Backyard Apples | Blue Flame Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What to do with backyard apples? ›

Applesauce is a quick and easy way to use up apples and crabapples and it freezes well. Cooking down the apples, extracting the juice and freezing it to drink or make jelly in the winter is another option. Making apple pies and freezing them unbaked is a wonderful way to stretch your harvest into the dead of winter.

The apples should be safe to eat unless you see something in the surrounding area or on the tree that would indicate otherwise. Industrial waste, a capped landfill, or an old mill might be an indication that a soil test might be needed for heavy metals.

For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

Apples on the ground may have a mould that produces the mycotoxin patulin. The toxin often occurs on apples that are partially rotted. Patulin can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

"If they are kept in cold storage, they can be good for months from the date they are picked. Once you buy them, though, they will last one week out of the refrigerator and six to eight weeks in the refrigerator."

In a Food Network article, a dietitian nutritionist said “unwashed fruit can have a significant amount of pesticide residue and potentially harmful bacteria,” and eating unwashed apples can increase the risk of contracting bacterial infections such as listeriosis.

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

A cooking apple or culinary apple is an apple that is used primarily for cooking, as opposed to a dessert apple, which is eaten raw. Cooking apples are generally larger, and can be tarter than dessert varieties. Some varieties have a firm flesh that does not break down much when cooked.

If you can't find cooking apples then a sharp green eating/regular apple is the best alternative and we usually suggest using Granny Smith apples. You should use the same amount of apple, regardless of the type.

Which apples are best for making applesauce? ›

You could also make applesauce, apple butter or apple jelly. You could put them in muffins, crumbles and cakes. You could layer them in sandwiches. You could roast them with sausages or toss them into kale salad.

They are gathered and churned into nutrient-rich compost, which is then used to fortify the orchard soil.

favourite ways to use windfall apples or thinned apples. I make use of this in a wide range of ways around my home – from cleaning, to making hair rinses, for example. Of course, we can simply leave some dropped fruits for the wildlife in our gardens. And simply to rot down and return nutrients to the soil.