Food Tips
The best apples for baking and cooking
Photograpy, Annie Spratt, Unsplash.com
Food Tips
The best apples for baking and cooking
A guide to making the right choice when it comes to cooking with apples.
McIntosh, Spartan, Lobo, Empire, Cortland…these are just a few of the apple varieties available on grocery store shelves. There are multiple ways to cook apples, some lending themselves to pies and crisps and others to sauces and preserves.Want to know which apple is best suited for that recipe you had in mind? We’ve got you covered!
VISTA BELLA
- Harvest date: early August
- How to use: Chew, compote
- Taste and texture: rather soft, juicy, acidic, semi-sweet, aromatic
- Availability: August
- Storage: 1 to 2 weeks
MELBA
- Harvest date: August
- Uses: Chew, compote, juice
- Taste and texture: Semi-sweet, very aromatic, tender and juicy
- Availability: August, early September
- Storage: a few weeks
JERSEYMAC
- Harvest: mid-August
- Uses: crunchy, in juice
- Taste and texture: crunchy and semi-firm, juicy, sweet, aromatic
- Availability: August, September
- Storage: 6 weeks. Firm when picked, it softens during storage. Does not freeze well.
PAULARED
- Harvested: end of August
- Uses: crunchy, cooked, juiced
- Taste and texture: crunchy, juicy, acidic, semi-sweet
- Availability: September, October
- Storage: 2 months. Does not freeze well.
LOBO
- Harvested: early September
- How to eat it: crunchy
- Taste and texture: crunchy, juicy, moderately acidic, semi-sweet, aromatic, fairly firm
- Availability: September and October
- Storage: 3 months
HONEYCRISP
- Harvest: mid-September
- Uses: crunchy, cooked
- Taste and texture: very crunchy, very juicy, very sweet
- Availability: mid to late September
- Storage: 4 months
McINTOSH
- Harvesting: September and October
- Uses: chewing, compote, cooking, jelly, juice
- Taste and texture: crunchy, juicy, moderately acidic, semi-sweet, aromatic
- Availability: September to June
- Storage: 4 months
SPARTAN
- Harvesting: end of September
- Uses: chewing, cooking, juicing
- Taste and texture: crunchy, juicy, moderately acidic, semi-sweet, aromatic
- Availability: September to June
- Storage: 4 months
- Special feature: retains its shape when cooked
CORTLAND
- Harvest: early October
- Uses: crunchy, salad, juice, cooking, drying
- Taste and texture: crunchy, slightly acidic, sweet, tender and juicy
- Availability: October to May
- Storage life: 4 months
- Special features: keeps its shape when cooked and does not turn brown in the air
EMPIRE
- Harvested: mid-October
- Uses: crunchy, in juice
- Taste and texture: crunchy, juicy, slightly acidic, sweet, aromatic
- Availability: October to May
- Storage: 4 months
Storage tip
To preserve apples for several months, store them in perforated plastic bags. This prevents the fruit from deteriorating and drying out, and slows down the ripening process so that the apples retain all their crunchiness.
They can be placed in the refrigerator drawer or frozen by removing the peel and core and cutting into quarters or slices.
Happy picking!
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