The spoils of apple picking: how to store?

Came home today from an apple picking trip to Indiana. Always a treat to bite into something that was living on a tree just a few moments before. Don't get to do that often enough.

But now, with many pounds of fruit, I'm wondering about the best storage method to get the most mileage out of them. I suspect it'll mean dedicating the crisper drawer of the fridge -- but in plastic bags? paper?

(Bonus tip: In researching this a few minutes ago, I came across a 1999 Cook's Illustrated article that found potatoes last much longer without sprouting if you stash one apple in the potato bag. Doesn't really help me here, but interesting nonetheless.)

Sassafrass,

One thing I've learned since moving to Sweden is that (over here, at least) there are different types of apples. What I've come to learn is that these types differ primarily in their ripening times.

We were lucky enough to purchase a house with three apple trees representing three different types of ripening times.

Our "Transparent Blanc" tree has edible apples in August. It is considered a "summer apple" tree and the fruit is heavily scented (smells like flowers) and thinly skinned. They bruise easily (they don't even survive a fall from the tree) and the flesh turns mealy even over the course of a day as they go from ripe to over-ripe. It's a wonderful tree with wonderful, perishable fruit that you will never find in a store or market.

Our "Maglemer" tree has small, red-striated apples that don't ripen until October. They do, however, ripen on the tree and cling to the branches until December. Maglemers are sweet, tart and crisp although their skin is tougher than Transparent Blanc.

Our "Antonovka" tree produces apples that are built to last. The skin is thick and waxy and the apple, when ripe and freshly picked is sour and hard. Antonovkas are great for baking and applesauce but really aren't good eaters until they've spent a few days indoors.

There are even varieties (Cox Orange Pippins, for example) that really aren't too tasty until they've aged and mellowed for a few months indoors. Cox Oranges are traditional on the Swedish Christmas dinner table as that's when they've finally gotten to their best stage after a few months of indoor aging.

These apples are best aged in a cool, dark place. Wrap each apple in a sheet of newspaper and pack them loosely, three or four layers deep in a cardboard box. The cardboard box(es) can be kept in an unheated basement (probably a little too warm, though), on a balcony or in the garage. The apples will survive down to, say, the mid to upper 20's, but should be protected (i.e., moved) during cold snaps.

A well-kept winter apple picked in October/November and stored correctly will still be edible and tasty up until Easter or so. They won't be as crisp as when picked (often not a problem as they can be hard as rock when picked...) but they will be sweet, fragrent and full of memories!

After having finished off a half-bushel of Wisconsin apples in about a week (lots of sauce, apple crisps, baked applets, etc.), I'm headed back up to Wisconsin later today, and one of my goals is to bring back a bushel for winter storage.

All the suggestions proposed are reasonable...but I'm not sure I see how they're varmint proof. Storing in the garage is an invitation to have apples eaten by rogue bands of raccoons and others and in the house, I'm sure the stash would be subject to raids by random rodents (every winter we get maybe three).

My best option seems to be to put them in an extra refrigerator and maybe turn up the temp (regular refrigerator temp seems too cold).

After picking 15 lbs of apples, a friend just stopped by with maybe 10lbs of pears. I decided on pear butter and brandied apple slices (which I think will work their way into pies someday) I also plan to do what I did with strawberries: make a pie filling and freeze it in a pie tin, so it's ready to go when I have a hankering for pie. While it's nothing like fresh, everything I've preserved this year is so, so much better than what you can buy.

Even though we have a basement, it doesn't get cold enough to be appropriate for fruit storage.

Our Swedish friend is correct, the first key in apple storage is to have apples that are suited for storage. For the most part, the apples NOT suited for storage have come and gone, the Lodi and Transparants. Still, this season has a real ringer out there, as LAZ mentioned, I believe, in another thread, the McIntosh. The best advice, I believe, as to whether you have the right keepers is to ask the farmer. He or she will know which ones are best for the long run.

In the other apple thread, LAZ (I think) also added, "these days who needs to put away their own apples." I never got around to answering that, but there are three responses: first, if local food is important to you, for whatever reason, you want to ensure your supply of local food; second, if you want access to the best and most varied apples, now is the time to get them. There will be apples in the markets for many months ahead, but over time, you choices become quite limited--red delicious anyone? Finally, as I will soon write on thelocalbeet.com, apples are at their cheapest now. Caputo's has 1/2 bushels of Michigan apples for $14. At the OP Farmer's Market the other day, we picked up the same size of Mutsu's (excellent for baking) for the same price. So, there are very good reasons to get many apples now.

There are two keys to apple storage, cold and moisture. I will say, however, that in my experience, and I have stored apples for extended periods, that apples are one of the more lenient foods to store. Apples are a bit more forgiving than say some root veg. See if you can find anyplace decently cold, and you will be OK. As Michelle notes, basements just do not quite cut it, cold-wise. As the cliche reminds, it is important to visit one's stored apples to find the one bad apple that will spoil the bunch. A bit of vigilance is needed when storing foods.

In our bungalow, we have an un-heated attic. That's turned out to be a great storage area. The rising heat of the house keeps it below freezing, even in deep winter, but it is plenty cold. Other options include window wells, and in the stairwells just outside basements. Here, you will have a bit of heat to counter-balance our winter. If you keep the food in coolers or whatnot, you can keep out vermin and also move the stuff around if things get truly frigid.

I think with a little ingenuity, cold storage is possible, even in our modern dwellings, and there are good reasons to put things to storage.

PS
Pears store well too, but I would use a fridge. They are not quite as forgiving.

I would store them between two crusts.