Apple Rankings • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Rankings

#131

Post by 867-5309 » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:41 PM UTC

Spivak wrote: post #128

kspacewalk2 wrote: post #119

Yawn, more of this silly apple snobbery. Yes, honey crisp is a good apple, but red delicious is also fine. The difference in taste between table/dessert apples is mostly personal preference. Get over yourselves, you are not better than the many people who prefer red delicious, and your palette is not more refined. I've met apple farmers who rather like red delicious, surely it's not because the poor wretches just don…

> but red delicious is also fine I was prepared to agree with you on pretty much any apple except red delicious. They are absolutely disgusting and leave no room for preference or taste. They're flavorless and mealy. I wouldn't give one to my worst enemy.

>more of this silly apple snobbery

Re: Apple Rankings

#132

Post by Spivak » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

joosters wrote: post #23

wlesieutre wrote: post #5

They've ranked Granny Smith as "Not worth eating" so right off the bat I can tell you the rating system is junk. It loses the most points on its "density." Can't say I've ever eaten a granny smith and thought "I enjoy this taste, but I sure wish I could change the density."

It's just like any kind of snobbery. If you want to be a connoisseur, it's practically obligatory to detest all the popular options. Because you (i.e. this website) are the expert and the commoners must be tasteless and wrong!

What do you mean, the most popular options are at the top. Honeycrisp, Envy, and Pink Lady are "the good apples you can find at major grocery stores."

Re: Apple Rankings

#133

Post by mmanfrin » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

This blatant Fuji disrespect has not gone unnoticed. Honeycrisp is ranked second and Fuji is down at the bottom despite HC being a slightly crispier but way more expensive Fuji?!

How DARE you.

Re: Apple Rankings

#134

Post by athenot » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:43 PM UTC

One aspect that comes into play is shelf life / freshness of the apple. I normally find Golden Delicious apples to be completely devoid of taste. But they keep a long time so chances are the ones I come across are months old.

I was at an apple orchard a few years ago and encountered an awesome apple, enquired as to what was planted on that row and it was Golden Delicious. I triple-checked because it was a completely different taste than I expected.

It would seem that taste doesn't keep once the apple is picked and it becomes bland over time.

Re: Apple Rankings

#135

Post by Ancalagon » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

Hard disagree about cosmic crisps. IMHO they panned out as good as advertised and I like them more than honeycrisps.

Otherwise I love this and makes me really want to try a SweeTango!!

Re: Apple Rankings

#136

Post by aliqot » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

hazrmard wrote: post #86

"Horse food"?! To arms, my fellow Fuji Apple stans! This heresy is casus belli.

Pink Lady or gtfo my face

Re: Apple Rankings

#137

Post by lo_zamoyski » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:45 PM UTC

He ranks McIntosh poorly (the mind boggles, though I will admit that sometimes the skin can be a little tough) while ranking some of the most vile, cloying varieties rather highly. A palette spoiled by high fructose corn syrup? That would be one charitable guess for some of these rankings. Also, different apples have different culinary uses.

I am also sad to see the limited number of cultivars. The world doesn't begin and end with North America. Have a Papirovka/White Transparent or an Antonovka some time.

Re: Apple Rankings

#138

Post by twoWhlsGud » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:46 PM UTC

mmanfrin wrote: post #133

This blatant Fuji disrespect has not gone unnoticed. Honeycrisp is ranked second and Fuji is down at the bottom despite HC being a slightly crispier but way more expensive Fuji?! How DARE you.

Indeed! I blame the popularity of HC's on folks applying the same super-saturated attention spans they derived from spending too much time on Instagram to food preferences. Fuji's are yummy - HC's are over-sweet parodies of a proper apples.

Hrmph! : )

Though it's fun to read his reviews even where they're wrong, so there's that.

Re: Apple Rankings

#139

Post by Spivak » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:49 PM UTC

867-5309 wrote: post #131

Spivak wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but red delicious is also fine I was prepared to agree with you on pretty much any apple except red delicious. They are absolutely disgusting and leave no room for preference or taste. They're flavorless and mealy. I wouldn't give one to my worst enemy.

>more of this silly apple snobbery

Fine, sure. How bad does something have to taste for it to stop being snobbery? Is there any time you can criticize any food? Taste is subjective at the margins but Red Delicious are famously reviled, and for good reason. Whatever measure you pick for "aspects of foods that humans like" they will fail.

You're allowed to be that one person that them, I like things that nobody else likes too but I'm not stupid enough to serve them to others.

Re: Apple Rankings

#140

Post by nicolas_t » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

lo_zamoyski wrote: post #137

He ranks McIntosh poorly (the mind boggles, though I will admit that sometimes the skin can be a little tough) while ranking some of the most vile, cloying varieties rather highly. A palette spoiled by high fructose corn syrup? That would be one charitable guess for some of these rankings. Also, different apples have different culinary uses. I am also sad to see the limited number of cultivars. The world doesn't begi…

Yup, clicked and saw Honeycrisp at number 2 and no Boskoop or Reine de reinette... A good apple should have some sourness to counterbalance the sweetness.