Not all apples are ideal for cooking! Ever eaten a mushy apple pie? Often, the cause of this is a soft apple variety that doesn’t hold up in the oven. When you use the right kinds of apples for your recipes, your dishes can go from good to great!
Apple Varieties and Best Use
Braeburn are tart and sweet and best for applesauce.
Cortland are tart and crisp and best use for pies and applesauce.
Fuji are firm with a sweet, juicy taste and best used for baking.
Gala are mildly sweet, juicy and crisp and best used for cider or dried.
Granny Smith the traditional baking apple is moderately sweet and crisp.
Jonagold has a tangy sweet taste best used for pies and applesauce.
Jonathan are juicy, tart and crisp and make the best applesauce.
McIntosh are juicy and sweet and make great caramel apples and applesauce.
Newton Pippin have a crisp, sweet-tart taste best for pies, applesauce and cider.
Rome Beauty are mildly tart but crisp and best for baking and cider.
Winesap have a sweet-sour flavor and are very juicy which makes them great for pies, applesauce and cider.
Apple Cooking Measurements
1 pound of apples = 2 large, 3 medium, or 4 to 5 small apples
1 pound of apples = 3 cups peeled and sliced apples
Tips
To keep the apples firm so they fill the crust, try pre-baking the apples for about 10 minutes, cooling in your fridge, and then adding to the pie plate.
Use more than one firm apple variety to give the dish different textures and tastes, i.e. use a firm sweet apple (Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Jonagold) PLUS a firm tart apple (Granny Smith, Northern Spry).
Now, visit your local apple orchard and BAKE!