The Adaptable Apple
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Apple season will soon be here so I thought it would be a good time to
Talk about....
THE ADAPTABLE APPLE
KNOW YOUR APPLES
For Fruit Bowls
Red Delicious, Winesap, Golden Delicious, Jonathan
For General Use
McIntosh, Jonathan, Winesap, Wealthy, Baldwin, Granny Smith
For Baking
Roman Beauty, Rhode Island Greening
For Cooking
Jonathan, McIntosh, Winesap
For Pies
Gravenstein, Golden Delicious, Winesap, Jonathan,
SELECTING
Buy firm apples with bright, sparkling color.
Good color indicates full flavor. Rough reddish brown
skin (russeting) on part of the apple will not affect
eating quality or flavor.
Red Delicious
Medium size, striped to solid red. Rich, mellow and sweet. It has a elongated shape with five knots at the Blossom end. A favorite for fresh eating and salads. Not recommended for pies or cooking.
Golden Delicious
Medium size, attractive yellow. Rich, tangy,and sweet flavor. Similar in texture and shape to red delicious. An excellent all-purpose apple used for fresh eating, salads, baking, and sauce.
Jonathan
Below medium size, solid bright red. Tart, tender, and juicy. Sweet flavor when cooked. An all-purpose apple used for fresh eating, salads, pie, sauce, and freezing.
Roman Beauty
Red with red stripes, shallow cup around stem. Firm, medium tart to sweet. Best for baking and cooking, also for salad. Holds its shape in baking because of thick skin.
FREEZING
Varieties
Golden Delicious, Gravenstein and Jonathan are good varieties to freeeze.
Preparation
METHOD: 1
Peel, core and slice apples into salted water (2 Tbsp. salt to a gallon of water) for no more than 15 minutes. Drain, to retard darkening, steam 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or blanch 2 minutes. Cool in cold water then drain. Pack in sugar using 1 pound sugar to 5-7 pounds apple slices or 1 cup sugar to 10-12 cups slices. Sprinkle sugar evenly over slices; let stand and stir carefully to coat each slice with sugar solution. Place in containers and freeze. For unsweetened pack, omit sugar. Good for use in pies and cooked desserts.
METHOD: 2
Peel, core and slice apples into syrup (2 cups sugar to 4 cups water). Add 1/2 tsp. ascorbic acid to each quart of syrup. Freeze.
METHOD: 3
Peel, core and slice apples into salted water. Drain. Steam or blanch and cool. Place in syrup and freeze. These methods are good to prepare apples for use in uncooked desserts or fruit cocktail.
To use frozen apples in pies
Partially thaw and drain, then sweeten with 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar. Mix sugar with spices and flour or other thickener since frozen apples are more juicy than fresh.
** TIP **
It is best to freeze pies after they are baked. They will keep 6 months in the freezer. An unbaked pie will keep 3 months. Prepare pies as usual, cool baked pies quickly. Place in freezer and wrap after pie is frozen.
DRYING APPLES
Varieties
Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Roman Beauty, and Gravenstein are good barieties to dry. Use apples that are mature but not soft.
Preparation
Wash, core, peel if desired. Cut into slices or rings 1/8" to 1/4" thick or into quarters or eighths. You can also grate, chop or dice the apples.
Pretreatments
There are many suggested pretreatments. Experiment to find the most satisfactory method.
METHOD: 1
Drop apples into a solution of 1 Tbsp. sodium bisulfite (NOT sodium bisulfate) to 1 gallon of water for only 2 minutes. Drain and with a paper towel absorb as much moisture as posible.
METHOD: 2
Drop apples in a solution of 1 Tbs. ascorbic acid dissolved in 1 gallon of water for only 2 minutes. Drain. Spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg may be added to the ascorbic acid solution.
METHOD: 3
Use 1 Tbsp. Sodium bisulfite and 1 Tbsp. Ascorbic acid in 1 gallon of water. Dip apples into solution for only 2 minutes. Drain.
METHOD: 4
Dip apples in pineapple juice.
METHOD: 5
No pretreatment.
Drying Procedure
Spread apples in a single layer on net on drying rack. Maintain temperature under 145 degrees to preserve nutrients. apples should be leathery with no moisture when cut and squeezed. Store in a cool dark dry place tightly packed in bottles or cans with tight fitting lids.
To equalize the moisture in dried foods, put in heavy plastic bag, seal tightly and refrigerate 1 day for vegetables, 2 days for fruits. If vegetables are limp or fruits show moisture when cut or squeezed, spread on a drying tray and heat for 30 minutes in a 150 degree oven. Cool and package immediately. Or, you can put fruit in a paper bag clipped to the clothes line for 2 or 3 days, shaking occasionally.
If you have a dehydrator, spread fruit on drying rack. Sprinkle with cinnamon or cinnamon with sugar. Or sprinkle with dry jello or soak apples slices in red or green jello, mixed whith water as the package states for 10 minutes. Drain on paper towel and dry in dehydrator.
CANNING
Peel, core and cut apples into pieces or slices. To prevent darkening, drop cut apples into a solution of 1 gallon water to 2 Tbsp. each of salt and vinegar. Do not soak more than 15 minutes. Drain then boil for 5 minutes in a thin syrup (2 cups sugar to 4 cups water). Pack apples in hot jars. Add the syrup the apples were cooked in to 1/2" of jar top. Process in boiling water bath. Pints and quarts process 20 minutes.
Make applesauce, sweetend or unsweetened.
Heat to simmering. Pack hot applesauce to 1/2" of jar top. Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes for quarts and pints. 
For Recipe for Applesauce!
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