The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Fruit => Topic started by: Muc on September 03, 2009, 12:01:24 pm
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Has anyone successfully kept apples through the winter? I've read about wrapping them singly in paper and lining them up on a shelf in a cool shed but does it work?
Can they be frozen whole or do they have to be stewed first?
I've tried chutney - not too appetising - and the frozen stewed stuff makes terrible apple tart. Cider looks like too much work and a lot of equipment.
I'll stop whinging now but would appreciate ideas.
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don't know if whole apples will freeze I'm afraid.
But how's about making apple pie, eve's puddings, apple muffins etc and freezing them instead ? :yum:
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I froze apples I got last year but haven't had time to check them out yet. I would think they'd be good for stewing, crumbles, pies and tarts.
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We made 12 jars of apple sauce yesterday and now have 12 gallons of apple juice with another barrowful of apples to do this evening. :)
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Hello Muc
You can store apples wrapped in newspaper seperately, then stored on lats, like the old
shelfs that you used to have in airing cupboards (Hot Presses).
You can buy units but they are easy to make out of 2 by one. Ours is about five feet high
and has roughly 8 trays in it.
You can store other vegetables as well - the shelving has to be kept in a dry, airy room, damp
will spoil the apples. We used to keep ours in a large porch area that was open to one side all the time.
You could also core the apples, and chop them into slices, and dry them in the oven, or above an Aga.
Google drying apples or preserving food. I have a good book on this but just can't put my hand on it
at the moment
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Thanks guys. I'll try some of those tricks.
I did find an American website where they recommend storing fruit and veg in the 'root cellar' under the house.
They obviously don't have to contend with damp. If I had a cellar, I could keep fish in it.
Better go and start harvesting as there is a break in the rain.
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WE stored cookers and eaters that way alst year - the cookers kept until March! but the eaters got a bit soft. They tasted OK but the texture was poorer.
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You could try making 'apple cheese'. Its like very sweet stewed apple. You can add spices to the mix (cinnamon, etc.) if you want and use it as a sweet. It keeps for a long time if kept dry (e.g. in a jar). There was a recipe in the Times a while back:-
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article2569447.ece
Or try googling 'apple cheese'
If cider looks like too big a job, you can make some apple juice and save buying it from the supermarket. However, it doesn't keep more than a couple of days unless you add chemicals or cook it and even then it is prone to fermenting if any yeast gets in.
If you have a regular source why not invest in the kit to make cider. You need something to serve as a press. You can make or buy as you prefer and then use beer making kit to do the fermentation. I use cans of apple syrup and make a reasonable cider but have planted a dozen apple trees this Spring in the hope of having enough to make a stock of cider as well as having apples for eating and cooking.
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I once wrapped about two hundred apples in tissue. when I went to get them in February, Mice had eaten into every one! I find that if you quarter them and poach them in a little syrup, you can pack them into jars and freeze them ( the apples that is, not the mice!) they make lovely pies in the depth of winter.
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Mmmm. Mouse tatin. Lovely ;D
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That sounds good, Sheila. I assume they still have a bit of crunch left in them.
The problem with stewing, pureeing and even freezing is that you end up with mush, which isn't any good for apple tarts. And apple tart is the only reason for growing apples :yum:
Okay, apart from cider...and apple juice...and apple sauce on the pork...
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12 apples pies today, made and frozen.
kevin
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Tried stewing them and then bottling them? (Kilner jars).
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can't you freeze tarts?
We wrapped all our cookers todays and hopefully found a rat free dry dark room to store them in, hoping the pigs and horses will enjoy them thru the darker months.
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you can dry them in slices, nice snacks. Either in a low oven or a dehydrator (food dryer), suppose an airing cupboards would do, too.
fruit leather
jelly or butter (cloudy jelly ;D)
I freeze mine only lightly stewed for tarts with sugar and cinnamon already added, nice!
mincemeat
:yum: :&>
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I freeze apples in slices, after putting them in cold water with the juice of a lemon (to stop discolouring) for a few minutes. Drain, pat with kitchen roll and open freeze then remove and put in plastic bags in pie/crumble amounts and put back in freezer.
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Hello
Apples freeze very well when sliced and coated in lemon juice to stop them going brown. Also, pies can be made and cooked before being frozen. Have you tried apple jelly? Really easy, no need to peel or core apples. Loads of recipes on google search. Chilli apple jelly is really good, as is mint and sage. Try experimenting. I made apple and sloe this year and its great as a glaze for roasting meats and with duck.