Apple Varieties and Equivalents in Recipes
Learn About Apple Varieties and How Many to Use in Cooking
Nov 5, 2009
Apple season in the United States comes around the end of September until the beginning of November in cold areas. This is always a great time of year when the air is crisp just like the apples that are being picked at the time. Apples have been a staple of the human food chain since ancient days. The ‘tree of good and evil’ in the Bible of Adam and Eve fame is suspected to be an apple tree and that fruit Eve took a bite out of and changed everything was an apple. Apples are still tempting today and there are so many varieties that have different textures and flavors, it is hard to pick just one favorite.
Some apple varieties are great for eating while others are best for cooking. The texture of a cooking apple must be rather firm so it will stand up in the heat of an oven and not turn into mush. Most cooking apples are also more tart than eating apples, but to some people that tartness is what they look for in an eating apple as well. The texture of an eating apple can be softer.
Varieties of Apples
Eating apples can come in both red and yellow or a combination. The following are some of the better varieties of eating apples:
- The Delicious Apple comes in Red Delicious or Golden Delicious. These apples are usually large with six small knobs at the bottom. The color is a dark red with some darker stripes for Red Delicious and a golden yellow with some speckles for Golden Delicious. The flavor is very sweet. The season runs from October to the first part of spring.
- The Winesap is a beautiful looking apple. It is really red and is best eaten raw. It lasts a long time and can be found in the supermarket from November all the way to June.
- Gala Apples are great for eating and a good apple to include in the kid’s lunchbox. They are a little smaller so small hands can grab them better and the skin is thin so it isn’t as hard to bite into them. They have a mellow, somewhat sweet flavor making them a favorite of kids everywhere. They are available from September to June but can be found most of the time.
- The Transparent Apple is good for eating and a great one for making apple sauce. It ripens early, in July or August. The skin is usually yellow and the skin a milky white. This apple is also sweet.
- The Cortland apple is very versatile and can be used for either eating or cooking. For those that like a little tartness this is the apple for them. The flesh of the apple is snow white and beautiful while the outside is a mottled red. They retain their white color much longer than other apples do even without adding lemon juice to prevent browning. You can find them at the grocery from September to April.
- The Jonathan variety is round, bright red with yellow stripes. It ripens in September to December and is a great cooking apple. The flavor is nicely tart and the texture is relatively firm. Use this apple variety for cooking or eating.
- The McIntosh is the most popular cooking apple but it is good eaten raw too. There are several varieties of McIntosh but the most popular is a crimson color with yellowish green mixed in. This apple keeps forever and has a very long season.
- Another good cooking apple with a tart flavor is the Rome Beauty. This apple is yellowish green with red markings and it runs from November to March.
Apple Equivilants to be Used in Recipes
Many recipes call for 1 cup of apples but how many apples are you going to have to use to get that one cup. The following are some nifty apple equivalents so you won’t have to guess anymore.
- 1 large apple = 2 cups sliced or chopped, or 1-1/2 cups finely chopped, or 1-1/4 cups grated, or ¾ cup of sauce.
- 1 medium apple = 1-1/3 cups sliced or chopped, or 1 cup finely chopped, or ¾ cup grated, or ½ cup sauce.
- 1 small apple = ¾ cup sliced or chopped, or ¾ cup finely chopped, or ½ cup grated, or 1/3 cup sauce.
- 1 pound of apples = 4 small apples, or 3 medium apples, or 2 large apples.
- 1 – 9 inch pie will take 2-1/2 pounds of sliced apples = 4 to 5 large apples, 6 to 7 medium apples, or 8 to 9 small apples.
- A peck of apples = 10-1/2 pounds
- A bushel of apples = 42 pounds of apples
Use the varieties of apples above and many more for eating and cooking apples. Use the best ones for the right receipes then go to the equivialents to find out how many apples you are going to need to fulfil the ingredient requirements of the recipe.
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