Always always eat green green apples. Unless they're organic.

October 13, 2009 8:55 AM

Why do organic Granny Smith apples so often taste so crappy? How can I pick better ones?

Okay, Granny Smith apples are the ONLY KIND of apples I like. Seriously. This is something I know and accept about myself. The tartness, the texture, the crunchy. So good. Except, you know, apparently conventionally-grown apples are full of pesticides. So sometimes I try to buy organic Granny Smiths and they are almost always MUSHY and NOT TART and it kills my green apple buzz. 9 times out of 10, I'd say. Often enough that I've returned to the pesticide alternative, where a bum apple seems to be much rarer.

Why is this? Is there some way I can, like, know at the store whether an apple is going to be crappy or not? Should I just eat the conventional ones?

posted by liketitanic to food & drink (20 comments total)

I could have written this question. I've switched back to conventional ones only.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 9:06 AM on October 13

Maybe this has something to do with eating apples that are out of season and have been stored? I used to love Galas but they tend to suffer badly from the mushy/chalky texture problem brought on by long storage.
posted by Big_B at 9:12 AM on October 13

Probably they're improperly stored. The ones off our tree in our yard which don't get sprayed (and are thus wormy, just cut that part out) are fine. Apples only ripen during a short period and they have to be stored under specific conditions to stay good all year long. The people who store/handle/ship the organic apples may not be doing it quite right.
posted by GuyZero at 9:13 AM on October 13

In many cases organics are shipped much further than conventional produce, and so they have to be either harvested earlier or be sold past their prime, both of which could be causing the problems you describe. I recently bought some organic honeycrisps (because they were the only ones in the store and I have been waiting all year to get some) that were as good as conventional ones. You might want to look and see where they are coming from and try to find some that were grown as close to you as possible.
posted by TedW at 9:17 AM on October 13

It's peak harvest time for Granny Smiths right now in the US, so up until now you may have been eating last year's apples.
posted by zsazsa at 9:21 AM on October 13

Can you pick your own at a farm or buy some local apples from a farmer's market? This is pretty much the only way I get apples or tomatoes now. I have to adjust my diet depending on the time of year, but it's worth it.
posted by oinopaponton at 9:27 AM on October 13

If you're buying apples out of season, tap the side of the apple. Flicking it with your thumb so the fingernail hits is squarely is a good technique. Good ones will sound hollow while mealy ones will sound dense and dull.
posted by crush-onastick at 9:32 AM on October 13

In many cases organics are shipped much further than conventional produce

I think this may play a large part of it. Also, try Empire apples if you can find them- I find them similar in flavor to Granny Smiths, but with a slightly more "fruity" flavor.
posted by mkultra at 9:40 AM on October 13

Mushiness suggests poorly-timed harvesting or storage, but fruit is just plain difficult to grow for commercial yield and quality as the harvest from our backyard apple tree has made clear. So your options right now, in peak season, are to find growers that supply local markets and use minimal spraying, or to pick your own. And to buy in sufficient bulk when they're cheapish so that throwing away the occasional bad one doesn't feel like a waste.

We're heading to the orchards this weekend to pick our own. (Mm, Arkansas Blacks.)
posted by holgate at 10:13 AM on October 13

Honeycrisp = da bomb. For real. You'll never go back. Expensive, but worth it. Try one.
posted by dave*p at 10:14 AM on October 13 [1 favorite]

Seconding dave*p on the Honeycrisp. I'm quite literally eating one right now (trying to keep apple juice off the keyboard when I bite into the apple).

