I love Pink Lady apples. When I was young, I liked golden delicious apples, but now whenever I find them they are floury and not nice.

I hope you try this apple? Pink Ladies are very nice, but the addition of honeycrisp makes it the right balance.

Usually I buy Honeycrisp but I like Pink Lady too. A hybrid sounds delicious.

Any apple the size of your fist, more or less, is already extremely hybridized, so I wouldn't be concerned. ;) Sounds excellent! Thanks for telling us about it.

My favorites are Golden Delicious and Winesap.

Ambrosia

We usually get Fuji or Gala, but I did have an EverCrisp which was really wonderful.

I don’t regularly buy apples for us but I buy them weekly for my mom who is big on fruit. Since her shopping list just says ”apples” (or ”eating apples” when she also asks for green apples, which I find kind of funny because green tend to be our eating apples) I started by just buying a different variety here and there to see how she reacted. At various times she told me no more fuji, gala, or honeycrisp, with honeycrisp surprising me the most. Others are ”ok”. It’s possible with any of those that she just got a ”bad batch.” She’s settled in on Cosmic Crisp. Or SMIC as she writes it because that’s what the label looks like to her.

I’ll keep an eye out for Wild Crisp!

I've been buying Envy apples. My favorite for baking and sauce is Jonagold but it has disappeared from the market for the past two autumns to make way for these new apples. Envy is a cross between Braeburn and Gala. I don't like Gala and can't remember what Braeburns are like but the two make a good cross. It's a large apple, has a good balance of tart and sweet, and cooks down nicely into a golden colored sauce. I like it better than Pink Lady and Cosmic Crisp.

I'm an Envy and Cosmic Crisp fan, but I stumbled across Sugar Bee at the grocery store, and I've become hooked on them.

I too like Envy and Cosmic Crisp, especially for apple salad (Waldorf salad) and eating. Apple salad gets me to eat apples almost every day. I don't have a favorite cooking apple, I just get Granny Smith.

I saw these opal apples at Neighborhood Walmart. Didn’t need apples so I haven’t tried them yet.

Pink lady has been my favorite for long time now - since they first showed up here. Before that Honeycrisp was my fave.

I'll be on the lookout for these, thanks for the rec 🙂

Cosmic Crisp quickly became my favorite for earing this year. Some of the ones I liked in the past didn’t measure up or were unavailable this year. Envy is pretty good too. For baking I often mix a 1-2 Granny Smith with something else that is available as good for baking.

Apples can vary so much from one type to another. Everyone has favorites and in the end, they mostly all get eaten.

My favorite is the Newtown Pippin. It's an old type that was once relatively easy to find in stores but its presence has faded. Fortunately, there are a few family orchards not too far from where I live that continue to produce them. Because of the limited production, they have a short period of availability in the late summer/early fall. It's a hard, green, tart and sweet apple, superb for all types of uses.

Once on a trip to Upstate New York, I happened upon the Northern Spy apple. It's a delicious, worthy competitor to Pippins. But alas, they're not available where I live.

There are, I think, over 150 varieties of apples. Not all available everywhere. I like the heirloom apples just because they have history. I have a great produce market that often has unusual varieties and they have a chart about the best use of them.

I used to make apple pies all the time. I don't like granny smith apples. I had a Fortune apple that was great for pies. I haven't seen it again for many years.

For eating, I thought Cosmic Crisp was going to be the apple that would be great year after year but I haven't found that to be the case. Even the ones judged best for eating haven't held up for my taste but at least at the produce market I can buy even just one apple and give it a try. Of course fall is the best time to be getting local apples.

Local apples are usually quite small in size and really vary in taste.

I see you, Patriciae. With your right username.

FOAS, my read (not knowing anything about your mom) is that the differentiation isn't so much about whether or not sharp green apples are good eating, but whether her intention is to cook with them (perhaps also eating one or two if they're not required for their intended purpose), and wanting some sweeter apples for eating in contrast. Because I do that!

Unless I'm making pie or applesauce, either of which I use part granny smith, and part firm sweet apples for, I'll usually buy a variety of what the farm has on offer, which can be half a dozen or more to choose from at high season. If I'm in a store .I choose whatever is fragrant and feels nice. Other than eschewing mealy ones, and specifically wanting granny smith for pie (I'll make do with another green, but really want granny smith, not too large or too ripe), I like apples in general, snd like having each one a little different. I love trying the new varieties, but do get a favorite in a season, sometimes, if the crop is particularly good. I'll be watching out for Wild Twist,

I am still a Granny Smith old lady, love the tartness, wish it were a little moreso!

I tried Crown Royal Apple whiskey. Not sure what type of apple they use but I'm not a fan.

