Apples Gone Golden

I've never stored Golden Delicious apples long term before even though the old tree has been here for years.  We've tended to either eat them quite quickly or stew and freeze them.  Golden Delicious apples stewed with a little sugar and cinnamon are heavenly!  

This year I stored a box of them wrapped in newspaper and I've discovered they are not especially good keepers.  They're already shrivelling up somewhat and going quite soft so I'm going to stew and freeze these ones too.

What is very noticeable though is the gorgeous golden colour they have turned.  Straight off the tree and kept short term they are a rather pale, insipid green-more-than-gold colour which did always make me wonder why they called them Golden Delicious.  Now I know why!   Keep them long enough and they really are gloriously gold and delicious! 

Golden Delicious Apples

One of our old apple trees is a Golden Delicious, planted by my maternal grandfather back in the late 1940's.  I was quite intrigued to read that this apple tree has 57,000 genes,  which is the highest number of genes recorded in the plants mapped to date.

The Golden Delicious hails from Mullins Farm in Clay County, West Virginia, USA where it was unintentionally bred.  It is probably a cross between a Grimes Golden and a Golden Reinette.   Stark Brother's Nurseries obtained the rights to the tree and first marketed it in 1914.

In our orchard it's a small tree and not the most prolific but every year it produces a yield of medium sized, crisp, sweet, all purpose apples which are good to eat or use in a favourite treat such as apple crumble or apple shortcake. 

How To Store Apples

Forget the barrels! 

It took me a bit of trial and error before I learned the art of successfully storing apples.  This is how I now store mine.

Gather your apples.  Take a couple of good pieces of clean towelling material and begin to grade your apples.
When you come across a perfect apple without a bruise, cut or any other blemish give it a rub with the towel to make sure it is clean and completely dry. 

Wrap the apple up in a suitably sized piece of paper and place it in a large carton.  You can use tissue paper, white newsprint (which can be bought quite cheaply in large rolls), towelling paper or whatever else you have available which seems appropriate. 

Continue this process until you have 3 - 4 layers of apples loosely packed in a large box or carton.  Store the cartons or boxes in a cool, dry place which is insect and rodent free. 

You will need to check the apples once a week and immediately remove any apple which shows signs of moisture or rot.  This is important!  It really doesn't take long for a little rot or moisture to ruin the whole box.
  

This is another reason why it is best to pack apples in a loose, separated manner and only 3 or 4 layers deep - it is much easier to check them this way.  Our apples will last six months or more while stored - and diligently checked - in this manner. 

Sort any blemished apples such as those with bruises, marks, insect or bird damage, cuts and so on into a separate box or bucket for processing.  These apples are great to dehydrate, can or bottle, freeze or use in other ways.

Even if you don't have your own trees or access to free apples from family, friends or neighbours,  during the height of the apple season they can be bought at very good prices from orchards, supermarkets and other sellers.  In the past few weeks I've seen lovely apples available for sale very cheaply at the height of the apple season.  Buy them and store them while they're cheap!