I don't know what this guy is talking about. He lists Arkansas Black as a terrible apple; man has no taste! AB's one of the best apples I've ever had.
And he doesn't even mention the Gravenstein apple, which made Sebastopol, CA famous?!
Apple Rankings
321–330 of 484 posts
Re: Apple Rankings
#322This is weird site run by someone who clearly isn't an apple fan. My personal favourite apple, the Cortland, is rated "24 Despicable" because: > "The general public usually doesn’t have access to an apple fresh off the tree in a cold orchard. My rankings must reflect what is available to regular folks." In Ontario, this apple is only available for a few weeks in the fall because it ages and travels poorly. At least t…
As someone from Québec, I share your surprise. The general public absolutely has access to this apple, either from picking at the orchard directly (very popular social event) or from the local growers that sell at the grocery store.
Re: Apple Rankings
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am actually now interested in trying one of these "Arkansas Black", "Cortland", or "Newtown Pippin" apples just to see if an apple can really be worse than a Red Delicious. I hadn't thought such a thing was possible till now.
I’ll come to the defense of Arkansas Blacks. They are definitely better than Red Delicious. They’re just really hard and quite tart with a faint green flesh. Red Delicious are mealy and tasteless. I love the Arkansas Blacks, but they wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
I love Arkansas Blacks! They have a hint of cardamom aftertaste, which makes them unique!
Re: Apple Rankings
#324Most of the apples in grocery stores have been in storage for months since most are harvested in fall and have been sprayed with diphenylamine (DPA), an antioxidant that slows the development of black patches on the skin. DPA is banned in the EU because a byproduct of it when it breaks down, nitrosamine, is a carcinogen. I love apples, but since finding this out, I try to avoid eating them out of season. This article…
I fucking love science!!
Sorry, I just hate the world we’ve built. I would so much rather live in a world where my apples are not poison but only are around during the fall.
But, capital return requirements and the remorseless scythe of competition exist, so instead we get poison apples available year round.
Re: Apple Rankings
#325Honestly - I think this list prioritizes basically just "sweetness" and "crispness" (despite his claimed categories) which is fine - those are generally appealing things for eating. That said - many of the apples in the "shit" category are fucking delicious. There are days when I want a sweet, crisp apple, and there are days I have a serious hankering for a good ol' granny smith. Even the classic Red Delicious - whic…
I love Golden Delicious apples. To me they are the standard of what a green apple should taste like. Crisp and tart, truly an amazing apple. Rating on this site was a 33. I suspect you're right that sweet was the highest priority. I also really like HoneyCrisp but I would rate it in the 70s, not the 90s.
A golden delicious is neither crisp (mealy) nor tart (bland, watery)- are you thinking of Granny Smith?
Re: Apple Rankings
#326Most of the apples in grocery stores have been in storage for months since most are harvested in fall and have been sprayed with diphenylamine (DPA), an antioxidant that slows the development of black patches on the skin. DPA is banned in the EU because a byproduct of it when it breaks down, nitrosamine, is a carcinogen. I love apples, but since finding this out, I try to avoid eating them out of season. This article…
Would washing the apple thoroughly not remove the nitrosamine byproduct? Genuinely curious.
Re: Apple Rankings
#327This list entirely ignores many of the highest rated apples. Adam's Apples, a long time apple reviewer, has six top ranked apples ("three stars, exceptional apple worth a quest"), all of which are exceptionally hard to find. https://adamapples.blogspot.com/p/apple-ratings-explained.ht...
Thanks, it has my recommendation Topaz as a "two-star" :)
Re: Apple Rankings
#328I'll save everyone some time.
Fuji.
Re: Apple Rankings
#329Now this is the kind of important tech/nerd info that I come to HN for! 10/10 Notes: I'm only familiar with several of the varieties on this page, but I definitely agree with the rankings. We used to buy Gala, Fuji or Juici, since there were the cheapest at the store and we didn't know better, but once we tried Honeycrisp we never went back. (Cosmic Crisp also ok but not as good. I'd also rank Envy a bit lower.) Also…
I am actually now interested in trying one of these "Arkansas Black", "Cortland", or "Newtown Pippin" apples just to see if an apple can really be worse than a Red Delicious. I hadn't thought such a thing was possible till now.
Cortlands get mushy and flavorless quickly, even if refrigerated, and so are bad supermarket apples. But I'd rather have one straight off the tree than any of their top rated apples.
Re: Apple Rankings
#330The best apple I ever had was a Fuji apple… in Japan. It's never that crisp in the US. I don't know why they rank Cosmic Crisp so low. I rank it neck and neck with SweeTango.
I have to agree that Cosmic Crisp was unfairly ranked here. I did a blind tasting of ten apple varietals with 14 friends and Cosmic Crisp was the winner.