5 Apple Storage Tricks That Will Keep Your Honeycrisps ‘Crisp’ All Season Long, From a Food Scientist

Depending connected who you ask, there’s nary much quintessential autumnal nutrient than nan apple. (Pumpkin herb latte lovers, I spot you, too.) Whether you make an outing retired of pome picking pinch friends aliases simply banal up connected a container during your play market haul, you mightiness person rather a fewer Honeycrisps, McIntoshes, aliases Pink Ladies connected hand. Now, nan extremity is to get them to past agelong enough truthful you tin bask each past one… but really do you spell astir doing that, exactly?

Ahead, you’ll find each nan apple retention tips and tricks you mightiness person been sleeping connected for galore autumns past. Tamika Sims, PhD, elder head of nutrient exertion communications astatine nan International Food Information Council (IFIC), leads nan way.

5 pome retention tips that will thief support your autumn haul caller for ages

1. Refrigerate apples for longevity

Some of america person preferences for nan somesthesia of our go-to foods and drinks. That said, you *can* time off your apples successful a tabletop consequence handbasket if you’re not a instrumentality of chilled foods (and it’s A-okay to support them retired astatine slightest until they’re afloat ripe). However, Dr. Sims cautions that they won’t past arsenic agelong astatine room temperature. This method offers a support life of only 2 to 3 weeks, she shares, while refrigeration allows your bounty to enactment caller for astir 5 weeks—or moreover arsenic agelong arsenic two months. “Specifically, galore refrigerators person a crisper drawer that is optimal for storing fruit,” she continues. Be judge to put it to use.

2. Keep ethylene astatine bay

Apples are among nan highest producers of ethylene, an odorless, gaseous ripening agent that galore nutrient items release. It’s erstwhile that state is released that your favourite fruits and veggies commencement to wilt, spot, aliases different suffer their edibility. Apples don’t only nutrient ethylene (with varieties for illustration McIntosh producing “prodigious amounts”); they’re besides highly delicate to it. Low temperatures thief trim ethylene sensitivity, hence why refrigerating permits your apples to past importantly longer than nan alternative.

You should besides shop your apples distant from different high-ethylene producers, which see different fridge-friendly nutrient for illustration pears, peppers, cantaloupe, and kiwi. Before they chill retired successful nan crisper, abstracted them from better-for-countertop ethylene producers, including bananas and tomatoes.

You should besides shop your apples distant from different high-ethylene producers, which see different fridge-friendly nutrient for illustration pears, peppers, cantaloupe, and kiwi.

3. Be selective if slicing

Some thin to find an pome more enjoyable erstwhile it’s sliced versus whole. If you’re successful that camp, purpose to trim your apples only earlier you scheme to bask them. But successful lawsuit you person a fewer slices near complete that you don’t want to waste, container them up and put them successful nan fridge ASAP.

Apple slices will inevitably spell brownish beautiful quickly, but Dr. Sims says that this process doesn’t mean that they’re inedible; they’ll conscionable beryllium a spot unsightly. “The browning of nan pome soma is simply a earthy process that happens and isn't linked to quality,” she clarifies. Still, she offers a adjuvant hack to thief you get astir this successful lawsuit you’re redeeming your slices for astatine slightest a fewer much hours aliases until nan adjacent day: squeezing a dash of citrus aliases lime connected them, which delays enzymatic browning.

4. Freeze your apples

In lawsuit you person a ton of apples astatine location and don’t deliberation you’ll beryllium capable to make a dent connected them successful nan weeks ahead, you tin ever frost them. “They request to beryllium washed, peeled, and cored to prep for freezing,” Dr. Sims shares, estimating that they tin enactment caller this measurement for up to 8 months.

5. Bake, past refrigerate

Baking up an pome pie and person leftovers? Dr. Sims has immoderate further insights for you. “Apple pastry tin enactment caller for 1 to 2 days astatine room temperature, but nan pastry should beryllium covered aliases kept successful a container,” she shares. However, storing your pome pastry successful nan refrigerator is superior, arsenic it tin enactment caller for astir a week’s time. “You tin besides frost nan pastry successful a freezer container aliases airtight instrumentality to support nan pastry caller for 7 to 8 months,” she adds.

“[Apples] request to beryllium washed, peeled, and cored to prep for freezing,” Dr. Sims shares, estimating that they tin enactment caller this measurement for up to 8 months.

Final tips to prep your apples

Now that you’re equipped pinch nan champion ways to shop apples for highest freshness, Dr. Sims wants to guarantee that you prep them well, too. Of course, you’ll request to cleanable them.

“Apples, on pinch different fruits and vegetables, conscionable request to beryllium rinsed pinch cleanable moving water,” says Dr. Sims. “Accessing cleanable h2o is nan first measurement successful safely eliminating immoderate contaminants—including ungraded and microbes specified arsenic Salmonella and Campylobacter, which tin origin foodborne illness.” Depending connected nan value of your pat water, you whitethorn take to usage filtered h2o to rinse disconnected your apples earlier drying them pinch a cleanable (paper aliases reusable) towel and enjoying them. Dr. Sims says that you tin ever region damaged aliases bruised areas earlier digging in, which is paramount to simply tossing nan full fruit. However, “Any consequence that is showing signs of mold aliases spoilage should beryllium tossed,” she advises.

Finally, nan nutrient information master clarifies 1 misconception: that it’s safer to lavation fruits pinch soap. “Soaps and detergent tin beryllium unsafe and expose you to chemicals that are not meant to beryllium ingested,” she cautions.