Apples
 

Welcome to the apple (the fruit) thread.

I only like red apples. I like them hard and sweet. No soft apples and no bland apples.

Big and hard (don't start!) Gala apples are the best. Fuji apples are good when they are hard--even better when sliced in a Panera Bread Fuji Apple Chicken Salad. :) Both Gala and Fuji are awesome no matter how I eat them. I can eat them whole, slice them in a salad, or add some peanut butter. Yum!

Granny Smith are only to be used for apple pies and similar dishes, including apple flavored Jolly Ranchers (:p). I do not eat whole Granny smith, or any non-red apples, unless there are no hard red apples available.

Gala, Fuji, and Granny Smith are among the top 5 most popular apples according to U.S. Apple Association's 2006 list of most popular apples.

Act like you know!
http://usapple.org/

http://usapple.org/consumers/all-abo...ucts/varieties

*****

GCers, how you like dem apples?

Hard or soft? Big or small? Sweet or bland?

What type(s) of apples are your fav? What type(s) are your least fav?

The only apple I like to eat out of hand are Granny Smith. I like tart, hard apples. I really don't like soft apples.

I love apple pie, but no idea what apples are commonly used in it - though I'm pretty sure Granny Smith's aren't the first choice.

ETA: We have two apple trees in my yard. One is yellow transparent and the other is a mystery apple. They look a lot like McIntosh physically, but according to people who have eaten them, they don't taste like macs.

Tee hee.

Tee hee again.

I have never found a Red Delicious apple that didn't feel like mush in my mouth and have no taste. I avoid Red Delicious but in certain situations have checked them down with peanut butter or caramel.

Like you, I believe Granny Smiths are for baking and not directly eating without some preparation.

I prefer Gravensteins for making my own applesauce, as I don't like super sweet applesauce and Gravensteins grow locally back home.

For just plain eating I'm fortunate as quite a few varieties are grown in Washington and Oregon, but a fuji or a gala are usually perfect in size, texture, and flavor. I am known to enjoy Rome Beauty, Ambrosia, Airlie (from my family's property). I'll come post more later.

:) Au contraire, many apple pies are made with Granny Smith including Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, and Paula Deen. Emeril Lagasse and Paula Deen use half Granny Smith and half Macintosh.

http://www.marthastewart.com/344255/...oned-apple-pie

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/e...pe2/index.html

http://www.pauladeen.com/food_sectio...oms_apple_pie/

Sounds tasty!

(LOL. Go away, agzg. LOL.)

Now I want pie!

I'm a huge fan of both Ambrosia and Honeycrisp apples. They're a great texture, never mealy - very sweet, but a nice clean tangy note.

They're generally pretty large, but they're just amazing. I'm starting to get excited because we're getting into peach and watermelon season.

I eat a lot of fruit. In the summer especially, I'll just eat fruit for dinner rather than heat up the kitchen cooking.

And we don't have a single apple in the house at the moment. Pears, yes. Bananas, always.

I need to get some apples.

This!

And I'm also not sure what kinds of apples are typically used in pies.. But I don't care :)

I haven't eaten regular varieties of apples for years, ever since I found out they were one of the fruits and veggies with the highest pesticide residue in them. Only organic apples for my family.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy...foods#fbIndex1

I use Jonagold apples for baking (cross between Golden Delicious and Jonathan).

Fresh I love Braeburn because they are both tart and sweet.

Another vote for Ambrosia and Honeycrisp. Our international store had these Ambrosias that were no joke the size of a large softball...and sooooo good!

Me too Tulip!! for cooking I use Granny Smith.

can't stand mealy apples and will give them to our dog or to the horses next door.

Gala apples. Also, the pink lady apples are good. When I was pregnant, all I wanted to eat was apples. I ate apples for every meal and snack. I could not get enough apples. I was happy to have a healthy craving.

Apples are always best in the fall. Just saying.

How many freaking different types of apples are there? I guess I'm different than you all in the sense that I only eat Granny Smith apples and they have to be rock hard and extra tart-ish.

Honeycrisp are the BEST. Freaking expensive (in comparison to the others), but great. I also love Granny Smith too.