Apple season starts in late summer and into late fall. You’ll find the best quality apples at your local farmers’ market, but you can find apples at any grocery store at any time of year.
When choosing apples, look for fruit that is firm to the touch, soft spots or other blemishes and avoid bruised apples; fresh high-quality apples should also have a pleasant aroma.
After bringing apples home, for short-term apple storage place whole apples in a bowl or basket with good air circulation at room temperature. For long-term storage, the best way to store apples is in a cardboard box in the fridge. If buying in bulk by the bushel, (think – visit to the apple orchard!) remember some varieties, such as Fuji and Granny Smith have a longer storage life. It’s also important to remember that apples give off high levels of ethylene gas (a ripening agent) which can prematurely ripen and spoil surrounding fruits and veggies so keep apples separate unless you are looking to take advantage of this property in which case you can place apples along with other fruits in a paper bag to help them ripen faster. Commercially, apples have a long shelf life. They can be stored for months (or even year-round) in controlled atmosphere facilities which use high humidity, low oxygen, and controlled carbon dioxide levels to keep fruit fresh.
If you find yourself with a surplus of fresh apples (perhaps you have your own apple tree or had a successful apple picking outing), there are many ways to preserve them to prolong their deliciousness! Apples can be made into apple butter, apple cider, apple jam or jelly, apple sauce, and also dehydrated or stored frozen.
To freeze apples, simply peel, core and cut apples, soak in a lemon juice bath for 5 minutes (4 cups of water plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice) to prevent browning, drain, arrange in a single layer on a lined baking sheet, freeze for 4 hours to overnight, transfer to a freezer bag, and freeze for 6 months to a year. Frozen apples work great in numerous apple recipes including baked goods (apple pie!) or smoothies. You can also freeze applesauce!
To make home-made applesauce, simply peel, core and slice apples into small ½” (~1 cm) pieces. After cutting them up, place 2-3 apples worth of pieces into a pyrex measuring cup and microwave on high for about 4 minutes. The apples are then soft enough to pulse with an immersion blender. Personally, my favorite apples for making applesauce are Galas because they are sweet and soften very well when cooked (Golden Delicious and Fuji are close seconds). After blending, the applesauce can be left plain or ground cinnamon can be added, depending on your preference. Overall, 2 cups of raw apple (about 2 apples) will yield roughly 1 cup of applesauce. Whether your favorite variety of apples are honeycrisp, McIntosh, or red delicious, no matter how you “slice” it, preserving apples by any means is a great way to enjoy that fresh fall-flavor, all year long!
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If you’re looking for tips on how to shop, select and store other foods check out these posts!
