Topic: Best way to keep apples through the winter

[cropping]

Hi everybody,

So I got quite a lot of apples and I would like to know what's the best way to keep them.

I was thinking of putting them in trays with hay, and leave that in the garage (which is quite cold and dry). Does that make sense?

Please share your experiences! Thanks!

[small]

I have a sheltered veranda on the north side of my house, I put apples in single layers in the fruit boxes you can get from supermarkets. These are cooking apples, I also store the windfalls like this, and all I do is check them over every 3 or 4 days and compost those going a bit rotten. I reckon to be using them right through to March, but I don't know how eaters keep. My little yellow ones shrivel over winter, and I don't get enough russets to know - they get wolfed down quickly.
Last year I was sorting the trays and found an enormous mouse in there, which then disappeared into the drain outlet from the washing machine....

[JanG]

Rodents are my problem in storing apples. They just get chewed to bits if left in an outhouse. A few years ago I got hold of a defunct freezer which is rodent-proof. I simply put apples in plastic bags with holes punched in them. I think it’s important to keep apples just moist enough not to shrivel but not too moist. I have a few going rotten but if checked fairly regularly they can be removed and don’t affect the others. I keep them through till about June this way
But it very much depends upon the variety. Some are late keepers and some deteriorate very quickly. I’m lucky enough to have space and chose some varieties which have longer storage capabilities. If you know what variety you have you can get some idea of its storage potential.

[Vinlander]

You need to know which of your apples are early ripening - in general the earliest varieties will drop long before the late varieties are even ripe - they also lose most of their flavour after 2 or 3 weeks in store.

It really isn't worth keeping them at all - if there's any surplus after you've done your duty of eating one a day or just got fed up with the flavour, then you should juice them all.

I've got a lovely early called "Irish Peach" but they are only worth eating for a fortnight or so - basically I leave 14 or so on the tree (SWMBO prefers to wait for the Pitmastons) and juice the rest of the crop while they are at their best. The same thing goes for my Worcester Pearmains. I'm so glad I didn't plant any other earlies because even 2 cordons will eventually produce too many to eat in the time available.

A few weeks after you get really bored with earlies there are several varieties which will keep for months but can be eaten slightly early if you like a sharp/sweet apple. Good examples are Pitmaston Pineapple** and Egremont Russet - both really delicious stored right up to Xmas or more. **not to be confused with Ananas Reinette - a disappointing watery apple that looks similar but tastes like the appalling Golden "Delicious" with a hint of pineapple.

If you don't like sharp/sweet apples then you probably prefer an apple pie anyway.

I'd recommend keeping a close eye on your stored apples - it's also worth tasting them regularly. If any varieties start to go off more rapidly or even just lose their flavour then juice all those varieties while they are still sound.

Juicing seems to stop the flavour disappearing - better if refrigerated or even frozen (though bottles from the fridge can turn out to be delightfully zingy slightly sparkling cider). However they turn out, it would cost you a fortune to buy anything better...

Incidentally, there are problem apples that fall in September even though they will keep for months if you pick them before they fall. The only one I have that stands out in this way is Claygate Pearmain.

The tastiest very long term keeper is Sturmer Pippin. If you are seeking apple trees to plant then read Edward Bunyard's list first - don't go for stuff that's easier to source*.

I have many in the middle ground & thoroughly recommend Ashmead's Kernel (the best ever), SunTan, Ribston Pippin (though if neglected it is notorious for producing small fruit), & the lovely William Crump (the only red apple with any zing). D'arcy Spice is delicious and has an all-round reputation but my cordon doesn't for me.

Cheers.

*NB. I find that very few heritage vegetables take the biscuit, but heritage fruits are generally much better than new ones (that are mostly bred for all the wrong reasons - ie. not for flavour, flavour, flavour). The main exception to this is stuff that was always a struggle - like apricots.

[cropping]

Thanks everybody for your thoughtful replies. Special thanks to Vinlander for providing me with a good list of varieties. I was thinking of planting one or two early varieties, so that's great!

[JanG]

Incidentally, there are problem apples that fall in September even though they will keep for months if you pick them before they fall. The only one I have that stands out in this way is Claygate Pearmain.

The tastiest very long term keeper is Sturmer Pippin

A couple of personal experiences in response to Vinlander’s.
I too have Claygate Pearmain but don’t find that it falls from the tree in September. Interesting!

