Who, the deer? 
Actually, I believe deer, like most wildlife, tend to prefer low acid and high sugar.
2 Likes
I think thatâs the reason why my dog loves Red Delicious in spring. I only use it in cake batter or to line a tray when baking a very spicy duck. 
I am all for a unique list. And itâs great that you are planning to test how long your apples actually keep. I hope you will also note the tastes and other qualities. And possibly weed out those that you wouldnât dedicate your last cubic foot of storage space to.
Like @dannytoro1 I have found lists and descriptions of apples that loose some of their qualities. In my humble observation they gradually loose acidity and those that have less to start with get mealier. There are a bunch of thick skinned and oily-skinned varieties that loose little moisture or volatile compounds / fragrance. But many of those old long keeping apples were often grown because an apple in âthe hungry monthsâ was better than no apple at all, or because you couldnât afford sugar, honey or cake, but you could bake an apple.
In any case, a list is as good as its curator(s). While the link I shared has maybe more value for me - it is adjusted to my geography and culturally specific taste expectations, it is general and more-less a compendium of information from other tables and books. I think Iâve read enough of one of the pomologists they cite to get a feel for what he means by his descriptions of flavour (or what constitutes âa most excellent spicy appleâ), it is still impersonal and often 100+years old.
I think our criteria for eating and for cooking apples are somewhat different than the historical descriptions. And not just because we have newer varieties to compare against and different options and methods for cooking and storage.
Fuji and Pink Lady seem to stay much the same for months and months in common storage. Goldrush loses acidity and Iâve given them away the following spring to have a few people declare them to be the best apple they ever tasted- obviously sweet lovers- Goldrush is like Fuji in obtaining high brix but initially it hides it with ample acid. However, Goldrush shrivels quite quickly if kept in a fridge with auto-defrost unless it is somehow partially wrapped
2 Likes
Is Yellow Delicious the same as Golden Delicious?
To me it is. Iâve never seen a gold one though, to my eyes they always look yellow.
1 Like
Thatâs the market name I know. If it were a variety I had never seen, Iâd expect a Reinette.
Iâve heard of both names and long assumed it was the same apple. There is such a wide range of YD sports that it wouldnât make much difference if a similar apple was separately named Golden instead of Yellow.
1 Like
So whatâs the best ripeness to put in fridge for long term storage? Straight off the tree or a week ripening at room temperature? Of course it depends on variety and whether they are eaters fresh off the tree.
Pre CA storage the original Winesap was the longest keeper under standard refrigeration. At one time Winesap was the third most popular apple behind Red and Golden Delicious.
To challenge that line of thought I would share this. I have an apple that is early ripening and goes bad within days of picking so must be eaten very quickly. However it could still be considered long hanging since many apples remain attached to the branches in the tree where they eventually rot rather than falling. My point being that just because they are still hanging in the tree months after ripening doesnât mean they will be fit for eating.
Do you have access to âHunt Russetâ? I havenât personally trialed its keeping ability, but based on reports from others Iâve never seen any other variety claimed to have longer keeping abilities. I just love its dense texture with complex pear like sweetness. This year is my first year having a large enough crop to try storing any, but I will say that due to the abundance Iâve been picking them under-ripe and they are still great tasting.
Itâs hard to beat Arkansas Black for a keeper. They do develop a greasy skin in long term storage.
Clakâs Crab is a great keeper I found them in the back of the fridge in good condition after over 7 months.
I have an apple that was apparently mislabeled which stands up really well to freeze thaw cycles. Itâs of good quality on the tree through most of November in Kansas. I believe it to be a southern hemisphere apple most similar to Crippâs Pink.
1 Like
I also heard that most heirloom apples were apparently not âcrunchyâ for a reason. Back in the old days many people had poor teeth and nobody wanted an apple that would take out half your teeth when you ate it. Not sure if that is true or not but if it is maybe a âcrunchyâ heirloom apple is a sign of a good storing apple since it would be expected to slowly go soft over time. Just a thought.
4 Likes
Yes, I take your point - some will be like that. At the moment, until I can get some personally observed storing data, Iâm just playing the odds and hoping most will not have that characteristic.
Do you have access to âHunt Russetâ?
Sadly it does not seem to be available here. I have added it to my wish list and will check periodically to see if I can find one.
