Freezing apples

[Wheres Toto]

We went apple picking yesterday and came home with about 10 pounds of apples. We will never eat all of them before they go bad so I'm looking for ideas for freezing them.

 

I'm planning to make apple cobbler and apple crisp. Can these be frozen in small servings after they are baked and then just heated up? or is it better to mix it up and then bake later?

 

I found suggestions for freezing apples using something called Fruit Fresh to keep them from browning. Are thawed apple slices still good to eat straight? or are they best for cooking/baking?

 

Thanks for any tips.

[Kathleen in VA]

I just processed two bushels of apples and made applesauce and apple pie filling. To keep the apples from browning too much, I just sprinkled them with lemon juice periodically as I peeled and sliced them, stirring them about a bit as I went along.

 

Apple Pie Filling

 

6 pounds apples

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Wash, peel, core and slice apples. Treat to prevent darkening. Combine sugar, flour and spices. Rinse and drain apples; stir into sugar mixture. Let stand until juices begin to flow, about 30 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. Ladle pie filling into can-or-freeze jars or plastic freezer boxes, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Cool at room temperature, not to exceed 2 hours. Seal, label and freeze.

 

(I filled up quart size freezer ziploc bags to store mine.)

 

Here's the link to the applesauce recipe I used (also stored in ziploc freezer bags).

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_4560358_applesauce-less-than-minutes.html

[Mallorie]

IMO, thawed apples are best for baking/cooking.

 

We just did apple butter and applesauce. I also cored/peeled several bags for later baking. While peeling, I have a big bowl of cold water with some vitamin C powder mixed in (about 1/2 tsp.) and put peeled slices into that. When I have the amount I want for a crisp/pie, I bag them in foodsaver bags and freeze.

 

Fruit Fresh is essentially Vitamin C powder (ascorbic acid). If you have chewable tablets, I hear you can crush them up and use dissolved in water to keep them from browning, but I've never done that. I do keep powdered Vitamin C on hand, and used that instead, and it worked like a charm.

[RoughCollie]

I just processed two bushels of apples and made applesauce and apple pie filling.

 

You are a genius! Thanks for posting the freezer-stored apple pie filling. I never would have thought of that.

 

RC

[Wheres Toto]

Kathleen - thank you for the recipe, it looks yummy. Would this filling work for a cobbler/crisp as well as a pie? (can you tell I'm not much of a cook? :tongue_smilie:)

 

Mallorie - when you put the apples in a freezer bag, do you include any of the water or just the apples? We do have chewable Vitamin C so I may try that.

[Sparkle]

I just bought 40 (!) lbs of apples. I'm going to be slicing and freezing them for pies, etc.

[Kathleen in VA]

You are a genius! Thanks for posting the freezer-stored apple pie filling. I never would have thought of that.

 

RC

 

Not a genius, actually - my brand new daughter-in-law gave me the recipe (and the apples!)

 

Kathleen - thank you for the recipe, it looks yummy. Would this filling work for a cobbler/crisp as well as a pie? (can you tell I'm not much of a cook? :tongue_smilie:)

 

Mallorie - when you put the apples in a freezer bag, do you include any of the water or just the apples? We do have chewable Vitamin C so I may try that.

 

I've never actually made anything with it, but I plan on using it for cobblers, pies, and anything else that calls for apple pie filling.

[Baseball mom]

I just peeled, sliced, put in a freezer bag and tossed bag in the freezer. I didn't really think about them turning brown. I was just using mine in pies a couple months later anyway.

 

For the pies I just took them out of the freezer and ran bag under warm water to get the slices kinda unstuck. Then tossed in my pies.

[DarcyB]

You can also use lemon juice or lime juice to help with the browning issue. You can also make big batches of applesauce and freeze it as well. Or chop and dehydrate to use in baked items and oatmeal.

[Heather in OK]

:lurk5: Just came home with 1/2 a bushel myself. All I had planned was caramel apples and apple butter.

 

Thanks for the apple pie filling recipe!!!

[qfbrenda]

Cooking the pie filling before freezing it is optional, though it will make the apples take up less space.

 

My favorite recipe follows... multiply for how many pies worth you want to freeze:

 

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter

5 cups apples, peeled and sliced

1/4 cup lemon juice

 

mix up and put in quart size freezer bags, label, lay flat to freeze

[RoughCollie]

Do you all peel the apples by hand, or do you use those things that clamp onto the counter? If you use a clamping apple peeler, do they work well? Which brand is best.

 

Thanks,

RC

[Kathleen in VA]

Do you all peel the apples by hand, or do you use those things that clamp onto the counter? If you use a clamping apple peeler, do they work well? Which brand is best.

 

Thanks,

RC

 

I did not peel the apples when I made applesauce. After they cooled down after cooking I just ran them through my food processor with the regular blade and the sauce came out very smooth.

 

For the pie filling, I peeled them by hand mostly. A friend let me borrow her apple/peeler/corer/slicer, but it worked only so-so. It was definitely not worth it for me to have to fight with the machine. I think it was a Pampered Chef peeler because she used to sell it. Other brands may work better.

[Saille]

I use the Pampered Chef corer/peeler/slicer. It works best with firm apples, but you can adjust the peeler to handle different types of apples. I had to do that for some Liberties today...they seems a bit softer than what I usually buy, but they were windfall/utility apples, so that could be it, too.

 

We are up to our ears in apples this year. I found a place that is charging me something like $4 a bushel for windfalls I pick up myself, plus we've done actual pick your own. So we've brought home about six and a half bushels of Ida Reds, Liberties, Spygolds and Cortlands. I've made apple sauce by just quartering the apples, cooking them down, and running them through the food mill. I'll mostly use that for homeschool lunches and as an oil substitute in my baking. Then I made some "pretty" applesauce using the corer/peeler/slicer. I only use cider to sweeten. I made apple-ginger marmalade, which has crystallized ginger in it and is spicy but *yummy*! And today I made seventeen quarts of pie filling, but my recipe used cornstarch rather than flour. I still have a couple of bushels left. I'm thinking about fruit leather or apple butter. They may get me back to the orchard one more time for some Pippins or Northern Spys, too.

 

LOL, I wandered and forgot to actually answer the question! I would freeze any of these once I'd cooked them, and have done so in years past. But this year, I'm canning.