Apple varieties - which apple to pick and why!

This month's notes: May 2013: The cool weather has delayed blooms and slowed growth by a couple of weeks, but don't miss strawberries: they started in most Southern areas in late April, and in late May up north. Click here for strawberry facts and picking tips, and this page for easy strawberry jam making directions. Blueberries will come in June in most areas. Of course, Florida, southern Texas, and other very warm areas are already picking both crops! See this page for hundreds of easy canning and freezing instructions/recipes, canning equipment guide! Also make your own ice cream - see How to make ice cream and ice cream making equipment and manuals. Then see each state's crop availability calendar for more specific dates of upcoming crops. Organic farms are identified in green! See our guide to local fruit and vegetable festivals!. Please tell the farms you found them here - and ask them to update their information!!

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Apple varieties - which apple to pick and why!

Due to the warmer Winter and Spring, almost all areas are seeing apples coming in much earlier in 2012 than in the table below; from 2 to 4 weeks ahead of norms. The drought has reduced the US apple crop by 15%, so expect prices to be much higher! Scroll down the page to see the chart, or click here for a PDF print version.

Name	Ripening Date Dates are approximate and vary CONSIDERABLY with weather, location and more!	Eating	Cooking	Sauce	Pie	Juice	Apple Butter	Storage
Gala	mid August to early September	Very good	X	BEST	X	X	X	Must refrigerate; even then only keeps for a few weeks
Lodi	Mid July	X		GOOD				Must Refrigerate
Mollies Delicious	August		X					Must Refrigerate
Jersey Mac	August	X	X					OK
Earligold	August	X	X	X	X			Must Refrigerate
Akane	August		X
PaulaRed	mid August to early September	X	X	X	X		X
SweeTango	mid August to early September	X		X	X		X
McIntosh	September	X		good		X	X
Ginger Gold	September
Honeycrisp	September	Very good	X	good, but watery	X	BEST	X
Jonathan	mid to late September	X	X	Very good	X	X	X
Golden Delicious	mid to late September	X	X	Very good	X	X	X	Should Refrigerate
Ultra Gold	mid to late September	X	X	X	X	X	X
Cortland	mid to late September	X		X	X	X	X
Jonalicious	mid to late September	X	X	Very good	X	X	X	Must Refrigerate
Ambrosia	mid to late September	X	X	good	X	X	X	Should Refrigerate
Red Delicious	mid to late September	X		good			X
Jonagold	mid to late September	X		Very good		X
Jubilee	Late September to early October	X	X	X	X
Mutsu, also called Crispin	Late September to early October	X	X	Very good	X		X
Keepsake	Late September to early October	X	X		X
Northern Spy	Late September to early October	X	X					Very good for storing
Shizuka	Late September to early October	X	X	X	X	X	X
Braeburn	early to Mid October	X	X	X	X
Cameo	early to Mid October	Very good	X	Very good	X		X
Rome	early to Mid October		X		X
Sundance	early to Mid October	X	X			X	X
Blushing Golden	early to Mid October	X	X		X	X	X
Stayman
Enterprise	early to Mid October	X	X
Melrose	early to Mid October	X	X	Very good	X	X	X
Stayman Winesap	mid to late October	X	X	good		X
Granny Smith	mid to late October	X	X			X
Macoun	mid to late October	X	X
Liberty	mid to late October	X	X
Pink Lady	mid to late October	X	X	good	X	X	X
Jazz	early to Mid October	X	X	Very good	X	X	X
Suncrisp	mid to late October	X	X		X	X	X
Yates	mid to late October	X	X		X	X		Stores very well
Fuji	mid to late October	Very good	X	BEST	X		X	Great keeper; stores well in garage or basement
Black Twig	mid to late October	X	X	X	X	X	X
Arkansas Black	mid to late October		Baking	too hard				Great keeper

Of course, each region of the country and each season varies. Variations in rainfall and temperature greatly affect the usual ripening date. So call ahead!

Alphabetical List of American Apple Varieties and Characteristics

Ambrosia

Sweet, crisp, aromatic flavour reminiscent of pear and low acidity.
Mostly red colouration, with yellow patches.
Flesh is cream-coloured, firm meat
Medium to large in size
Developed in British Columbia in the early 1990s.
Believed to be a cross of a Jonagold and Golden Delicious.
Ripens mid to late season

Ashmead Kernal

A small heirloom apple, covered with a thick russet, often found in Virginia, originated in England around 1700 and was brought to the United States much later.
Very sweet and acidic
Ripens from late September into October

