What Apples are Best For What?

Best Apples for Making Apple Pie, Fresh Eating,
Baking, Applesauce, Salad, Dip and Cider

Wondering what type of apples are best for what?

Which variety of apple is best for apple pie, fresh eating, baking, applesauce, apple salad, apple dip, or freezing apples?

Apples are a favourite fruit for many people. They are an easy fruit to eat out of hand, as well as being used in fresh salads and apple snacks with fruit dip.

The fruit of many apple varieties is also very suitable for making a wide variety of baked and cooked recipes. Apple pies, tarts, crumbles, crisps, tarts, muffins, cakes, and many more delectable treats are commonly made with apples.

Additionally, apples are commonly used to make a nutritious juice and cider.

Some types of apples are more suited for particular uses than other varieties.

Below are examples of varieties of apples which are commonly selected, and best suited for different uses. This is by no means an exhaustive list!

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Keep in mind that there are reportedly 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the United States of America.

There are reportedly 7,500 varieties of apples grown throughout the entire world!

Here are some of the more common apples and their uses.

What apples are best for ...

Pies

Cortland, Jonathan, Melrose, Rome Beauty, McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Lodi, Winesap, Empire.

Fresh Eating

Most all types of fresh apples are very suitable for eating fresh. Common choices include:

McIntosh, Cortland, Jonathan, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious Franklin, Prima, Granny Smith, Mutsu, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Honey Crisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, Ozark Gold, Paula Red, Jersey Mac, Ginger Gold, Braeburn.

Only very few apples are not recommended for eating fresh out of hand, a few examples are, Rome Beauty, Lodi, and Northern Spy. These particular varieties are best used for baking, cooking and sauces.

Baking

Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, McIntosh, Cortland, Melrose, Winesap, Empire.

Sauces/Applesauce

Golden Delicious, Melrose, McIntosh, Cortland, Jonathan, Rome Beauty, Lodi, Ginger Gold.

Salads and Apples with Fruit Dip

Cortland, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith.

These apple varieties are less likely to turn brown as quickly as others.

It is recommended however, to treat apples when including them on a fresh fruit tray with fruit dip or in a fruit salad. This simple process will slow down the browning of the apple fruit.

Cider

A blend of different varieties of apples is usually used to make apple cider. The apples are commonly grouped as follows:

Sweet Subacid

Rome Beauty, Delicious, Grimes Golden, Cortland.

Astringent (Crab Apples)

Florence Hibernal, Red Siberian, Transcendent, Martha.

Aromatic

Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, McIntosh.

Mildly Acidic to Slightly Tart

Stayman Winesap, Jonathan

If you are looking for a general purpose apple that is really suitable for most uses, an example of an apple variety to choose is Mutsu (Crispin), and Golden Delicious, among others.

My favourite variety is the McIntosh apple. I use it for eating fresh, and for making pies, and all other baking, including making applesauce.

These apples do not work well for apple salad however, because they tend to turn brown quicker than some other varieties. McIntosh apples also do not freeze well.

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