1 Like
It isnât just the apple but also the storage technique. Serious apple snobs will often convert a chest freezer without auto-defrost by using an supplementary thermostat that will keep temps just above freezing. If you used two smaller such freezers you could have one for bringing out apples during late fall and early winter and a second freezer you donât open until after that. The less you refill the freezer with oxygen the slower the apples will break down.
Sure there are a few heirlooms like Ark Black that store for a long time by being extremely hard at harvest but newer varieties have been bred that hold almost the same texture for a very long time and are as good off the tree as out of long storage.
Itâs funny, but to my palate, apples often described as much improved by a couple months of storage, such as Ark B. and E. Spitz. are actually even better right off the tree- and based on sharing my fruit, Iâm not alone.
Apples like Cox O P have been esteemed in other places as being great eating apples but are generally perceived as too acidic for U.S. and often Asian tastes.
1 Like
At least in my part of Europe we are somewhat biased against low acid, high sugar fresh eating fruit (letâs not get into extra flavours). If itâs just sweet&crunchy it will sit on store shelves until someone decides to experiment or gives it an optimistic second try, or picks it up based on appearance.
A âgood balance of acids and sweetnessâ + description of flavour nuance is almost a must for well-selling tree varieties in nursetries. We actually eat sloe and aronia is very popular lately, our native bitter cranberries are valued more than the sweet imported ones, so we likely have an appreciation for as well as a high tolerance to tannins and wilder tastesâŚ
As for myself, I am further on the acid and bitterness loving scale than most.
Itâs probably at least half right. People did have knives at the ready to peel and slice apples and pears. But I recall reading somewhere, that a tough/crunchy apple was used as a poor manâs dentist âŚ
Joking aside, there has been some extensive research into how and why people selected varieties and used fruit in history and I am often surprised when reading up on some old variety that Iâve spotted un-harvested by a field road and finding out that it was used in a way, that got completely obscure in modern times.
People raised near or in the tropics or closer to the equator are used to higher sugar, lower acid fruits compared to those raised in more northern climbs. Generally speaking, more sun, more warmth, more sugar. I believe that is a very important aspect to the cultures of fruit preference. It also manifests itself in the relative sweetness of desserts. The French and Danes eat lower sugar and possibly higher fat pastries than the Italians do, as a quick example of my theory. In the U.S. southerners tend to eat sweeter drinks than northerners and the common southern version of lemon-aid taste cloyingly sweet to my palate. Some versions of southern BBQ taste like meaty dessert to me.
That said, I like both sweet and sour and love my plums and pears to be as sweet as can be. Also, during late summer I enjoy very sweet apples like Sansa and Sept. Fuji. Low acid nects that exceed about 20 brix are also enjoyable and at 25 and above, quite special. They just arenât a replacement to higher acid, lower brix fruit. Furthermore, a box of Sansas will not distract me from my Esopus Spitz apples in Nov.
I also like a good home-made Baklava, but generally prefer lower sugar pastries of the French type. .
2 Likes
Yes. The best definition i have found is âThe variety known as Yellow Delicious is believed to be a synonym for Golden Delicious, possibly the result of unauthorized propagation from the original Golden Delicious tree.â from OrangePippin
Isons which everyone is fond of is one of the few nurseries that sell Yellow Delicious by name. Arbor Day website also sells Yellow Del. and not Golden Del.
Gibson/Smoothee is a mutation that some folks are fond of. Some folks call it âImproved Golden Del.â
If you read some of the old discussions Grimes Golden is superior to GD⌠but that seems to be subjective. It is supposedly the parent of GD.
Alot of discussions of old strains vs new strains. Many think the old strains are better and vice versa.
Supposedly Gibson ripens 10 days ahead of GD⌠and if you see one with a red cheek or blush it could be Gibson instead.
Back on Topic-
GoldRush may be the king of Long Keepers? I have seen nice reports that state if you can keep your hands off of them in storage until April⌠they are exceptional. Im not sure that i could though.
Lots of good reading on keeper apples.
1 Like
A subset of my just for fun apples are those said to be intensely flavored sweet/acid apples. Cornish Aromatic, Allenâs Everlasting, Sturmer Pippin, Lord Burghley for example. We will see how our hot sunny climate changes their flavor.
I can probably toss a DnD die as to what is sold as Golden Delicious in these parts of Europe.
2 Likes