When buying apples, look for fruit with flesh that feels firm and tight beneath the skin. There should be no soft spots, dark bruises, or holes. Do not be deceived by size. Larger apples tend to mature faster and thus can be mealier than small ones. For fast ripening, keep apples at room temperature. For longest keeping, refrigerate sound apples in perforated plastic bags or keep in a dry, cold placeΓÇö32┬░F to 40┬░F.
To peel an apple, use a swivel-bladed vegetable peelerΓÇöa knife takes too much flesh. To core, cut in quarters lengthwise and then cut out the core from each piece with a down-and-up motion. To core a whole apple, push an apple corer through the center from the top, aimed at the blossom end below.
Superbly flavored apples should be served cool. Apples that are light on flavor, like Red Delicious, are best coldΓÇötwice as crisp as at room temperature.
Mellow the flavor of cooking apples by leaving them at room temperature for a day or two before using. An apple of poor flavor can be improved with the addition of lemon juice and a pinch of cinnamon in cooking, but remember that nothing can really compensate for natural flavor. To make applesauce without having to peel or add sugar, use naturally sweet Braeburns and Golden Delicious. In cooking, unless you are working with one of the great eating apples, a blend of sweet and tart, spicy and mild, will give dimension to flavor and often texture. And when you have time, buy two or three types of each of the eating apples available and have a taste test, making different combinations until you find something terrific. Consider that there are hundreds of flavor and aroma molecules in every bite. Apples can be baked, broiled, frittered, grilled, poached, sautéed, steamed, and stir-fried. Apples have a special affinity for vanilla and almond, apricots and quinces, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, coriander, rosemary, sage, and lemon.
Apples are classed according to how they are used. Eating (dessert) apples are, as a rule, crisp or crunchy, juicy, sweet or sweet-tart, with an intriguing aroma and complex flavor. Cooking (or culinary) apples are usually firmer and on the tart side, although they may be juicy and touched with sweetness. Most apples contain between 10 and 14 percent sugar. Tart apples just contain more malic acid, which blunts their sweetness. The texture of an appleΓÇÖs cooked flesh can be fluffy, as in a baked Rome Beauty; tender but intact, as in a Jonagold; or thick, as in Newton Pippin applesauce. A few splendid varieties like Golden Delicious and Gravenstein are suited to both eating and cooking. True cider applesΓÇölike Kingston Black and Fox WhelpΓÇöare high in acid and tannin and thus not fit for eating fresh but give cider sparkling flavor and depth. There are also a few apples good for both cider and cooking, like McIntosh, Northern Spy, and Cortland. Crab apples are a different species altogether. They are tinyΓÇöan inch or so wideΓÇöand very tart; they are excellent for pickling and jellying because they contain so much pectin.
Knowing the characteristics of the apples at the market saves time and energy and spares frustration over collapsed baked apples, mushy slices in pie, and bland applesauce. Here are some favorite apples grown domesticallyΓÇöuses are in order of what the apple does best.
Akane: juicy, crisp, tart, white flesh. Eating, sauce (cook with the skin on, then strain), drying; use within 4 weeks.
Arkansas Black: crisp, firm, juicy, fragrant, golden flesh. Eating, sauce, cider; keeps 6 months or more, gaining in flavor.
Baldwin: crisp, coarse, juicy, spicy, yellow flesh. Cider, pies and tarts, sauce, eating; keeps up to 6 months.
Black Gilliflower or Sheepnose: rich and sweet. Excellent for drying, can be baked; use within 2 months.
Braeburn: crisp, firm, rich, sweet-tart, yellow flesh. Eating, sauce, pies and tarts; keeps 6 months or more.
Bramley or BramleyΓÇÖs Seedling: EnglandΓÇÖs favorite cooking appleΓÇöfirm, coarse, juicy, tangy-sweet flesh high in vitamin C; baking, sauce, cider; keeps 6 months or more.
Calville Blanc dΓÇÖHiver: sixteenth-century apple, a French favoriteΓÇötender, lightly tart, spicy, yellowish white flesh, higher in vitamin C than oranges. Eating, pies and tarts, sauce, cider; keeps at least 3 months, its flavor mellowing.
Cortland: crisp, very juicy, fragrant, tangy, white flesh. Eating, salad (the flesh stays white), pies and tarts, sauce, cider, drying; keeps at least 2 months.
CoxΓÇÖs Orange Pippin: firm, juicy, richly flavored. Eating, pies and tarts, sauce, cider; keeps about 3 months.
