Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Cooking Apples.

I found a recipe for a Sauerkraut, potato, and sausage casserole that calls for a couple of "cooking apples".
I made it with a couple of red apples and it came out great. I'm fixing to make it again but I'm wondering if it really matters what kind of apple one uses. If it does, I might as well get the right apples since I have to buy a couple anyway.

I know there are red ones and green ones but other than that??????

Most likely referring to apples other than red delicious.

What's the difference?
Are red delicious only good for eating raw?

Like I said,,, "I don't know chit about apples" cept that the ones that grow wild around here sure attract critters.
I even eat one once in a while when I'm Pheasant hunting but my buddy says they'll give you the chits if you eat to many,,,, so I don't.

Kidding aside,,, the casserole I made was really good but the apple slices were pretty mushy so I'm wondering if the difference in "cooking apples" is that they hold up better like the one's in pie.

Tart hard fleshed apples are the ones that are considered cooking apples.

Yup

Well,,,, there's about ten kinds at the store and none of em have fleshing or tartness ratings listed.
Just the price, so I was kinda hoping for a name if you know what I mean.

Granny Smith is a good one. Haroldson is another, but out of season right now.

Thanks Bucktail

Think you mean Haralson

Granny Smiths are my favorite. Spartans and Empires work good too.

Anytime I'm cooking or baking with apple, I use Granny Smith.

This^^^^ and a bit larger than most, except in the case of green Granny Smith apples which I find are the best for cooking with meat and in rich dishes. They keep their shape and their taste still stands out after cooking.

For baking and eating my favorite is Cortland, followed by Macs.

I like grannys all they way around even baked

We grow Granny Smith a superb cooking apple in its own right but our Arkansas Black or Black Twig is our best seller by far as this planting consists of 50 trees. A super firm variety with a tart Winesap flavor and yellow flesh, pick em here in Eastern Nebraska usually late Nov unless expecting a really hard freeze and they'll keep in our garage till April.

I think Steelhead said he has a few.

Hard to beat a good Arkansas Black. My favorite apple.

Granny Smiths in a batch of pork and sauerkraut are tasty.

Granny Smith, Cortland, Twenty Ounce, Empire, Greening, Northern Spy, Spigold are all good for cooking. Most of the time Macs are too soft for baking for a long time (think mushy apple pie). I worked at an apple orchard off and on for like a decade and those are the ones that come to mind. It really depends on how you are going to cook them.

Please post your recipe.

Flyer

Granny Smith keeps coming up. Pretty sure I've seen those at the market.
Thanks guys.



http://www.cooks.com/recipe/435rq1r0/sausage-sauerkraut-potato-dinner.html

It's just one I found on the interweb.
Nothing fancy but It's pretty tasty.