You have spent the entire growing season tending to your apple trees and have now harvested them. But winter is rapidly approaching, and you still have an abundance of apples for which you have no plans. You wish you could savor the homegrown fruit throughout the winter, but you fear they will fade or become mushy within weeks. What is the best way to store apples for winter?
I contacted David Gilbertson of Gilby’s Nursery and Orchard to find out. His Atkin, Minnesota farm contains over a thousand apple trees. And his top priority is ensuring that his clients know how to store apples to experience a fresh harvest even during the coldest months. According to David, there are two essential stages to practical Apple storage.
- It would be best if you harvested pears at the optimal time.
- You must store the fruits at the proper temperature.
- Let’s begin with David’s guidance on apple harvesting for winter storage.
The best time to harvest apples for winter storage
Most people consider apple storage only after they have harvested their apple crop. But your pre-harvest plan is crucial when it comes to the optimal method for storing apples over the winter!
Ensure you harvest apples when mature but only partially ripe for maximum storage life. Because apples continue to ripen during storage, ripe or overripe apples become soft and mealy very rapidly.
This transformation occurs because your apples continue to breathe through microscopic pathways after harvest. They consume oxygen and distribute it to their cells.
They also produce ethylene, a gas that causes apples to ripen and eventually decay. Your objective following harvest is to delay this respiration process to extend storage life.
According to David Gilbertson, you can perform several tests to determine if apples are suitable for harvest and storage. Some exams are excellent for beginners, while others are more difficult.
The best time to harvest apples for winter storage
Most people consider apple storage only after they have harvested their apple crop. But your pre-harvest plan is crucial when it comes to the optimal method for storing apples over the winter!
Ensure you harvest apples when mature but only partially ripe for maximum storage life. Because apples continue to ripen during storage, ripe or overripe apples become soft and mealy very rapidly.
This transformation occurs because your apples continue to breathe through microscopic pathways after harvest. They consume oxygen and distribute it to their cells.
They also produce ethylene, a gas that causes apples to ripen and eventually decay. Your objective following harvest is to delay this respiration process to extend storage life.
According to David Gilbertson, you can perform several tests to determine if apples are suitable for harvest and storage. Some exams are excellent for beginners, while others are more difficult.
The best way to store apples in your fridge
Once pears have been appropriately harvested, they must be stored. Commercial cultivators utilize controlled atmosphere storage chambers for this purpose.
According to David Gilbertson of Gilby’s Nursery and Orchard, you may use your refrigerator! Here are David’s top recommendations for keeping apples cold and crisp.
Maintain an optimum temperature between 0˚C (32˚F) and 4.4˚C (40˚F)
Despite apples on supermarket displays, you should store the apples at cold temperatures. In this case, however, precision is essential, so you must use a thermometer that provides an accurate reading.
To ensure accuracy, position the thermometer on the shelf or drawer where you store the apples. Do not position it on the door shelves because the temperature will differ.
The optimal temperature varies by apple variety, but the sweet spot is typically between 3.3 C (38 F) and 4.4 C (40 F). It would be best never to allow the temp to fall below 0 C (32 F), as that is dangerously close to freezing, and you do not want the fruits to freeze.
If you decide to leave your apples on your kitchen counter or table, they will rapidly ripen and rot.
“The higher the holding temperature, the greater the rate of softening and respiration, and the sooner the product’s quality becomes unacceptable,” explains David Gilbertson.
For instance, storing apples at 15.6 C (60 F) will cause them to deteriorate six times quicker, diminishing their quality.
Maintain an optimum humidity of 90-95%
Apples are 84% water, so the best method to keep apples fresh and juicy during the winter is to maintain a humidity level between 90 and 95%.
Professional cultivators have climate-controlled chambers in which they can adjust the relative humidity. With an ordinary refrigerator, however, you can maintain humidity using a plastic bag with openings approximately 0.64 cm (0.25 inches) in diameter.
The holes in the bag enable ethylene gas to escape while maintaining a relative humidity of 90 to 95 percent. You can also use the compartment in your refrigerator, but as you repeatedly open and close it, you will lose a significant amount of moisture.
It will result in the fruits becoming shriveled and compromised as they begin to dehydrate. To maximize the efficiency of your crisper, it is best to store apples in a plastic bag with small openings and a drawstring, as described above.
Ensure there is adequate air circulation.
As pears breathe, they emit ethylene gas. The higher the level of ethylene, the greater the apple’s desire to respire, which accelerates ripening and, ultimately, decay. Therefore, it is essential that pears have adequate ventilation during storage.
And, as David previously explained, if you are storing apples in bags, the bags must have holes to enable the apples to breathe. It will also aid in the departure of ethylene gas.
And yet another point! You may observe that the fruits have produced a substance resembling wax. It is a natural self-defense mechanism, so do not be concerned.
David Gilbertson suggests not scrubbing off that wax-like substance to preserve the crispness and flavor of apples.
How long will apples keep in your fridge?
This table, compiled by David Gilbertson, details the storage life of prominent apple varieties in Minnesota. It demonstrates how various temperatures can affect the longevity of storage.
Honeycrisp apples, for instance, can be stored at approximately 0 C (32 F) for 7 months (28 weeks). However, if they are kept at a temperature of 4.5 C (40 F), their shelf life is reduced to 3.5 months (14 weeks).
Apple storage for professional growers
David Gilbertson provides excellent advice for residential gardeners. These guidelines are also helpful for consumers who wish to purchase apples cheaply during harvest season and enjoy them throughout the year. But commercial producers need help in maintaining the freshness of apples for consumers.
In the following video, Peter Bosman of Lincoln Line Orchards in Smithville, Ontario, describes the measures orchardists must take to keep apples fresh during the winter months.
Some apple varieties are more easily stored than others. For commercial producers, Honeycrisp apples are relatively easy to keep. Other uncommon and heirloom apple varieties, such as Winesap, Snow, and Winter Banana, are regarded as “keepers” that can be stored relatively readily throughout the winter.
Despite their scarcity in supermarkets, these apple varieties are excellent alternatives for home gardeners. Check out the premium online fruit tree care courses at orchardpeople.com to learn how to grow fruit trees organically.
Whether you want to store your homegrown apples or buy apples from local farms to save money during harvest, knowing the best method to store apples over the winter is essential! I trust this article was helpful! And if you have so many apples that they won’t fit in a refrigerator, you can freeze them, process them into sweet or ferment them into hard cider, or even dehydrate them.
Thank you for reading….