How to store apples for better taste

Nothing compares to the crunch and flavor of a just-picked apple. Unfortunately, left on a countertop or in a fruit bowl, apples will begin to lose that fresh-from-the-tree taste. The good news is that by storing them properly, you can enjoy crisp, flavorful apples for months.

Here's How to Store Apples for Winter

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  1. Start with apples that keep well. Late-ripening varieties (those harvested in October) usually do best. These include Red Delicious, Ida Red, Winesap, Crispin, Stayman, Rome, Northern Spy, and Turley. You can store other apple varieties, but they won't last as long, so you'd want to use them first.

  2. Inspect all apples for bruises, cuts, bug damage and soft spots. Only perfect fruit is suitable for storage. Eat your imperfect apples, or use them to make applesauce, apple butter or pie filling.

  3. Sort the apples by size: small, medium and large. Since large apples don't store as well, this will make it easy to ensure that they get eaten first. It's also a good idea to sort your apples by variety. Different apples ripen at different rates, so if you store each variety separately, it'll be easy to eat the early ripeners first, while saving the slow ripeners for later.

  4. Place the sorted apples in boxes or baskets. To maximize their storage life, wrap each apple in a newspaper before you place it in the basket. If one apple goes bad, the paper will protect the other apples from coming into contact with it.

  5. Store your apples in a cool basement, garage, shed, fruit cellar or refrigerator. The ideal storage temperature is 30-32°F with 90 percent humidity. Apples are likely to suffer freeze damage if the temperature dips below 30°; and will ripen quickly, if the temperature rises above 40°, so do your best to match these conditions. If you have room in the fridge for them, that's really the best place for them, since you won't have to worry about temperature or humidity deviations.

  6. Check regularly for signs of spoilage, and remove any rotten apples before they have a chance to spoil the lot.

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