I hadn't heard of Wild Twist. I've grown McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Empire, Cortland, King, Russet, and Stayman Winesap, and my favorites are McIntoshes and Kings. We've lost a few trees over the years, and will be planting more this year. I'm planning to look for a Macoun, which I keep hearing is so good. I hope I can find a King. They're an old variety, and not widely available. But they're as big as they are tasty.

I’ve not had Wild Twist but will look for them. For eating out of hand I’ve come to really like Honeycrisp and Cosmic Crisp. For baking I almost always use Granny Smith.

I'm not a real apple lover, so my favorite is Red Delicious.

DH is an apple fan, and he looks forward to the Stayman Winesap which they say is after the first frost (? I'm just repeating). I know he also likes Macoun, and good ole Macintosh and Granny Smith.

I never got the tart gene. It's hanging out with the pumpkin gene that evades me as well.

Just explaining again, the name you know is not the actual apple variety. The Cosmic crisp of Today is not the same as the Cosmic crisp of perhaps last year or the year before. They constantly rejigger the genetics of apple varieties. The guy I met who worked with the state agricultural extention catered to niche markets. He had carefully catalogued apple varieties with their actual specific labels that he grafted to dwarf root stock. He sold both trees and fruit so from him you could buy the original Jonagold or what ever. It was a real eye opener for me.

New apple hybrids require a number of years, like 3-5 or more, before fruit is first produced, Add some more before the new cross is assessed and further altered, if necessary. So it's not like changing the ingredients for a package of cake mix.

Here's a bit of history about Honeycrisp that I found from a search

Serious Eats article on Honeycrisp apples

Well yes Elmer but they start working on alternatives just as soon as they have something that looks promising. This orchardist had multiple versions of Jonagold in particular. It was his example of the process.

" they start working on alternatives just as soon as they have something that looks promising."

Yes. I wanted to point out that this can be years and years after when the process first began and may conclude preliminarily years and years later after that.

Patriciae, thank-you for the Jonagold explanation! I was shocked when I ordered some and they were meh red apples, not "real" Jonagolds. Those were so good!

When I was young, the Red Delicious were both red and delicious, and the perfect size to eat after lunch. Not too sweet, not too tart, juicy and crisp but easy to bite through. I've been told those were specifically from Washington, but most of our cold weather fruit comes *came?) from Washington. We don't think of any of the West-coast "non-local" no matter the actual mileage. It's the neighbors. But what we see recently of Red Delicious is mealy, wet and tasteless. ugh.

McIntosh are my favorite, although the window of opportunity seems to be short for them. I think they are the perfect tart/sweet combination, and the skin is not tough.

@murraysmom Zone 6a OH, I get that. I love pears, and a few years ago when they brought out the new (to me) Corella/Forelle variety, I tried some and they were sooooooo good. Every year since then I've bought a couple when they come into season and every year I've been disappointed.

When I was young, the Red Delicious were both red and delicious, and the perfect size to eat after lunch. Not too sweet, not too tart, juicy and crisp but easy to bite through…. But what we see recently of Red Delicious is mealy, wet and tasteless. ugh.

Ditto.

Envy is now my choice. Earlier selections were Cosmic Crisp, Fuji, Red and Golden Delicious. I will look out for Wild Twist.

I knew someone who married into a family that were eastern Wa agribusiness and they grew red delicious. An apple I did not like as it had bitter tough skin and mealy flesh. This person brought a couple of boxes of huge beautiful fruit intended for the upscale Asian gift market. She had married into this family and had snagged a couple boxes of these seriously expensive boxes of fruit out of storage in total ignorance of what she was doing. She offered it to the group and I took I think three apples. No one wanted them because we had a bad vision of the fruit. They were huge, very red and beautifly shaped. Well they tasted wonderful! I was so grieved I hadn't taken more. They were what Red Delicious were supposed to be. They must have had older trees. Great cantaloupes as well.

I remember when Granny Smiths first came on the scene here, back in the mid 1970s, and they were so much more flavorful than what's in the stores nowadays. They were smaller too, with some russeting, and nicely sweet/tart and crunchy. Now they all just seem sour yet bland.

MacIntosh are so good when very fresh, but get mushy and lose flavor so quickly. I hate mushy apples.

Carol, the granny smiths I buy in California (though I don't know where grown) sound like your befores.

There are so many factors affecting fruit like the weather. I agree with you all saying how they change over the years.

What I really regret is the loss of so many orchards. I love an orchard. It's a dream of mine to plant one. There's something magical about sitting under a fruit tree and nibbling on its gifts.