Sturmer Pippin is reputedly one of the very longest keepers. For me the disadvantage is that it only really ripens in good summers. And it’s worth realising that it’s really best left till November to pick.

I would recommend Discovery as a really good early variety. It ripens in August, has a good flavour, stays good for eating for at least a month and its juice has a very attractive pink blush. Not heritage but in this case, a modern triumph!

I would personally avoid Beauty of Bath which is extremely early, ripening often in the last week of July. That one certainly does fall from the tree almost before you can pick it and to my palate both taste and texture are unappealing. I prefer to wait the extra week or so for Discovery!

[Vinlander]

I too have Claygate Pearmain but don’t find that it falls from the tree in September. Interesting!

I have to admit I had to reject 2 apple trees labelled Claygate Pearmain from one nursery before the second replacement came - the first one that looked & tasted convincingly like the ones I'd tried at Brogdale. However I'd already ordered a back-up from a much better nursery (sadly now defunct) - but in a fit of fruit-evangelism I gave that (probably more reliable) one away to friends who were planting apples in their new home at the time. Maybe I should get a cutting the next time I visit them!

For the record, the one I was moaning about produces quite large apples - not Bramley or even Blenheim Orange size but often 8 or 9 cm. They are very slightly russeted and tend to be green - because if given time to blush then most of them will drop. The flavour is good - a nice balance of sugar and tartness (both of us come from families that hate mealy sweet mush).

Maybe I should look at my books again.

The internet is useless - the attachment's top row looks like mine, the middle row is sometimes what mine look like, the 2 at the bottom look nothing like mine - but OTOH most of the photos on t'web labelled Claygate look nothing like mine - in fact most of them don't even look much like each other.

Cheers.

[JanG]

I agree that the bottom row of your pictures is hopelessly astray. Just a faint pink blush is the most reddening I ever get on predominantly green and slightly russeted fruit. Mine grow in (a certain amount of shade which might affect them but, even allowing for that, the bottom row is nothing like.

[Beersmith]

I love apples but have become more accepting that they are seasonal and I don't make any effort to store them for long periods. With the varieties available I am happy to eat them between late August through until Christmas.

That way I get to enjoy them at their very best.  And the downside is that for much of the year I have to forego my favourites but that just seems to make those superb autumn apples all the more special.

[Vinlander]

I agree with Beersmith. As a member of the minority group who are "zingy-apple-lovers" I have to say that every apple I grow is best straight from the tree (unless it's clearly unripe), as zing is the first thing to go - especially if it is an early apple that I find inedible a week after the zing peaks (but still juiceable).

But also if it's a late apple whose zing fades much more slowly but still far too fast - often only enjoyable after Xmas because the stuff in the shops is so much worse at that time of year.

I can't say I've ever preferred any stored apple - they may be sweeter, but who cares? Sugar is cheap - I have a huge bag in the larder - for brewing of course - but mainly because it's the last thing I like of all the nice things that are in apples. Not to mention that it usually peaks alongside loss of texture -Yuk. There are a lot of fruits where peak-flavour does arrive near peak-sugar - but not apples.

I juice every apple left in store when the Braeburns arrive from New Zealand in spring (their autumn) - but it's becoming difficult to find them when all the Northern Hemisphere producers immediately release theirs from store - the supermarkets seem completely complicit with this - I assume they make a bigger profit from the French crop etc.

Cheers.

[small]

That'll teach me to go on about how well my apples store, as earlier in the thread....going through the boxes today I discovered some rat turds. Now I can put up with the odd mouse, but not Ratty. So we are now keeping the decent picked ones in my cool pantry, and the windfalls have all gone on the compost heap. And while we were there we found a dead rat in a bucket of water....I am not a happy bunny.

[saddad]

I know how you feel Small... had rats(s) in my brick outhouse a few years ago, chewing through the potato sacks and amongst the apple trays... terrible mess and loss of most of the harvest. Was not a happy bunny... 

[JanG]

Yes, I agree. The chewed up mess left is almost more distressing than the holes made in the apples or potatoes. I’ve had to find ways of rodent-proofing apples, potatoes and carrots, beets etc.
I acquired a rusty metal chest on eBay for carrots and beets in sand. I was given an old galvanised dustbin for potatoes (holes drilled and scrunched newspaper in the bottom) and have an old dead freezer for apples. I have the luxury of some outhouse space and know it’s not always possible to fortify produce in this way.
Good luck, small, with finding a way to keep your apples away from rats next year and at least you have some good ones intact to enjoy this year. 😊