October is National Apple Month which means apple picking season is here! It’s so fun to visit an apple orchard, choose which apples you want and pluck them right from the tree. There are so many varieties of apples, how do you choose? Below is a breakdown of a few varieties of popular apples.
Pink Lady
This apple is actually trademarked under the Cripps Pink variety. It’s a cross between a Golden Delicious apple and a Lady Williams apple (hence the blush color and name). It has a good balance between sweet and tart and is a great eating apple.
Granny Smith
A very old variety and widely known. This green gem has a crisp, sharp taste and is good for both eating and cooking. Try these Apple Lattice Pies for a great tasting and great looking dessert!
Honeycrisp
My favorite! The University of Minnesota has been breeding apples since the 1930s with the aim of finding an apple that can be grown in very cold weather. Enter the Honeycrisp apple, a great eating apple. But beware – these apples can be enormous, which means more calories. This variety is several things: awesome, sweet, juicy, tart AND is used in the Shock Top Honeycrisp Apple Wheat beer!
Jazz
Another favorite of mine. Its parent is the Braeburn and the Royal Gala (both of which are not my favorite, so how does that work? I have no idea.) The Jazz variety is a crisp apple with a sweet and tangy flavor, and is another trademarked apple, great for eating raw.
Red Delicious
Like the Granny Smith, this apple is old and famous. It is both mild in flavor and crispness. It’s what you think of when you think “apple”. What can you do with this apple? Make applesauce, of course! An easy way to do this is in the crockpot. Try this Slow Cooker Applesauce (No Sugar Added) recipe and let me know what you think.
For a more extensive and visual list, check out Orange Pippen’s Guide To Apples. Also check out their orchard directory to find an orchard near you.
My Favorite apples to eat are, in order: Honeycrisp, Jazz, Pink Lady. What are your favorites?