Our daughter Katie set herself a goal to dry each one of our apple varieties during the fall, to evaluate which varieties taste best when dried.
In general, sweet apples remain sweet when dried, and tart apples remain tart. Very ripe apples are ideal for drying – even if they have begun to soften or turn mushy, the soft texture will not apparent when they are dried, and ripe apples have the most intense flavor, which will remain after drying.
Many hundreds of apple slices later, here are the results of her trial:
Variety | Rating (1-5, 5=Best) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Akane | 2 | |
Bonkers | 2 | |
CrimsonCrisp | 2 | |
Crimson Gold | 2 | |
Crimson Topaz | 1 | |
Egremont Russet | 2 | |
Hudson’s Golden Gem | 3 | |
Initial | 3 | |
Jefferis | 3 | |
Liberty | 3 | |
NY 75414-1 | 5 | Grape (“vinous”) flavor shines through when dried |
Prairie Spy | 3 | |
Prima | 3 | |
Pristine | 2 | Flavor is good, but quite tart! |
Redfree | 3 | Simple sweet flavor |
Rosemary Russet | 4 | Quite tart but highly flavored and delicious |
Sansa | 1 | |
Sir Prize | 5 | Somewhat tart, but rich in flavor! |
Suncrisp | 4 | Moderately tart, impressive flavor |
Sweet Sixteen | 4 | Sweet and yummy |
Williams Pride | 5+ | Rich flavor, sweet or sweet-tart. The gold standard for dried apples. |
