Apples are a good source of fiber, especially if you eat the peel. A medium apple has 80-90 calories and contains a trace of sodium, fat and cholesterol. There are many apple varieties available in Minnesota. Some are good for eating fresh, while others are good for cooking. Usually, apples that are good for cooking are smooth on the blossom end, while apples that are good for eating fresh have wrinkles on the blossom end. Storage Cool air will keep apples juicy and crisp. Refrigerate apples in plastic bags with small air-holes. Avoid storing apples too long and check them regularly. The length of storage time depends on the variety. Do not store apples with broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, lettuce or leafy greens. Apples give off a gas that can damage these vegetables. This same gas speeds the ripening of bananas, kiwis, peaches, plums and pears. To ripen these fruits faster, place them in a paper bag with an apple. Preservation When preserving, use high quality apples without any signs of decay. Do not can “fallen” apples (fruit that has blown off the tree) because they are more likely to contain mold spores, which can result in spoilage of the canned products. For safety and best quality, hot-pack all home-canned apple products and process in a boiling water bath for the specified times. Open-kettle canning of any product is NOT safe. Canning apple pie filling using tapioca or cornstarch as the thickener is not recommended. This thick filling may prevent heat from penetrating and killling spoilage organisms in the product. Also, these thickeners break down during the process and your pie filling will be runny! ClearJel is a registered trademark of a modified waxy food starch that must be used to make home-canned pie filling. ClearJel and Instant ClearJel are available in a white powder form and tolerate high temperatures and acidic conditions. ClearJel is recommended for canning pie fillings. It remains a thin liquid during heat processing to allow heat to penetrate the jar. Thickening occurs during cooling and storage. Instant ClearJel is not recommended for canning, but it’s great for frozen fruit pies because it is freezer-stable. Finding ClearJel in stores is a challenge, but it is available from the following sources. o Kitchen Krafts: (800) 776-0575. o Sweet Celebrations: (800) 328-6722 o Precision Foods/Mrs. Wages: (800) 647-8170 Another option is to can the pie filling without adding thickener, and then thicken it before putting it in the pie shell and baking. Carol Ann Burtness is a food science educator with the University of Minnesota Extension Service Regional Center, Brainerd.
