Tuesday, May 18, 2010


Alphabetical List of American Apple Varieties and Characteristics 

Arkansas Black
  • A medium to large apple
  • dark purple to almost black
  • Very, very hard texture and an excellent keeper.
  • Almost too hard-textured at harvest. Best after some storage time.
  • Great for baking; and terrible for applesauce
  • A Winesap type.
  • Late season
Baldwin
  • good quality large red apple
  • An old variety, subject to cold injury in the winter
  • late mid-season
  • medium sweet
Blushing Golden
  • Medium-sized waxy coated modern yellow apple with a pink blush
  • Jonathan/Golden Delicious cross.
  • Firm flesh with flavor like Golden Delicious, but tarter.
  • Keeps well
  • Late season
Brae Burn
  • Rich red color with white flesh
  • Sweet
  • Best for eating
  • Late season
Cameo
  • A large, round sub-acid apple with red blush stripe over yellow.
  • Late ripening
Cortland
  • A Ben Davis/McIntosh cross
  • large flat, dull red apple with a purple hue and soft, white flesh
  • Less aromatic than McIntosh
  • Good keeper.
  • Very good in salads.
  • Mid season
Cox's Orange Pippin
  • Popular in English markets. 
  • Medium sized, golden yellow skin, with brownish orange
  • often russeted. 
  • Flesh tender, crisp, semi-tart
  • early
Crispin/Mutsu *
  • Light green to yellowish white
  • Sweet, rich, full flavor
  • Firm, dense texture
  • Best for: eating fresh
  • Mid - late season
Empire*
  • A McIntosh type apple
  • Long shelf life
  • Aromatic and crisp with creamy white juicy flesh.
  • Best for: eating fresh
  • Early - Mid season
Fuji.Fuji 
  • Very sweet, aromatic flavor
  • Yellow-green with red highlights 
  • Originated in Japan.
  • Best for: eating, salads, best applesauce apple
  • Late season
Gala.Gala 
  • Developed in New Zealand.  
  • Sweet, aromatic flavor
  • Best for: eating, salad, best applesauce apple
  • medium to smaller in size with a distinctive red and yellow striped heart-shaped appearance. 
  • Early to mid season
Ginger Gold.Ginger Gold 
  • Very slow to turn brown, so it's a great choice for apple slices.
  • Best for: eating, sauce, salad
Golden Delicious.Golden Delicious
  • Firm white flesh which retains its shape
  • Rich mild flavor when baked or cooked. 
  • Tender skin
  • Stays white longer when cut; 
  • Best for: salads, blend in applesauce
  • Early season
Grimes Golden
  • Firm white flesh which retains its shape
  • Rich mild flavor when baked or cooked. 
  • Tender skin, with a "grimy mottled surface; hence the name (there's no "Mr. Grimes")
  • Stays white longer when cut; 
  • Best for: salads, blend in applesauce
  • Early season
Granny Smith.
Granny Smith
  • Very tart
  • Bright green appearance, crisp bite and sour apple flavor. 
  • Best for: people who like bitter sour apples rather than sweet ones :-)
  • Mid to late season
  • Not good for applesauce unless you add sugar (or like a very tart applesauce)
Gravenstein
  • Greenish-yellow with a lumpy appearance
  • A good, all-purpose apple,
  • Good for applesauce and pies.
Hokuto
  • A Mutsu/Fuji cross
  • crisp texture of Fuji,
  • large size and shape of Mutsu,
  • sweet flavors
  • late mid-season
Honeycrisp
  • Introduced in Minnesota
  • Very sweet and aromatic
  • Great for juice, as it is a very juicy apple
  • Best for: Eating, pies, baking  
  • Mid season
Jonathan.
Jonathan
  • One of the first red apples of the fall
  • Sweet-tart taste with firm texture
  • Light red stripes over yellow or deep red
  • Best for: eating and cooking 
  • Early season
Jonalicious
  • Flavor like Jonathan but a little less tart and darker red skin. 
  • Larger, crisper, and juicier than Jonathan, and a better keeper.
  • Slightly sour/acid balance.
  • early midseason
Jonamac
  • A medium-sized Jonathan/McIntosh cross
  • Sour flavored, aromatic and tender fleshed like McIntosh.
  • Early season, a few days prior to McIntosh.
  • Poor keeper.
Jonagold *
  • A cross of Jonathan and Golden Delicious.
  • Best for: eating, sauce, pies, salad, baking  
  • Mid season
Liberty
  • A highly disease-resistant introduction from Geneva New York. 
  • Liberty has superior dessert quality, similar to one of its parents, Macoun
  • Best for: eating, sauce, salad
  • flavor improves in storage
  • late season
Macoun
  • Named after a famous fruit grower in Canada
  • Best for: eating, sauce, salad
  • Very good, sweet, all-around apple
McIntosh *
  • Popular in America since 1811
  • Best for: eating, sauce, salad , good as part of a blend for applesauce
  • Sweet, mild flavor
Melrose
  • The official apple of Ohio
  • Similar to a Jonathan but sweeter.
  • Good for pies: the slices hold together in pies
  • Keeps well
Mutsu
  • Lousy name, but a great apple
  • It is sweet and crisp
  • A lot like a Golden Delicious
  • Best for eating fresh and it makes a great applesauce
Northern Spy
  • Large, high quality fruit
  • Good for storage 
  • Mid-late season
PaulaRed
  • A tart apple with light to creamy flesh.
  • Good for eating, in pies and sauces.
Pink Lady
  • Rich red/pink color with white flesh
  • Very sweet and crisp
  • Best for eating and makes a naturally sweet, smooth applesauce and it is good in salads and pies.
  • A cross between a Golden Delicious and a Lady William. 
  • Late season
Red Delicious.Red Delicious  
  • WAS the most popular apple variety in the world! for December ades (now being replaced by Fuji and Gala)
  • Best for: eating, salad, very good  as a base apple for applesauce
  • Thin bright red skin with a mildly flavored fine-grained white flesh. 
  • Bruises easily and does not keep well.
  • Early to mid season
  • There are many, many varieties of red delicious, so there is a range of properties.  Not all red delicious are the same!

Rome
  • Best for:  baking and cooking - but not applesauce - not sweet enough, and it has a fairly bland flavor
  • Very smooth red apple with a slightly juicy flesh. 
  • Very hard flesh
  • Mid to late season
Spartan
  • A cross between the McIntosh and Pippin apples. 
  • Good all-purpose apple.
Stayman
Stayman or Stayman-Winesap
  • Juicy, cream-colored to yellowish flesh with a tart wine-like flavor. (often also called winesap)
  • Good storing apple, bruise resistant, dull red coat. 
  • Best for: Cooking, pies and cider
Suncrisp
  • A hard tart, long keeping apple.
  • Red over orange color; Golden Delicious-type
  • Ripens late in the season
  • Best for: Baking, storing

Winesap.
Winesap
  • Rich red color with white flesh
  • Crisp texture and juicy
  • Best for cooking
  • Mid to late season

Yates
  • Rich red color with white flesh
  • Sweet
  • Best for eating
  • Late season

York.
York
  • Crisp and flavorful
  • "lop-sided" shape
  • Deep red with green streaks
  • Best for eating. holds texture during cooking and freezing
Images from the U.S. Apple Association (mostly)!

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