Arkansas Black

A medium to large apple
dark purple to almost black
Very, very hard texture and an excellent keeper.
Almost too hard-textured at harvest. Best after some storage time.
Great for baking; and terrible for applesauce
A Winesap type.
Late season

Baldwin

good quality large red apple
An old variety, subject to cold injury in the winter
late mid-season
medium sweet

Blushing Golden

Medium-sized waxy coated modern yellow apple with a pink blush
Jonathan/Golden Delicious cross.
Firm flesh with flavor like Golden Delicious, but tarter.
Keeps well
Late season

Brae Burn

Rich red color with white flesh
Sweet
Best for eating
Late season

Cameo

A large, round sub-acid apple with red blush stripe over yellow.
Late ripening

Cortland

A Ben Davis/McIntosh cross
large flat, dull red apple with a purple hue and soft, white flesh
Less aromatic than McIntosh
Good keeper.
Very good in salads.
Mid season

Cox's Orange Pippin

Popular in English markets.
Medium sized, golden yellow skin, with brownish orange
often russeted.
Flesh tender, crisp, semi-tart
early

Crispin/Mutsu *

Light green to yellowish white
Sweet, rich, full flavor
Firm, dense texture
Best for: eating fresh
Mid - late season

Empire*

A McIntosh type apple
Long shelf life
Aromatic and crisp with creamy white juicy flesh.
Best for: eating fresh
Early - Mid season

Enterprise

Large, red apple
Disease resistant
Ripens 3 weeks after red delicious
Stores well, flavor improves in storage

Fuji. Fuji

Very sweet, aromatic flavor
Yellow-green with red highlights
Originated in Japan.
Best for: eating, salads, best applesauce apple
Late season

Gala. Gala

Developed in New Zealand.
Sweet, aromatic flavor
Best for: eating, salad, best applesauce apple
medium to smaller in size with a distinctive red and yellow striped heart-shaped appearance.
Early to mid season

Ginger Gold. Ginger Gold

Very slow to turn brown, so it's a great choice for apple slices.
Best for: eating, sauce, salad

Golden Delicious. Golden Delicious

Firm white flesh which retains its shape
Rich mild flavor when baked or cooked.
Tender skin
Stays white longer when cut;
Best for: salads, blend in applesauce
Early season

Grimes Golden

Firm white flesh which retains its shape
Rich mild flavor when baked or cooked.
Tender skin, with a "grimy mottled surface"; (butthere IS also Mr. Thomas Grimes, who developed the variety, see Wikipedia)
Stays white longer when cut;
Best for: salads, blend in applesauce
Early season

Granny Smith

Very tart
Bright green appearance, crisp bite and tart apple flavor.
Best for: people who like tart apples rather than sweet ones :-)
Mid to late season
Not good for applesauce unless you add sugar (or like a very tart applesauce)

Gravenstein

Greenish-yellow with a lumpy appearance
A good, all-purpose apple,
Good for applesauce and pies.

Hokuto

A Mutsu/Fuji cross
crisp texture of Fuji,
large size and shape of Mutsu,
sweet flavors
late mid-season

Honeycrisp

Introduced in Minnesota
Very sweet and aromatic
Great for juice, as it is a very juicy apple
Best for: Eating, pies, baking
Mid season

Jazz

Cross between Royal Gala and Braeburn, developed in Australia
Very sweet, more flavor than Gala
Vewry good fresh eating and applesauce, apple butter
A "Club" variety, meaning licensed with limited commercial growing, first appeared on the shelves in 2004.
late ripening

Jonathan

One of the first red apples of the falll
Sweet-tart taste with firm texturee
Light red stripes over yellow or deep redd
Best for: eating and cooking
Early seasonn

Jonalicious

Flavor like Jonathan but a little less tart and darker red skin.
Larger, crisper, and juicier than Jonathan, and a better keeper.
Slightly sour/acid balance.
early midseason

Jonamac

A medium-sized Jonathan/McIntosh cross
Sour flavored, aromatic and tender fleshed like McIntosh.
Early season, a few days prior to McIntosh.
Poor keeper.

Jonagold *

A cross of Jonathan and Golden Delicious.
Best for: eating, sauce, pies, salad, baking
Mid season

Jubilee

Best for: eating, sauce, pies, salad
Mid season

Keepsake

Best for: baking, sauces or eating raw.
Small apple with a red outer skin and a cream colored fine textured flesh.
very sweet flavor with a high sugar content

Liberty

A highly disease-resistant introduction from Geneva New York.
Liberty has superior dessert quality, similar to one of its parents, Macoun
Best for: eating, sauce, salad
flavor improves in storage
late season

Macoun

Named after a famous fruit grower in Canada
Best for: eating, sauce, salad
Very good, sweet, all-around apple

McIntosh *

Popular in America since 1811
Best for: eating, sauce, salad, good as part of a blend for applesauce
Sweet, mild flavor

Melrose

The official apple of Ohio
Similar to a Jonathan but sweeter.
Good for pies: the slices hold together in pies
Keeps well

Mutsu

Lousy name, but a great apple
It is sweet and crisp
A lot like a Golden Delicious
Best for eating fresh and it makes a great applesauce

Northern Spy

Large, high quality fruit
Good for storage
Mid-late season

PaulaRed

A tart apple with light to creamy flesh.
Good for eating, in pies and sauces.