If you won't switch varieties, and the organics taste bad, do what I do: Buy organic when you can, but opt to buy local for things that are grown locally. For example, a store in town carries organic Washington Honeycrisp apples - but why the hell should I buy them, in Minnesota, when I can get standard Honeycrisps fresh from any number of orchards within a 20 mile radius of home? Lots of stores these days have signs touting locally grown produce - look for those first and organic second.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:29 AM on October 13 [1 favorite]

Major grocery chains are sometimes the worst places to buy local produce. In Ontario you can never get an Ontario apple at Loblaws, stupidly. Definitely look for smaller produce stands or farmers' markets for local apples.
posted by GuyZero at 10:35 AM on October 13

Except, you know, apparently conventionally-grown apples are full of pesticides

Do you have any evidence that the minute levels of pesticides on apples are harmful to you? The FDA, who regulates the amount of pesticides that can be used, bases it's decisions on scientific evidence about the potential effects of various chemicals.

If you're eating organic because you believe in sustainable agriculture, that's one thing, but if you're doing it because of some amorphous fear of pesticides, don't bother. (You should also be aware that organic doesn't always mean pesticide-free.)

Go eat the regular apples, and spend your time worrying about one of the 10,000 other things that's far more likely to kill you.
posted by chrisamiller at 11:59 AM on October 13

Nah, Honeycrisps won't satisfy people who want the late-season zing of a Granny. They're fine in August/September (and we bought by the peck) when they're the pick of the early crop, but they're very polite apples. There are tart rivals to the Granny that are grown in smaller quantities and won't suffer the same consequences of mass production, but again, the orchards or farm stands are your friend.
posted by holgate at 12:02 PM on October 13

Some apples are just meant for baking, and some just for eating out of hand. Granny Smith is one of the crossover kind, meaning it is supposed to be good both ways. But it sounds like you are getting ones that would taste better in a pie.

Maybe have yourself an old-fashioned apple taste test? Get one of each variety that is meant to be an "eating apple." Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, etc.
posted by Knowyournuts at 12:32 PM on October 13

chrisamiller, apples are routinely part of the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen" of produce to buy organically because of pesticide levels in conventionally-grown fruits and veggies. All that seems to mean is that their tests detected pesticides (methods here) but I've been using it as a rule of thumb. Maybe I don't need to?
posted by liketitanic at 12:45 PM on October 13

And the health benefits - separate from pesticide use - of organic have been found to be insignificant to non-existent also.
posted by wackybrit at 1:42 PM on October 13

The "organic" tag means absolutely nothing with regards to pesticide use, other than defining which pesticides they may use. Indeed, organic growers often use more pesticide, since the chemicals they use are not as effective as the synthetic pesticides. That second link actually mentions that apples are some of the worst things you can buy organic, as they're high-maintenance and so require a lot of the pitiful organic pesticides.

Organic farmers are also allowed to do just exactly the same things as conventional farmers, so long as they use naturally-derived chemicals and substances. However, since many of the naturally-derived approaches are less efficient, or contain more by-products and impurities, there's reason to question whether or not the environmental impact is actually less than that of conventional farming. You can murder a stream with runoff from manure just as easily as with runoff from NPK fertilizers. With NPK, you can add just exactly the chemicals needed by your plants. With manure, you have to use much more mass in order to achieve the same nutrient content... and the rest of that mass is, well, shit.

So, if you can get fruit from a local grower whom you know doesn't use any pesticide, that's cool. Otherwise, there's no reason to buy organic.
posted by Netzapper at 2:01 PM on October 13

Granny Smith is the only *supermarket* apple I like. If you get your crummy organic Granny Smiths at a farmers' market or similar, keep an eye out for Pink Lady apples. Not quite as tart as a Granny Smith, but crunchy and just great. I get mine from these people at a local farmer's market, but they also do mail order.
posted by Bigfoot Mandala at 4:50 PM on October 13

I haven't had an amazing honeycrisp yet. I think they're boring. Maybe they get shipped in from someplace far away, too?

My favorite apples are the farmer's market Fujis (the weird shaped ones that store all winter long) and the Gravensteins, which are only available a couple weeks out of the year.

I have given up on Granny Smiths unless home grown. They're either mushy or over-waxed.
posted by small_ruminant at 4:56 PM on October 13