Thread: Dehydrator is full of apple slices

On Oct 15, 5:56*pm, zxcvbob <zxcv...@charter.net> wrote:
> I bought a half a bushel of Zestar! apples at the orchard last weekend
> for $10. *I wondered why they had such pretty apples being sold as
> seconds -- it was because they were overripe. *I took a bunch of the
> harder ones to work and ate them for lunches, but today I sliced and
> peeled all that were left, sulfured them, and loaded up the dehydrator.
>
> Applesauce might have been a better use for them, I don't know.
>
> I'll stop by the orchard on the way home from church tomorrow and eat a
> bunch of samples and drag home another huge bag of seconds. *A different
> variety this time; maybe Haralson or Honeygolds.
>
> -Bob

For my birthday next weekend, my husband is driving us out to Hood
River for their heirloom apple festival. Kiyokawa Family Orchards in
particular have about a dozen different varieties. I have to do a
little reading beforehand to find out the best varieties for keeping
our newly set up root cellar (aka the spare room).

This year I'm making applesauce for the first time. I thought I'd try
a few jars each of several different varieties but I don't know if the
differences will be evident after cooking (other than varying degrees
of sweetness). I've seen Zestar apples at the farmers markets but I
don't think I've tried them. Are they sweet or tart? For fresh
eating, I really like Honeycrisp. Those might make good applesauce
and butter but they are so good fresh, it seems a shame to cook them.
I'll try them out the root cellar and if they start to shrivel, turn
them into sauce or maybe fruit leather.

Beti

Beti wrote:
> On Oct 15, 5:56 pm, zxcvbob <zxcv...@charter.net> wrote:
>> I bought a half a bushel of Zestar! apples at the orchard last weekend
>> for $10. I wondered why they had such pretty apples being sold as
>> seconds -- it was because they were overripe. I took a bunch of the
>> harder ones to work and ate them for lunches, but today I sliced and
>> peeled all that were left, sulfured them, and loaded up the dehydrator.
>>
>> Applesauce might have been a better use for them, I don't know.
>>
>> I'll stop by the orchard on the way home from church tomorrow and eat a
>> bunch of samples and drag home another huge bag of seconds. A different
>> variety this time; maybe Haralson or Honeygolds.
>>
>> -Bob
>
> For my birthday next weekend, my husband is driving us out to Hood
> River for their heirloom apple festival. Kiyokawa Family Orchards in
> particular have about a dozen different varieties. I have to do a
> little reading beforehand to find out the best varieties for keeping
> our newly set up root cellar (aka the spare room).
>
> This year I'm making applesauce for the first time. I thought I'd try
> a few jars each of several different varieties but I don't know if the
> differences will be evident after cooking (other than varying degrees
> of sweetness). I've seen Zestar apples at the farmers markets but I
> don't think I've tried them. Are they sweet or tart? For fresh
> eating, I really like Honeycrisp. Those might make good applesauce
> and butter but they are so good fresh, it seems a shame to cook them.
> I'll try them out the root cellar and if they start to shrivel, turn
> them into sauce or maybe fruit leather.
>
> Beti
>

This is the first time I've tried Zestar! (I'm pretty sure the
exclamation point is part of the name) and they taste a lot like
Honeycrisp, but they obviously don't keep as well.

One of the good things about Honeycrisp is it stores extremely well --
especially for an early-season apple.

Bob

On Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:09:51 -0700 (PDT), Beti <[email protected]> wrote:

>For my birthday next weekend, my husband is driving us out to Hood
>River for their heirloom apple festival. Kiyokawa Family Orchards in
>particular have about a dozen different varieties. I have to do a
>little reading beforehand to find out the best varieties for keeping
>our newly set up root cellar (aka the spare room).

If you find them, Arkansas Black, are a long keeping apple, suitable for
baking/cooking/drying. They need some time in storage before they are
usable (too hard and green after picking).