Tips for Selecting the Perfect Apple

Pick up the apple and feel the fruit’s skin. You can even gently press a small area of the skin to make sure it’s firm to the touch. Avoid apples that are noticeably soft, mushy, or indent easily after you press the skin. These aren’t necessarily bad apples but won’t be the best from a fresh eating standpoint. Instead, use softer apples for blending in a smoothie, making into a fresh juice, or when making homemade applesauce.

As you check firmness, turn the apple completely in your hand to visually check for quality. Some marking on the fruit (like a scuff or specks) comes from nature and doesn’t signal a bad apple. However, apples with bruising or obvious signs of decay aren’t going to provide the best eating experience and should be avoided if you plan to bite or slice into the apple.

With so many apple varieties available today (and more coming out all the time), you’ll want to get to know the characteristics of your favorites, including their color, size, shape, and overall appearance. You’ll quickly learn which apples are best for baking (Golden Delicious apples, Pinata® apples) and which are better for fresh eating (Honeycrisp apples, SweeTango® apples). There are also versatile apples that are great no matter how you plan to enjoy them (like Piñata apples, Pink Lady® apples, and Fuji apples). Selecting an apple that best fits how you’ll use them at home is essential in having a great apple eating experience!

Believe it or not, color is not the best indicator of a great tasting apple, yet it can be helpful when selecting this fruit. For red varietal apples, look for the green background to be covered mostly by red or pink-orange hues. Apples with full color have absorbed lots of sunlight and that leads to great flavors. Lower colored apples have a use at home too. They are the ones you want to cook with since color won’t matter in a finished dish.

A fresh, high-quality apple should have a pleasant aroma. This will vary by variety with some apples (like Gala) having a stronger fragrance than others.