Freezing Apples?

yoyonomoreinvegas · 08-04-2008, 12:55 PM

Do apples defrost nicely?

I have 2 apple trees that are chock full of the yummiest fruit. I have no idea what kind of apples they are - They are about the color of golden delicious but they're pretty tiny, takes 2 of them to get 1/2 cup chopped - but they are soooo tasty. My neighbors all have their own trees and the people at work get sort of wierded out by homegrown stuff

so I'm going to end up with way more than I can eat before they go bad. I know I could make applesauce but I was thinking it would be nice to have some slices left to add to my oatmeal when the weather goes cold. I've frozen lots of other fruits but never apples. Anyone ever done it? If so, do you core and slice them first or freeze them whole?

get fit in ky · 08-04-2008, 01:05 PM

I was given a couple bushels one year. I peeled, cored, and sliced them and sprinkled them with lemon juice so they didn't brown. I then froze them and used them in apple crisps. I think they'd be fine in any cooked food, they just wouldn't taste like raw apples. Much like frozen peppers or onions

Heffalump · 08-04-2008, 01:39 PM

Yeah, what get fit said. If you're like me and heat the apples along with the oatmeal, you'll end up with slightly mushier but overall yummy apple pieces (think oven-baked apple). Small pieces yield better results than slices, to my taste at least. I've frozen homemade applesauce before as well, but it tends to get terribly watery.

Wow, now you've made me miss our old apple orchard. We had several trees of heirloom varieties, including those small, crisp, delicious cider apples. Homesick now...

yoyonomoreinvegas · 08-04-2008, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heffalump

Yeah, what get fit said. If you're like me and heat the apples along with the oatmeal, you'll end up with slightly mushier but overall yummy apple pieces (think oven-baked apple). Small pieces yield better results than slices, to my taste at least.
Wow, now you've made me miss our old apple orchard. We had several trees of heirloom varieties, including those small, crisp, delicious cider apples. Homesick now...

Thanks guys. My other thought was to slice and bake them first (with a little cinnamon of course

) and then freeze so they'd be a little like pie filling. Yeah, I do heat the fruit and oatmeal at the same time - actually make up a weeks worth of oatmeal then add fruit in the morning and nuke so a little *soft* would be OK.

beautifulone · 08-04-2008, 02:05 PM

Yummy

Cut your apples up (preferably squares, but it doesn't really matter) - you can peel them or keep the peel. Put them into a pot, add water, and throw cinnamon sticks in. Now, if you have a lot of apples, I recommend a big pot and a lot of cinnamon sticks. Cook it for.. I'm not sure how long in minutes - long enough for the apples to become soft and release their flavour and for the cinnamon sticks to release flavour - so probably like 30 mins or so. It makes a delicious drink! and releases a yummy scent as it's cooking!

You can eat the apples if you like soft/mushy apples (I do). Maybe you can use them as applesauce.. I've never made applesauce so I don't know what state the apples have to be in beforehand. But if you're going to use them for applesauce, then maybe peeling would be good.

You can add sugar for sweetness, but I found that if you have enough cinnamon sticks, they take care of the sweetness and sugar is not needed. Enjoy!

kittycat40 · 08-04-2008, 03:00 PM

ooooh sounds good

tigerchic89 · 08-04-2008, 09:05 PM

I've cut up into squares, precooked, and frozen. To use as an addition where a not crisp fruit is needed.

InnerChild · 10-04-2008, 09:04 AM

Run the cored apples thru a food chopper and then cook with some cinnamon for chunky apple sauce. It will freeze and thraw wonderfully. You can eat it alone, cold or warmed, put it on french toast, add it to oatmeal, pour it over low fat ice cream etc.

PS... apples have to be cooked prior to freezing or they will unthaw and be mushy.

Ufi · 10-04-2008, 12:02 PM

We used to freeze apples when I was a kid. As I recall, we used to cut and toss the slices into a big bowl with saltwater, then quickly drain and dump them into ziplock bags for freezing. Had to work fast to not let the apples soak up too much saltwater. We later got a machine that peeled and cored them. They always tasted fine to me.

InnerChild · 10-04-2008, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ufi

We used to freeze apples when I was a kid. As I recall, we used to cut and toss the slices into a big bowl with saltwater, then quickly drain and dump them into ziplock bags for freezing. Had to work fast to not let the apples soak up too much saltwater. We later got a machine that peeled and cored them. They always tasted fine to me.

Really? They were never mushy? I must try your method and see how I like it. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Ufi · 10-05-2008, 01:16 PM

I don't recall them being mushy, but I was a kid and may not have been paying that close of attention. But I used to steal slices of apples whenever my mom would take them out of the freezer to bake a pie or something, and they tasted fine to me.

InnerChild · 10-05-2008, 02:22 PM

Alrighty then, I'm going to try slicing some up and trying it. Any idea why you put them in salt water first?

Ufi · 10-05-2008, 08:36 PM

To keep them from getting brown.

zenor77 · 10-06-2008, 12:40 AM

Depending on the variety (maybe ask a neighbor if they know what kind they are), they may keep for several months in a cool dark place. Most apples you see in the market out of season are apples they have just stored over since the last harvest. Granted, those are waxed, but even unwaxed apples will store a long time. My Aunt buys 25 lbs of jonnagolds every fall and they last her all winter (she keeps them in her shed I think.) So you may not need to freeze all of them.

http://extensionhorticulture.unl.edu...es&Pears.shtml