Empire: crisp, juicy, sweet-tart, creamy white flesh. Eating, cider; keeps 4 to 6 weeks.
Esopus Spitzenberg: Thomas JeffersonΓÇÖs favorite appleΓÇöcrisp, fine-grained, juicy, fragrant, spicy, yellow flesh. ConnoisseurΓÇÖs eating apple, also for baking; keeps 6 months or more.
Fuji: crisp, fine-grained, juicy, sweet, white flesh. Eating, pies and tarts; keeps 6 months or more.
Gala: crisp, firm, fragant, sweet and mildly tart. Eating, pies and tarts, cooking in butter, drying; keeps 3 months or more.
Golden Delicious: juicy, fragrant, and honey sweet. Eating, salad, sauce, pies and tarts, cooking in butter, cider; keeps at least 2 months.
Granny Smith: crisp, juicy, from mildly tart to tart, white flesh. Sauce, juice, baking; keeps up to 6 months.
Gravenstein: crisp, fine-grained, juicy, slightly tart. Unexcelled for pies and tarts, sauce, baking, cider, and fine for eating; keeps 4 to 6 weeks.
Grimes Golden: fine-grained, juicy, fragrant, spicy, yellow flesh. Eating, sauce, pies and tarts, cider, drying, freezing; keeps about 3 months.
Idared: tender, juicy, fragrant, and lightly tart. Pies and tarts, sauce, baking, cooking, canning; keeps 6 months or more.
Jonagold: crisp, juicy, sweet-tart, yellow flesh. Eating, juice, pies and tarts, baking; keeps about 3 months.
Jonathan: crisp, fine-grained, juicy, slightly tart. Eating, sauce, pies and tarts, cider; use within 4 to 6 weeks.
Lady or Christmas Apple: very small, crisp, juicy, intensely sweet, white flesh. Eating, baking, cider (and centerpieces and wreaths); keeps 4 months or more.
Lodi or Improved Yellow Transparent: crisp, juicy, sweet-tart, white flesh. Sauce, pies and tarts; use within 2 weeks.
Macoun: firm, fragrant, juicy, white flesh, surpasses parent McIntoshΓÇÖs flavor. Eating, pies and tarts, sauce; keeps about 3 months.
McIntosh: tender, juicy, fragrant, spicy, tart. Eating, cider, sauce; keeps at least 2 months.
Melrose: rather coarse, juicy, sweet, white flesh. Pies and tarts, wait until after Christmas for eating; keeps up to 6 months.
Mutsu or Crispin: crisp, juicy, spicy, lightly tart, white flesh. Eating, sauce, cider; keeps 6 months or more.
Newton Pippin or Pippin: moderately fine-grained, aromatic, and tart. Eating, pies and tarts, sauce, cider; keeps 5 months.
Northern Spy: very juicy, sprightly and sweet, high in vitamin C. Eating, baking, pies and tarts, sauce, cider, drying; keeps up to 5 months.
Red Delicious: crisp, juicy, mildly tart. Eating, cider; keeps 6 months or more.
Rhode Island Greening or Greening: an early American appleΓÇöcrisp, juicy, rich, tart, greenish white flesh. Pies and tarts, sauce, drying, eating, cider; keeps 6 months or more.
Rome Beauty: crisp, firm, juicy, mildly tart. Baking, drying, cider; keeps at least 2 months.
Roxbury Russet: seventeenth-century American appleΓÇöcrisp, coarse-textured, tart-sweet, yellow-green flesh. Eating, pies and tarts, sauce, cider; keeps up to 6 months.
Spartan: crisp, firm, sweet-tart, white flesh. Superb eating; keeps up to 3 months, improving in flavor.
Stayman Winesap: firm, juicy, fragrant, winy, greenish yellow flesh. Baking, sauce, cider; keeps at least 2 months.
Summer Rambo: sixteenth-century French appleΓÇöcrisp, very juicy, winy. Eating, sauce, drying, pies and tarts; use within 4 weeks.
Wealthy: very juicy, fragrant, winy, sweet. Eating, pies and tarts, sauce, cider, baking, preserves, freezing. Keeps up to 3 months.
Winesap: crisp, firm, very juicy, winy, yellow flesh. Eating, cider, sauce, pies and tarts; keeps 6 months or more.
Wolf River: soft, slightly tart, creamy white flesh. Excellent for drying; use within 4 weeks.
York or York Imperial: crisp, coarse-grained, fragrant, mildly tart. Pies and tarts, sauce, baking, cider; keeps 2 months.