Pink Lady

Rich red/pink color with white flesh
Very sweet and crisp
Best for eating and makes a naturally sweet, smooth applesauce and it is good in salads and pies.
A cross between a Golden Delicious and a Lady William.
Late season

Red Delicious. Red Delicious

WAS the most popular apple variety in the world! for December ades (now being replaced by Fuji and Gala)
Best for: eating, salad, very good as a base apple for applesauce
Thin bright red skin with a mildly flavored fine-grained white flesh.
Bruises easily and does not keep well.
Early to mid season
There are many, many varieties of red delicious, so there is a range of properties. Not all red delicious are the same!

Rome

Best for: baking and cooking - but not applesauce - not sweet enough, and it has a fairly bland flavor
Very smooth red apple with a slightly juicy flesh.
Very hard flesh
Mid to late season

Shizuka

A sister to Mutsu developed in Japan, with milder flavor.
Mid season.

Spartan

A cross between the McIntosh and Pippin apples.
Good all-purpose apple.
medium size and has a bright red blush, but can have background patches of greens and yellows.

Stayman
Stayman or Stayman-Winesap

Juicy, cream-colored to yellowish flesh with a tart wine-like flavor. (often also called winesap)
Good storing apple, bruise resistant, dull red coat.
Best for: Cooking, pies and cider

Suncrisp

A hard tart, long keeping apple.
Red over orange color; Golden Delicious-type
Ripens late in the season
Best for: Baking, storing

Sundance

Sweet, tart yellow apple with reddish highlights
Late season
Good for eating frssh, applesauce

SweeTango

Similar to Honeycrisp
Ripens mid August - September
Developed at University of Minnesota
Tightly licensed

Winesap.
Winesapp

Rich red color withh white fleshh
Crisp texture and juicyy
Best for cookingg
Mid to late seasonn

Yates

Rich red color withh white fleshh
Sweett
Best for eatingg
Late seasonn
Small

York.
York

Crisp and flavorful
"lop-sided" shape
Deep red with green streaks
Best for eating. holds texture during cooking and freezing

Images from the U.S. Apple Association (mostly)!

English Apple Varieties

These links take you to photos on GardenAction.co.uk

Bramley - The English gush over this apple with a fever (fevour?:) that borders on mania. It's basically a granny smith type, a higher acid content and lower sugar apple, with a stronger, more tangy taste. Bramely's are considered to be an ideal cooking apple.
Charles Ross
Crispin
Early Victoria
Early Worcester
Ellisons Orange
Epicure
Gibsons Scarlet
Golden Spire
Greensleaves
Howgate Wonder
Ingrid Marie
James Grieve
Jonagored
Jupiter
Katy
Orleans Reinette
Peasgood Nonsuch
Red Gravenstein
Red Victoria
Rev W. Wilks
Ribston Pippin
Rosemary Russett
Spartan
Sturmer Pippin
Sunset
Superb
Tydermans Late Orange
Warners King
Winston

More about apple varieties can be found:

University of Illinois Apple page

More Apple Varieties

Apple Photos
Over 100 photos of apple varieties

Apple photos and brief descriptions

Credits:

And if you are looking for shipping containers for apples and other fruit, see this page.

Home Canning Kits

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Remember to ALWAYS call the farm or orchard BEFORE you go - weather, heavy picking and business conditions can always affect their hours and crops!

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Our other free, informative sites you may like:

Care to Donate to help me keep the website going? Donate to me at Benevia here:

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Apple varieties - which apple to pick and why!

Alphabetical List of American Apple Varieties and Characteristics

English Apple Varieties

More about apple varieties can be found:

Home Canning Kits

Lids, Rings, Jars, mixes, pectin, etc.
Need lids, rings and replacement jars? Or pectin to make jam, spaghetti sauce or salsa mix or pickle mixes? Get them all here, and usually at lower prices than your local store!

Get them all here at the best prices on the internet!

Our other free, informative sites you may like:

Our other free, informative sites you may like:

Our other free, informative sites you may like:

Our other free, informative sites you may like: