm trying to restore as much of it as I can like it used to be.

[square butte]

Sorry it wasn't there. Many of those apples were from the 1800's and 1700's. Lots of the early heirloom varieties were common to just a single valley or hollow or family. Hundreds of varieties have been lost. There are a couple of other good sources for the early varieties - But without an apple to go on it will be tough. One good book on heirloom apples by a man named Tom Burford ( Apples of North America ) has about 192 or so different early varieties. I believe his frame of reference is the Appalachians so that may get you closer. Also this book about heirloom apple varieties - (Apples of Uncommon Character - by Rowan Jacobson ). And another book - "The Illustrated History of Apples in North America" 7 Volumes by Dan Bussey - It is due out by the end of the year - And will have 1,500 illustrated varieties. Bussey has personally documented 17,000 varieties. He would be the definitive source for finding your variety of apple tree and is the Orchardsman for Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa - Approximately 700 varieties there. I would call him. Search your farm and neighboring farms with a fine tooth comb if you are able. There may still be one around. The old timers are a great resource if there memories are still sound. You may have already done all that. We still have apple trees here in Vermont that are over 100 years old. I wish I were there to help you look. It is a noble quest.

[OnHoPr]

Just a bit of thread drift; if you don't mind: Who besides me likes to sample ancient orchard apples when Fall small game season is in session. Man those forgotten apples are great! Most times have no idea what i'm tasting but they have no bugs or blight...maybe not store bought size but TASTE! exceptional !

Yepper, when 10 or 11 am rolls around after a morning of brush busting or squirrel hunting on a beautiful fall day the "there's an apple tree apple" is the best apple and you can put a few in your pocket. There was a neighbor that had an apple tree back about 30 years ago, I don't know what kind it was, but it was good enough to get the $hitzzz for a week or two in the fall, so they must of been $hitzzzz apples. Those store bought Red Delicious apples are like mush. I like a sweeter tart apple. But, any apple that cuts up and goes into pie, cobbler, brown betty's, butter, sauce, or whatever is good if you put the right amount of lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and whatever you like is good. If fact I just had sour dough apple cinnamon flapjacks last night for supper, not bad. It must of been this thread.:bigsmyl2:

[Wayne Smith]

Years ago living in New Hampshire we had a Red Northern Spy and an Ida Red in the front yard. Those and a sour cherry. Here we have Blueberries and a fig. I still think the McIntosh is the best eating apple, though. Tough skin and cooks to mush, but great eating.

Houndog, be aware that apples do not breed true. Every apple seed is a new variety. All of the named varietys are grafts from an original tree. Trying to replicate that old orchard without a sprig is probably hopeless.

[rmatchell]

My kids and I are kot picky about apples. I am looking forward to this years batch of apple sause, we are down to the last few pints of last years.

This year im thinking of trying apple butter and carmel apple gelly

[downunderrunner]

i have access to several apple-crab trees near my property, some are the original granny smiths, that blush pink when ripe, some as a pippin, one is a red delicious type, and there's something that could be a fuji type! with the addition of some pure crab apples, they make incredible hard cider!

[woody1]

Woody,

Your location is somewhat cryptic to me (NY ? or Oregon? - think I might get it now!), but it doesn't matter. I googled your apple and came up with a website that shows local orchards growing particular apples, including your Newtown Pippin Apple. You can search by state.

Good luck finding them.

http://www.localharvest.org/ark-product.jsp?id=254&st=34

40-82, Thanks for the link. I live just north of the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia.
Regards, Woody

[Houndog]

Thanks again Square Butte for the references, and Wayne, thanks for the reminder about Apple strains not staying true. I've been searching for this particular Apple variety for about 10 years and so far i've came up with nothing. It may well be a variety that was started right here, maybe from a strain brought from Scotland by some of my earlier ancestors or something raised by the Cherokee Indians that used to live in this area. I'm beginning to think this one is lost forever.

[MaryB]

Anyone have a good source for apples that are best for canning? I love to can apple slices for use all winter until the rhubarb and raspberries start the next spring...

[Houndog]

Mary B, I can't help you directly but I DO know the owner of Carver Apple Orchards in Cosby TN. that is extremely knowledgeable in most things regarding Apples. He's a second generation Apple farmer and will readily help you with anything Apple. He went far beyond just being helpful in my quest for a particular Apple. You will have to go to directory assistance to get his number and be ready to talk for awhile. If you are ever in the Gatlinburg area of the Smokey Mountains it's worth the short drive to visit his orchard and have a meal in the onsite restaurant which can best be described as awesome!

[downunderrunner]

sounds like a species of pippin, also possibly an apple-crab decended from the "red rusett" strain popular in the borders and marches of england in the 15th century

you may have better results trying to breed a cultivar to emulate your memories, if you could describe the flavours and appearance, i'm sure someone could chase down a mixture of varieties to cross and breed with to create your ideal apple

[40-82 hiker]

...

Houndog, be aware that apples do not breed true. Every apple seed is a new variety. All of the named varietys are grafts from an original tree. Trying to replicate that old orchard without a sprig is probably hopeless.

I did not know this. Thanks Wayne! This has a relevance to me, as I used to eat (raw and/or cooked) apples from old, abandoned home sites in the Blue Ridge mountains in my youth and think that someone should be growing trees from the seeds to preserve the genes of those trees, as some I found were largely different from others, but all were great! I know now, after Wayne's post, this is not true, but very fascinating.

Great article here on Wikipedia, and it addresses this genetic issue with apples in detail:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple

[Houndog]

sounds like a species of pippin, also possibly an apple-crab decended from the "red rusett" strain popular in the borders and marches of england in the 15th century

you may have better results trying to breed a cultivar to emulate your memories, if you could describe the flavours and appearance, i'm sure someone could chase down a mixture of varieties to cross and breed with to create your ideal apple

You may be onto something there! A Pippin/ crabapple cross would have the potential for the coloring! This particular Apple never gets bigger than Baseball size at best, is red on the bottom and has a rust colored top that looks like caramel has been poured over the top. It has a taste sort of like a strong Winesap and crispy. It's biggest plus was it kept a very long time. We used to put Hay on the barn loft floor about a foot thick, pile the Apples on it and cover them a couple of feet deep with loose hay. They were good way up into Spring.

[MaryB]

Should have mentioned Minnesota apples... local orchard is clueless about canning them. Right now they have Zestar, Honeycrisp(eating only, do not cook and hold texture), Wealthy and one other I forget... Zestar cans okay, gets a bit soft though. Can't beat having pints of apples all winter long just to eat or make apple crisp or pie!

[USMC87]

I canned 21 quarts of grimes golden with cinnamon syrup, We use Pearmain for apple butter and any firm tart apple for snacks will work good for me.