Know Your Apples

By Jessica Littmann, a teacher, writer, mother of three girls and supporter of Baker Demonstration School from Evanston, Illinois.

Every autumn, right around the time that my family ushers in the Jewish new year by eating apple slices dipped in honey, I become nostalgic for the blaze of color and the golden light that seemed, in retrospect anyway, to fill every fall day of my childhood in New England. One way to capture the glory of the season with my own kids is to bring them to our local apple orchard, where thanks to modern-day dwarf varieties, even my toddler can wrest from the tree the same iconic fruit that’s inspired legend, poetry, and admiration for thousands of years. Inevitably, we return home with dozens more apples than we can eat, and we are faced with the seasonal conundrum of how to dispose of our windfall before it turns to mush. After years of experimenting with different varieties, I’ve found that while most apples are delicious eaten out of hand, some apples are better for baking or cooking than others.

Even though it seems as though the orchard (or even the grocery store) offers a bewildering variety of apples, the truth is that only a handful of the thousands of varieties in existence are now cultivated commercially. In contrast, apple trees were ubiquitous in colonial America. Every household had trees bearing apples with names ranging from the strange (the Sheep’s Nose?!) to the poetic (the Seek-no-Further). Thanks to the efforts of John Chapman, the Massachusetts man-turned-legend now known as Johnny Appleseed, apple orchards flourished far beyond the original New England plantings.

In those pre-commercial days, most apples, regardless of variety, were puny and bitter compared to the specimens available today. Their primary use, however, was not to be eaten out of hand. Rather, most colonial households’ apple harvest was turned into fermented cider, which, because of sanitation concerns, was served at every meal, even to kids. (Note to DIYers: This is an easy project! My father kept a couple of jugs of apple cider on the back yard, where after a few weeks of near- frigid temperatures they’d warp and expand to gargantuan size as they fermented.)

When the temperance movement began, though, the apple’s association with fermentation became dangerous politically. Growers began trying to sweeten up the reputation and the taste of this fall crop, and took to hybridizing existing strains to make them palatable straight off the tree. “Blockbuster” apple varieties like the turn-of-the-century Baldwin, now difficult to find, were shipped across the country. Consolidation brought larger orchards that cultivated fewer varieties of apples. Apples are now grown in every state, although the majority of the nation’s harvest comes from Washington, where warm days and cool nights provide perfect growing conditions. 

Apples are nutritional powerhouses. They are low in calories but rich in fiber, with about five grams—or a fifth of the daily recommendation—per apple. Apples of all varieties contain anti-oxidants and minerals including potassium, folate, niacin, and a smattering of vitamins. That apple-a-day adage, originally a public relations message designed to rehabilitate the apple’s reputation, is supported by studies showing an association between eating apples and lower risk of some cancers, stroke, and diabetes. 

Eating apples out of hand is a delicious and healthy way to savor the season, but many types of apples are also fantastic when cooked, stewed, or baked. If you’ve ever had pie innards turn to unappetizing mush or tried to make applesauce that stayed permanently chunky, you know that certain varieties lend themselves to different kinds of recipes. Whether you’re cooking, saucing, baking, or snacking, here’s our field guide to some of the apples that are more commonly found in grocery stores.  

Braeburn: Crisp, with balanced flavor. Good for eating and baking.
Cameo: Juicy, crisp, a tiny bit tart. Delicious out-of-hand or a good substitute for Golden Delicious in recipes.
Cortland: An all-purpose apple with a balanced sweet-tart flavor profile. Good for baking, cooking, eating raw, or turning into applesauce.  
Empire: Cross between Red Delicious and McIntosh. Round, red apple with hints of green. Holds it shape well and is good for baking and cooking.
Fuji: Intensely sweet and crunchy. Best eaten raw.
Gala: Taller than it is wide. Mild, sweet taste and crisp flesh make it great for snacking.
Golden Delicious: Thin-skinned, doesn’t store well. Relatively soft texture (although firmer than McIntosh or Cortland). Can be used in all sorts of recipes, especially salads or others that feature the beautiful peel.
Granny Smith:  These bright green apples, originally from Australia, pack a tart punch when eaten raw. Hold their shape well when cooked, and combine well with mushier apples like McIntosh in pies, crisps, and crumbles.
Honeycrisp: Juicy, with an addictive crunch, Honeycrisps are perfectly sweet snacks that also hold their shape when baked.  Only available seasonally.
Jonagold: Sweet-tart, thin-skinned, hybrid between the Jonathan and the Golden Delicious. An all-star for eating, baking, or cooking.
Jonathan: Tart, tangy, and great for baking.
McIntosh: Soft flesh that can turn mushy when baked. Good for applesauce. If used in baking, McIntosh apples need a thickener like tapioca starch, or they can be combined with another kind of apple, like the Granny Smith, that holds its shape.
Red Delicious: The most popular variety in the U.S. Best eaten raw.

Buying, Storage, and Prep Tips

• When buying apples, try to find firm, unblemished ones (but remember that a McIntosh will always feel softer than a Granny Smith).  
• Choose organic apples over conventionally-farmed ones when possible, as apples are soft-skinned fruits that can be prone to pesticide contamination.
• Shiny skin, especially unwaxed shiny skin, is a good indicator of crispness and flavor.  
• You’ll want to store apples in the refrigerator to preserve their freshness, but don’t swaddle them in plastic bags—too much moisture will spoil them.  
• Do not store apples that have cuts or bruises, as they will hasten the spoilage of other apples in storage.  
• If you plan to store your apples until you’ll get around to using them en masse, you can wrap them loosely in packing paper and stow them in the basement or garage, where they will keep for weeks. 
• If you are slicing apples and want to keep them from browning, try immersing the slices in a 3:1 mixture of water to lemon juice.  

Keep in mind that apples play well together in baked goods: a mix of sweet, tart, firm and soft apples can make the end result more flavorful and the texture more appealing. Playing around with different varieties is easier than ever now, as interest in heirloom varietals like Northern Spy and Canadian Strawberry are popping up at farmers’ markets and local orchards.  

Happy harvesting, whether you hit the grocery store or the orchard!

What's your favorite variety of apples, and why?