I agree with salonva....I liked Red Delicious best, but that was years ago when they were large and sweet, but not tasteless and sort of watery. The closest I found to the apples I loved as a child, were some organic Red Delicious that I found at Central Market (which is part of HEB chain) in Houston, but I never get to Houston any more, since moving to East Texas.

We do have HEBs here, so I will look, but most of the Red Delicious are small and not delicious. Right now I have 5 bags of Gala. The horses and donkeys like them, but I don't.

I am fussy about apples. I get a terrible aftertaste from the majority of them, particularly the sweeter varieties. The only ones I buy at the store are Pink Lady and McIntosh for eating and Granny Smith for baking. Once in a blue moon I'll buy Golden Delicious, those are sweeter but I don't get an aftertaste from them.

I just saw the Wild Twist at the grocery yesterday, I had never heard of this one. I might try just one next week while I'm out on my grocery run just to try it, since it's a cross with Pink Lady. But I do not like Honeycrisp....at all...so I don't know...

I put in a handful of apple trees at home. McIntosh of course, but also Early Pink Lady, Northern Spy, Akane, and Rubinette. I'm taking all of them on faith except the McIntosh, having never tasted any of them besides Mac. I made my choices based on descriptions stating they are a balance of sweet-tart leaning more toward tart, pollination window, and growing conditions. Early Pink Lady is supposed to be a sport of the original that ripens earlier, but only time will tell if that bears out and whether the fruit is indeed the same as the original (some apples ripen too late for us here in the Midwest, Pink Lady being one of them).

Islay Corbel, your comment about sitting under the trees reminded me of the fun times we had riding the horses up to the apple trees and then we were high enough to get the apples and low enough for the horses to join us!

Corbel’s comment about sitting under the apple trees reminds me of Isaac Newton apple story occurred in 1666 in his own orchard. The falling apple led him onto discovering the universal law of gravity, and how the earth keeping the moon in its orbit.

Mutsu ( Crispin) out of N GA. Until the last year or so it was an outstanding apple. Then it started being mealy. We only buy Pink Lady . I used to love Honeycrisp but it is 2x as expensive as Pink Lady now for some reason besides we like PL best anyway.

lisa_fla mentioned Opals. This was part of an email from thekitchn.com this morning.

Opal Apples

Depends on what I'm doing with them. For fresh eating I want the Red Delicious off my own tree, fresh and crisp. Let it sit for a week and it becomes mealy and it's fodder for the cider mill.

For applesauce I like a mix, but MacIntosh has to be in there for the texture. For pies I want Northern Spy but a nice Ida Red will do.

A farm stand near here has many heirloom varieties, from Chenango Strawberry to Ashmead's Kernel. I like to just buy one of a couple and try them, but none of them are hybrids and many are on the smaller side. I ought to start seeds from the ones I like I guess.

Annie

Level of sweetness vs tartness is dependent on my mood, but I like a crisp texture.

Granny Smith - really tart

Sweetango - nice bite mixed with some sweetness

Pink Lady, Wild Twist and Cosmic Crisp are my ideal balance of tart and sweet

Honey Crisp - a bit sweeter

EverCrisp an Ludacrisp are the sweetest.

For pie my go to for a sweet PA Dutch Apple Pie is Golden Delicious although I also like the more tart Granny Smith flavor. Often I will mix the two plus any other apples I have on hand.

My sister and I did some taste tests when we had the family Thanksgiving gathering this year. We both wanted to try pre-cooking the apples in the sous vide.

I shared the recipes and results with my co-workers and have pasted that document below in case anyone is interested. Again, this is based on my families responses - your family may have different preferences.

Apple Pie Taste Test: Results & Recipes

For this year’s Thanksgiving meal, my sister and I baked six apple pies using two different crusts and two varieties of apples, incorporating a new method of pre-cooking the apples.

We began by preparing the filling, using our basic pie recipe. Instead of pre-cooking the apples on the stovetop, we opted for the sous-vide method.

Why do we pre-cook our apple pie filling? Apples shrink as they bake which can leave you with an underfilled pie and a gap between the crust and filling. Pre-cooking prevents this by reducing shrinkage, stabilizing the pectin so the apples hold their shape instead of turning mushy, and cooks off excess juices to avoid a soggy bottom crust.

For our test pies, we chose Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples. Granny Smiths are firm and tart, while Golden Delicious are softer and much sweeter—two very different personalities in the apple world!

We made 3 fillings:

Pie 1: A mix of ¾ Golden Delicious and ¼ Granny Smith

Pie 2: All Golden Delicious

Pie 3: All Granny Smith

The verdict?

Most people loved the mixed pie (Pie 1) - it had the perfect balance of sweetness and a bright pop of tartness.

The all-Golden Delicious pie was classic and sweet, just what you’d expect from a traditional PA Dutch apple pie.

