What to do with the skin of five apples

September 7, 2009 1:56 PM

I've peeled five apples for an apple pie, and now I'm wondering if there's anything I can use these apple skins for.

I can't find any recipes (my searches keep finding me a lot about media skins for Quicktime, though, amusingly enough).

What do you do with your apple skins, besides throw 'em out?

posted by pazazygeek to food & drink (16 answers total)

I like to try and peel my apples in one long spiral. I eat the first apple's skin slowly, nibbling it hands-free as I peel the second apple. By the time I've eaten two apple skins, I usually just compost the rest.

I bet you could puree them with some water/juice in a food processor/blender and put them in a recipe for bran muffins or something, though.
posted by fancyoats at 2:02 PM on September 7, 2009

Crispy Apple Skins.
posted by kylej at 2:07 PM on September 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

Maybe toss them in some vodka and let them steep.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:17 PM on September 7, 2009

Vodka was going to be my answer, too.
posted by veggieboy at 2:20 PM on September 7, 2009

I toss mine into the freezer along with all the veggie scraps that I save for making vegetable stock.
posted by mollymayhem at 2:31 PM on September 7, 2009

Eat them?
posted by Nameless at 2:32 PM on September 7, 2009

I hear you can use the skins (and the cores) for making beer and vinegar, but don't have a recipe.
posted by firei at 3:10 PM on September 7, 2009

If you shred the apple skins, you can use them for their natural pectin in your jam making. Something like one tablespoon per 2 cups of fruit.

As in, clean and chop two cups of fruit (like strawberries and red currants, blueberries, plums, etc.--for extra credit, lightly crush the pits of any stone fruit and drop in a muslin bag and include), boil hard with an equal weight of sugar and the apple skin, then let simmer until a spoonful dropped on a frozen plate and left to sit in the freezer for a minute doesn't recombine when you run a finger through it (remove any pits you added). Add a tablespoon of lemon juice and store in the fridge for a few weeks.
posted by J-Train at 3:53 PM on September 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

I stopped peeling my pie apples years ago. Nobody complains.
posted by rikschell at 3:56 PM on September 7, 2009 [4 favorites]

Put 'em in the worm farm.
posted by web-goddess at 4:27 PM on September 7, 2009

Oh, eat them! I love love love apple skins. The thing I love most about apples is how it feels to pierce the apple skin with your teeth, and you can fold the skins in 2 and get double the piercing sensation in one bite!! And then it's strangely satisfying the way the peel breaks if you fold it in two. And the peels have all the good vitamins.
posted by KateHasQuestions at 5:42 PM on September 7, 2009

I put them in the bottom of a roasting pan, lay a pork loin on top, put more apple peels on top. Then, roast away. I'll also sometimes stuff the loin with chopped apples and raisins that had been soaked in a white wine.
posted by onhazier at 7:09 PM on September 7, 2009 [2 favorites]

We used to take them to the petting area at the park for the animals.
posted by Taurid at 8:21 PM on September 7, 2009

Apple syrup.

3 cups water
2 cups sugar
apple peels
1 tsp lemon juice

Put all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer at 210F/98C for 10 minutes. Strain into another pan (best would be to put it through a hand-cranked food mill, scraping any pulp that gets through back into the liquid) Bring to a boil again, and reduce to two cups. Strain through a sieve and/or cheesecloth. This should yield a fairly thick syrup; use as an ice cream topping, to create deLIcious mixed drinks (with vodka maybe, yes?) or add 1-2T at a time to sparkling water for home-made apple soda.
posted by nax at 6:46 AM on September 8, 2009 [3 favorites]

Thanks for the suggestions, y'all -- LOVE the apple syrup idea -- thank you! I'll give it a shot and let you know how it goes.
posted by pazazygeek at 3:26 PM on September 8, 2009

As long as you didn't cut them too thin, they'll taste great dipped in (chunky) peanut butter.
posted by Jebdm at 5:51 PM on September 9, 2009