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SAJohn

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Terrebonne, Oregon, USA
Pamela's post on cookies was the inspiration for this post.

I don't much buy apples anymore as most of them these days taste mealy to me. Red Delicious and Granny Smiths used to be my go to apples but not so much now. While at the store last week I saw a 99 cent per pound sale on an apple named Honey Crisp. I bought two just to give them a try. Both myself and my better half thought they were outstanding. Crisp, juicy, and just the right amount of sweetness.

I immediately went back to the store and bought a bag full. I then did a Google search of apple reviews and these Honey Crisp were rated number one but it was noted that they hard to find. Right now most of the stores in my town have them at $2 per pound. Some of the lesser rated types were up to $3/lb.

What are your favorite apples?

John
 
My favorite are Red Delicious, when they're fresh.

Problem is, in spite of being just a few hours from the worlds best apple growers, I do not know where I could buy a fresh apple, even if it was in the middle of the picking season. And apples sold in super markets are routinely stored for a year, yes a year, and they are mealy.

The growers, the packers, and the agricultural universities are proud that they've devised ways to store apples for a year or longer, to distribute the harvest over the following year. They have a right to be proud of the looks of the beautiful fruit they sell, but I don't know who they think they're fooling by claiming cold-stored apples still taste good after a many months or longer.

https://www.foodrenegade.com/your-apples-year-old/

We used to drive to Hood River, often. As we'd enter town from the west end, there used to be an old guy at the corner selling apple cider. We'd always buy a gallon, and he'd always give us each a free apple. I believe they were recent apples, as they were always very good. Must've had a connection with the growers. This same person, we'd always spend time talking with him, and sadly, we thought he had Parkinson's or something with the same symptoms. The last time we stopped for cider, his stand was gone. We've not seen him since. :cry:
 
Wayno, Thank you for the information. I didn't know why my old favorites were now so mealy. Maybe these Honey Crisp apples are such a new verity that there are not enough of them to bother with year long storage.

John
 
The Honey Crisp apples are a new hybrid, designed to remain crisp and tasty in spite of cold storage. Time will tell.

https://www.goodfruit.com/crucial-tips-to-store-honeycrisp/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeycrisp

Here's at least one place that sells them fresh...Less than 2 hours from Terrebonne. Much less, in your race car. 8)
https://mthoodfruit.com/events/
 
Honey Crisp are the current flavor of the month designer apple but there is a newer one that is supposedly even better that they just started growing in the last year or so. It is called Cosmic Crisp and is the latest "new and bestist apple out there" if you believer the write ups in the Capitol Press Ag paper. I have not seen them in the stores as of yet but I am looking forward to trying them. These have been in development for a number of y ears in Washington and are supposed to stay "fresh" in cold storage for a year or more without turning mealy or mushy.
 
Heard about the Cosmic Crisp's also. The apple breeding industry is competitive. So far, the patent is so protective of these apples, they are only allowed to be grown in Washington. And what a gamble by the orchards, to buy these seedlings, or even the seeds, in the hopes that in a few years these apples will completely replace Red Delicious.



SAJohn... Forgive me for taking liberties with your thread, but...

North and East of you, in the High Desert National Grasslands, if you explore, you'll find apple trees scattered about, as evidence of the pioneer homesteads in the area. At 100+ years old, the trees are not healthy, but some of them do produce at least a few little scrawny apples each year.
 
Honey crisp apples have been around awhile. I know that we have been buying them for years. Fuji apples are good, but are best when large. Skip the small ones. We have had a number of newer varieties that are good. Jazz and Ambrosia are good. A new one that we have tried is called Autumn Glory. It is also a good eating apple. We always try to find the pick date of the apple. That usually means buying bagged apples, not individual ones. I have been surprised to pick up a bag at the peak of the apple season only to note that the apples were last year's crop. No thanks.
Sometimes it is hard to find older varieties. I like Rome and Macintosh apples, but I seldom see them.

On a related note, I know that most fruit is the result of botanical research and development, but isn't a good piece of fruit just a most wonderful treat? I don't know that I could ever pick a favorite fruit. Plums, peaches, watermelons, pears, strawberries, oranges, and on and on. But just like the apple discussion, only the best and in in season.
 
I grew up in the country and we had probably 50 apple trees of various types. They were sooooo good. Ate tons of them. The apples in the stores today look so great and taste like NOTHING. Honey crisp are the best out there but still pale in comparison to fresh and naturally ripe. I refuse to buy apples any more.
 
The Honey Crisp used to be my favorite, but for the last two years a local grower has produced EVER Crisp which are now my fav. great sweet flavor, crisp and juicy. I use to enjoy a red delicious but they've become so mealy I just can't do it.
 
AAAHHHH YES !!
Red Delicious Apples;
I remember during my Junior Year in High School in Portland, Oregon ( 1957-58) buying Red Delicious apples, biting into them and having the juice squirt by BOTH ears. They were GREAT in those days !!
 
Well, I also live in an area that produces a lot of apples. Henderson County NC is well known for it's apple crops.
Honey Crisp apples have been around long enough to where folks have learned about them,, and they are very good when fresh. Of course,, so are most varieties. The cold storage methods etc have made apple quality suffer,, but it's a business,, and people want a seasonal fruit all year long. As such, they will accept lower quality to get what they want. And of course,, many folks who are not fortunate enough to live in a place to where they can get fresh produce never know the differences.
Around here,, in my discussions with apple growers,, I've learned that there are over 1500 varieties of apples,, and many are hard to find. As a teen,, I discovered a variety I prefer called "Banana Rose." I'm also a fan of Goldens. Pink Ladies & Granny Smiths are other varieties we enjoy here. I'm lucky in that I can go to many of the local farmers & get whatever I need. Plus,, I get to choose what varieties I use for canning,, such as my applebutter.
But,, I,, like many others,, prefer my apples fresh,, not out of cold storage. I start getting my apples direct from an orchard in late August,, for the early ones,, then on through October for the later ones. When we have the Annual Gathering here,, it's a SHORT drive to get good apples if anybody wants any.
 
Esquire magazine said this about red delicious apples: “Always red, rarely delicious.”

I too like Honey Crisp, but also Jazz apples are good. Texas of course doesn’t have any Apple farms, so only store bought apples here. But back in Jersey, there were many little farm stands and farmer’s markets. In the fall, their specialities were Apple cider donuts. But they also had fresh apples. One farm had a You-pick system. We would go and get apples from there on the weekends.
 
A bit of apple history and preservation going on near me.

The Temperate Orchard Conservancy, boasts 4,000-5,000 varieties of heirloom apples

https://pamplinmedia.com/mop/157-news/435617-346411-molalla-apple-orchard-largest-of-its-kind-in-us
 
Fall, a frosty morning in Western North Carolina squirrel hunting. Pulling and eating a Winesap apple. It has been fifty five years and that apple is still a large deposit in my memory bank.
 
My favorite would be the Empire. Good crisp,slightly tart eating apple. Fresh off the tree they are great. I was a hobby grower for many years. Besides working my full time job I had an orchard of 200 trees. MacIntosh,Cortlands, and the Empires. Last year I was cutting back to about 80 trees (Cortlands), had them pruned and ready to go. Lousy weather during bloom resulted in very few apples set. Now ready to turn 70 this year I may be ready to give them up. Takes more work than most people realize.
 
Sturgis270 said:
My favorite would be the Empire. Good crisp,slightly tart eating apple. Fresh off the tree they are great. I was a hobby grower for many years. Besides working my full time job I had an orchard of 200 trees. MacIntosh,Cortlands, and the Empires. Last year I was cutting back to about 80 trees (Cortlands), had them pruned and ready to go. Lousy weather during bloom resulted in very few apples set. Now ready to turn 70 this year I may be ready to give them up. Takes more work than most people realize.
Click to expand...

My dad always said that if you can toss a bushel basket through an apple tree and not hit a branch, then it has been pruned properly and will give you a good yield with the correct weather.

As a corrections officer at the state penitentiary, he was in charge of the crews (inmates) that were assigned to pick the apples at the orchards the pen maintained and to help pick at the research orchards at Penn State. The orchard manager at Penn State could hear, even if he was at the other end of the orchard, if an inmate shook a tree to get the apples to fall (easier to pick from the ground than from the tree). Dad said the manager would come running screaming "who's shaking my trees?" He was actually correct because having the apples fall will probably bruise them, and that really shortens the life. Penn State did a lot of cross breeding research to come up with different apples. Dad brought home some Red Delicious that were probably 6 to 7 inches diameter but only weighed about 6 oz. Looked great from the outside, but were basically nothing on the inside. But for researchers, that is what they want to find out.

A number of years ago, while on a service call in Oregon (in around Wayno's area) I had some time off so was driving around Mt. Hood just enjoying the countryside. Lots of apple orchards and most have a self serve market. One place even had self serve apple cider, bring your own jug, fill it from their tap and leave the money in a locked (and bolted down) cash box. They also had it pre bottled in a frig. Well, I LOVE apple cider, especially fresh. Stopped and got a half gallon and a bag of nice Honey Crisp, paid and went on my merry way. Only one mistake on my part. Really had a great time driving around and seeing some great scenic places, but I drank that whole half gallon that afternoon. You know what that amount of apple cider does to a person? If you have to ask, don't ask me :D :D (but it really was worth it getting that fresh cider).

For those of you that have ever eaten at the Apple Barn in Sevierville, TN, the day after Christmas breakfast is going to include some of their apple fritters, freshly made with finely diced fresh Granny Smiths (last time we were there we got a box of their fritter mix and now is a good time to make them for us and the grand kids).
 
For years my wife purchased Delicious Apples, either red or golden. For months now she has been purchasing Gala apples for eating since we eat an apple for part of out breakfast nearly every morning, splitting an apple between us with the meal. We like the Gala apple taste and crispness better than Delicious apples.

For many years, and still now, my wife always purchases Granny Smith apples for making apple pies. We have always liked these apples for pies.
 
Just tried a Cosmic Crisp....

Just about the worst apple I have ever eaten. Very tough and chewy skin. Chalky texture. Bland flavor. Not juicy.

To be fair, I tried another at a different grocery. Same as the first. I will not buy another....

Dave
 
When we bought our first home there were the remains of an apple orchard next to it. There was a tree near the property line with apples on it and being we moved in the fall I didn’t pay much attention to them, just getting settled in. A few weeks later I saw 1 single apple on the tree up high. It honestly looked like something in a magazine or a painting. Beautiful red color against the cold gray sky. I improvised a fruit picker and harvested the beauty! The birds had pecked the side I couldn’t see but I sliced off a hunk and I have to say, it was just about the best apple I remember ever having. Tart at first but sweet as honey after. I made up my mind right there, that the following fall, I was going to harvest all I could. About a month later, the borough workers came and cut the tree down. Someone complained about the apples falling onto the street making a mess. Darn do-gooder!
 
Got a small orchard on my property, its old but I put tons of work into it. Was over grown
with brush and locust trees. Once I cleaned up the brush and the undesirables I began
mowing and pruning. The improvements are beginning to really show. The trees are
really coming on, the are old but are now healthy. Got a bee keeper who will supply
me with bees unfortunately I'm alergic and really got to be careful around them.
The bees will help my blueberry field also. Work in progress getting some decent apple finally.
maybe this coming fall I'll have some to sell some! :)
 
Hi...
I live in Southcentral Pennsylvania right near the apple growing region.
We buy apples at one of the local orchards. Our favorite is a relatively new offering called Nittany.

We drive about 40 miles one way to buy them freshly picked in early October. Great for eating and homemade apple pie.
 
Growing up in New England, McIntosh were the faves. Jonathan and others were good, but nothing beats fresh Macs right off the tree.

Honey Crisps have been around a while and are probably as good as it gets where we are.
 
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