The all-Granny Smith pie was good, but was pretty tart. Far less sweet than a traditional apple pie. Adding ¼ cup of brown sugar would have rounded out the flavor, but it is a nice variance from the traditional flavor profile.

Side note: I love using ½ Granny Smith apples ½ Bosc pears (using just ¾ cup brown sugar and no white sugar) when pears are in season—it’s a fresh, flavorful twist on the classic apple pie!

Pie Filling:

8 cups apples peeled and sliced (1/4 inch slices)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Dash salt

3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp Tapioca (instant/quick cook tapioca)

*Tip - To keep apples from browning I toss my apples in a bowl with 2 cups water and 2 tbsp lemon while cutting and drain off the water before adding other ingredients.

In past years, we pre-cooked the apples on the stovetop. It works, but you have to keep a close eye on the sugar to avoid burning, and the results can vary depending on how well you manage the temperature.

This year, we switched to the sous-vide method—and wow, what a difference! It’s practically foolproof. The apples came out with perfect texture: soft, yet still holding their shape, so every slice of pie had beautiful, whole pieces of apple

Sous-vide method

1. Mix all ingredients, seal in two bags and sous-vide at 160 for 60 minutes.(Allow water to reach 160 degrees before submerging bags)
2. Strain the apples to separate the apple from the juices. (Keep both)
3. Reduce the juices by about ½ by heating in a 10” pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until your spatula pulls the liquid away and it takes a moment for the space to fill with the remaining juices – thick gravy consistency, pourable but sticks to the spoon.
4. Combine back with the apple pieces and let cool before filling crust.

Dutch Oven or stovetop method

Mix all the ingredients except the tapioca and butter

1. Melt the butter in the bottom of the Dutch oven or saucepan
2. Sauté the apples for 8-11 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the apples start to soften and release their liquid
3. Pull it off the heat, add the tapioca and let it hydrate in the juices for about a minute
4. Return the saucepan to the heat and continue to cook, stirring constantly for about 1 minute until the liquid becomes a gooey syrup.
5. Cool before filling the crust

While the apples were in the sous vide we prepared our pie crust.

We tested two crusts: our tried-and-true buttery pie crust and a sweet pie crust. The verdict? The sweet crust stole the show—it was the clear winner in our taste test!

Sweet Pie Crust

3 cups flour

½ cup sugar

2 sticks butter-chilled (salted) – Add ½ tsp salt if using unsalted butter)

1 egg yolk

4-6 Tbsp ice water

1. Combine 2 cups flour, sugar.
2. Add butter, work quickly with fingers
3. Add final 1 cup flour. Mix quickly. Do not overwork the dough.
4. Combine egg yolk and water (4-6 Tbsp ice water)
5. Mix water with crust until crumbly but holds together
6. Divide in two, cover with saran wrap and rest in refrigerator for 10 minutes to 1 hour
7. Roll both crusts between waxed paper
8. Assemble pie bottom.
9. Fill pie and top with second crust (I typically do a lattice top)
10. Vent top crust then wet with water and sprinkle with a bit of sugar
11. Bake pie at 350 degrees F.
12. Tent crust when it looks like sugar is going to burn, start checking at 30 min
13. Continue to bake for a total of approximately 1 hour
14. Pie is done when the filling is bubbling and thick (Internal Temperature of 200 degrees F.)

Traditional Butter Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups flour

½ tsp salt ( 1 tsp if using unsalted butter)

2 sticks butter-chilled (cubed ¼ inch cubes)

4-6 Tbsp ice water

*** add ½ tsp salt if not using salted butter.

1. Mix flour and salt
2. Work butter into flour using hands or pastry blender leaving some pea sized chunks of butter.
3. Mix water with crust until crumbly but holds together
4. Divide in two, cover with saran wrap and rest in refrigerator for 10 minutes to 1 hour
5. Roll both crusts between waxed paper
6. Assemble pie bottom.
7. Fill pie and top with second crust
8. Vent top crust if not using lattice top
9. Bake pie at 425 degrees F for 15 min.
10. Reduce heat to 350 for an additional 30-45 minutes.
11. Add shields to the edges if they are getting too dark.
12. Pie is done when crust is golden, and the filling is bubbling (Internal Temperature of 200 degrees F.)

^^ A warm, fresh-baked apple pie sounds so good right about now. I think I'd probably like filling #1 the best, too -- but I wouldn't turn my nose up at any of them. :0)

I tried one Wild Twist yesterday. Pass. It was rather bland compared to Pink Lady, and I got a bit of an aftertaste from it -- not too bad but enough to put me off it. To its credit, it was nicely crispy and crunchy, I did like the texture. But no, it's not an apple for me.