Find out how to choose the best apple variety for your recipe based on flavor and texture.
Not all apples are the same.
They come in many flavors and textures and react to heat in different ways.
That's why the apples you choose for cooking and baking can make or break your plate.
Read on to find out which apples are right for your recipes.
With so many apple varieties to choose from - more than 2,500 in the US alone - it's no wonder it's hard to know which apple to use per recipe type.
Let's compare some of the more commercially available apples to help you best apples for apple pie, best red gala apples for applesauce, best all-purpose apple baked apples, and more.
Gala
A sweet, crunchy apple with a mild flavor, Galas has an orange-yellow skin with red streaks.
They are among the best apples for applesauce, salads, eating straight, and making cider.
Grandma Smith
One of the most popular tart apples, Granny Smiths are crunchy and rather tart.
They are a good all-purpose cooking apple and their flavor is enhanced when combined with sweeter, spicier apples in cakes and chips.
Gravenstein
Gravensteins are available in red or yellow, with a sweet-sour flavor and firm texture.
They are excellent apples for eating fresh, as well as for baking, cooking, and caramel apple sauce.
They have a very short season and do not cost you much, so take advantage of it when you see them at a farmer's market or farm stand.
Good Apples for Baking
Apple is the best fruit to cook.
They are strong, have a great texture, and are quite tasty.
You can bake them in a classic apple pie, put them in muffins and coffee cakes, or even bake them yourself with some cinnamon for a healthy snack.
Baked apple dessert is one of the best things you can do at a brunch or party, especially with vanilla ice cream next to it! So what's the best apple to cook? There is a small amount!
Sweeter apples are a good choice because their higher sugar content means you can eat the sugars added to your recipes a little easier.
If you want your apples to stay a little crunchy, look for firmer apples that hold their texture under the heat.
More on apples, while some apples are better suited to certain types of healthy food recipes than others, you do not have to limit yourself to using only one type of apple when cooking or baking.
Many cooks like to use an apple blend for more complex flavors and textures.
If you are shopping for apples during the fall apple season at farmers' markets and specialty stores, you have a better chance of finding regional and historic varieties but be sure to ask the grower.
While hard to find, Roman apples have long been called the baker's companion because they have a flavor that intensifies after cooking.
If you're looking to add a tart flavor to your food, try Granny Smith apples for a good balance of sour and spicy.
The golden delicious apple is a classic apple to cook thanks to its thin skin and sweet, sweet taste.
Finally, try the lady rose apple in your cooked meals.
They create a perfect balance between sweet and sour.
When Do Golden Delicious Apples Harvest
‘Golden Delicious’ apples are winter apples.
Harvest them from the end of September to October, before they are fully ripe.
The apples ripen further in storage, and, if left in a cool, dry, and dark place – for example in boxes in a pantry or cellar – they will keep until March.
The most obvious sign to watch for is color.
Golden delicious apples will change from green to yellow when they are ready to be harvested and red delicious will turn entirely red.
If the tree produces apples with stripes or red blush, the green part of the apple will turn yellow when it is ready to pick.
Unlike some fruits, apples continue to ripen long after they are picked off the tree.
This ripening or over-ripening affects the texture not the taste of the fruit.
What Color Are Ripe Golden Delicious Apples
Golden Delicious apple is a large, sweet apple with gold/green skin color.
For many years it was in the top 5 apple varieties produced by volume in world apple production.
Should You Pick Apples or Let Them Fall
The fruits will not be sweet if they are picked too early.
If they are harvested too late, the apples might have a slightly floury taste.
You can see from the harvest calendar that apples should generally be harvested between late summer and late October.
Opal Apple vs Golden Delicious
Opal is a modern apple derived from Golden Delicious, and developed in the Czech Republic, with a pleasant well-balanced flavor.
Its other parent is Topaz, a well-respected variety also developed in the Czech Republic, which imparts its tarter flavor to the sweet crispness of Golden Delicious.
Visually it resembles Topaz, but with an attractive golden yellow flush from Golden Delicious which is particularly attractive.
Opal also inherits the good disease resistance of Topaz.
Like Golden Delicious, it grows best in warm dry regions.
Opal was introduced in the USA in 2010.
It is a protected variety in both the European Union and the USA.
It is not related to the early-season English apple also known as Opal and was developed in the 1930s.
It has bright yellow skin, this fruit is grown both organically and conventionally, in season from November through June, Opal Apples are a great option for school snacks.
Of course, what makes it really unique is that it doesn't brown when exposed to the air as other cut apples do.
This sounds like a lunchtime miracle, as packing apple slices or an apple-topped salad would be wonderful if it were not for the fact that apples oxidize and turn an unappetizing brown shade by the time we're ready to eat them.