Have a bounty of Virginia apples? Here’s how to keep them fresh longer

If you’ve been apple picking or visited a farm stand this fall, you probably have bushels of delicious Virginia apples. To preserve them, you could make applesauce or pie filling — but with proper storage technique, you can also keep your apples fresh for eating through the winter. 

To store apples for fresh eating: 

• Keep them cold by placing them loose in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator — not inside a plastic bag — or in a cool part of your basement. 
• Do not freeze them.
• Store apples by themselves, away from aromatic vegetables like onions and fruits such as bananas or avocados that accelerate ripening.
• Inspect the fruit before you put it away and weekly through the winter. 

If you’re planning to store apples, conventional wisdom says some varieties store better than others.  

Jason Cooper, a Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in Rockbridge County, suggested that apple consumers not worry too much about whether the varieties they prefer will store well. 

“Traditionally, anything with thicker skin and firm flesh is considered better for storage, but if you’re eating them regularly and inspecting for rotten fruit, you can store thin-skinned varieties like Golden Delicious,” said Cooper. 

Common varieties often thought of as good for storage include Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Gala. 

“The most important thing is to inspect fruit before you put it away and make sure you take out any fruit with bruises, holes, or damage,” said Cooper. “If one apple goes bad, it will cause the rest of the apples nearby to spoil.” 

Apples do not need to be washed before storage and should never be washed with a detergent or bleach. Clean apples immediately before consuming by running under tap water. Any cut, peeled, or cooked apples should be refrigerated within two hours. For more information on safe handling of produce, see the Virginia Cooperative Extension publication “Do I Really Need to Wash That? A Guide to Handling Fresh Produce at Home.”

In Virginia, fruit growers will be busy harvesting late-maturing varieties such as Pink Lady and Granny Smith through December, so if you have not yet picked up some Virginia-grown apples, there’s still plenty of time to stock your crisper drawer before winter. 

Cooper is the horticulture Virginia Cooperative Extension agent for Rockingham, Augusta, Rockbridge, Highland, and Bath counties. He is knowledgeable on all aspects of consumer horticulture with special experience in commercial fruit production.