Are you trying to choose the right variety of apple for your needs? There are many to choose from. There are heirloom varieties that have been around for hundreds of years and apple growers are constantly creating new varieties to meet consumer tastes and 2024 is no exception. Scroll down this page for a table of dozens of apple varieties includingphotos and their characteristics and best uses. This page has tips about harvesting and storing apples. And if you bring home some apples and want to make applesauce, apple butter,apple juice, apple pie, apple cobbler, apple crisp, even apple cider, just click the links for each to follow directions and recipes or see this page see this page for a master list of simple, reliable, illustrated canning, freezing or preserving directions. There are plenty of other related resources, such as this list of local regional and apple festivals - click on the resources dropdown above.

If you have questions or feedback, please let me know!  

What's in season in December 2024, and other timely information:

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2024 looks to have apples ripening on their normal schedule. There have been few late frosts in the main apple growing regions, rain and temperatures have been good, so the year is shaping up well for a good apple crop. It's too early for prices, but I expect most areas to see $14 to $30 a bushel, depending on variety! Scroll down the page to see the chart, or click here for a PDF print version. And for an explanation of why apple slices turn brown and how to stop it, see this page!  To see how to properly store apples for the winter, see this page!

Varieties which are exceptional for a trait are noted in the chart below (Best, very good, etc.). Varieties which are at least good and well-suited have an "X" in a column.  A blank box simply means that they are average for the quality. Ultimately, it is personal preference and cultural traditions. that often determines which varieties of apples are used for which purpose. That said, sweeter and softer apples make the best applesauce (like Gala), harder, drier apples are often used for baking and storing (like Rome and Arkansas Black), and tarter, more crisp and juicier apples are often eaten fresh (like Honeycrisp).

Name	Ripening Date Dates are approximate and vary CONSIDERABLY with weather, location and more!	Eating fresh	Cooking	Apple Sauce	Apple Pie	Apple Juice	Apple Butter	Storage
Gala	mid August to early September	Very good	X	BEST	X	X	X	Must refrigerate; even then only keeps for a few weeks
Lodi	Mid July	X		GOOD				Must Refrigerate
Mollies Delicious	August		X					Must Refrigerate
Jersey Mac	August	X	X					OK
Earligold	August	X	X	X	X			Must Refrigerate
Akane	August		X
PaulaRed	mid August to early September	X	X	X	X		X
SweeTango	mid August to early September	X		X	X		X
McIntosh	September	X		good		X	X
Ginger Gold	September
Honeycrisp	September	Very good	X	good, but watery	X	BEST	X
Jonathan	mid to late September	X	X	Very good	X	X	X
Golden Delicious	mid to late September	X	X	Very good	X	X	X	Should Refrigerate
Ultra Gold	mid to late September	X	X	X	X	X	X
Cortland	mid to late September	X		X	X	X	X
Jonalicious	mid to late September	X	X	Very good	X	X	X	Must Refrigerate
Ambrosia	mid to late September	X	X	good	X	X	X	Should Refrigerate
Red Delicious	mid to late September	X		good			X
Jonagold	mid to late September	X		Very good		X
Jubilee	Late September to early October	X	X	X	X
Mutsu, also called Crispin	Late September to early October	X	X	Very good	X		X
Keepsake	Late September to early October	X	X		X
Northern Spy	Late September to early October	X	X					Very good for storing
Shizuka	Late September to early October	X	X	X	X	X	X
Braeburn	early to Mid October	X	X	X	X
Cameo	early to Mid October	Very good	X	Very good	X		X
Rome	early to Mid October		X		X
Sundance	early to Mid October	X	X			X	X
Blushing Golden	early to Mid October	X	X		X	X	X
Stayman
Enterprise	early to Mid October	X	X
Melrose	early to Mid October	X	X	Very good	X	X	X
Stayman Winesap	mid to late October	X	X	good		X
Granny Smith	mid to late October	X	X			X
Macoun	mid to late October	X	X
Liberty	mid to late October	X	X
Pink Lady	mid to late October	X	X	good	X	X	X
Jazz	early to Mid October	X	X	Very good	X	X	X
Suncrisp	mid to late October	X	X		X	X	X
Yates	mid to late October	X	X		X	X		Stores very well
Fuji	mid to late October	Very good	X	BEST	X		X	Great keeper; stores well in garage or basement
Black Twig	mid to late October	X	X	X	X	X	X
Arkansas Black	mid to late October		Baking	too hard				Great keeper

 

Of course, each region of the country and each season varies. Variations in rainfall and temperature greatly affect the usual ripening date. So call ahead!

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Alphabetical List of American Apple Varieties and Characteristics

 

Ambrosia

• Sweet, crisp, aromatic flavour reminiscent of pear and low acidity.
• Mostly red colouration, with yellow patches.
• Flesh is cream-coloured, firm meat
• Medium to large in size
• Developed in British Columbia in the early 1990s.
• Believed to be a cross of a Jonagold and Golden Delicious.
• Ripens mid to late season

Ashmead Kernal

• A small heirloom apple, covered with a thick russet, often found in Virginia, originated in England around 1700 and was brought to the United States much later.
• Very sweet and acidic
• Ripens from late September into October

Arkansas Black

• A medium to large apple
• dark purple to almost black
• Very, very hard texture and an excellent keeper.
• Almost too hard-textured at harvest. Best after some storage time.
• Great for baking; and terrible for applesauce
• A Winesap type.
• Late season

Baldwin

• good quality large red apple
• An old variety, subject to cold injury in the winter
• late mid-season
• medium sweet

Blushing Golden

• Medium-sized waxy coated modern yellow apple with a pink blush
• Jonathan/Golden Delicious cross.
• Firm flesh with flavor like Golden Delicious, but tarter.
• Keeps well
• Late season

Brae Burn

• Rich red color with white flesh
• Sweet
• Best for eating
• Late season

Cameo

• A large, round sub-acid apple with red blush stripe over yellow.
• Late ripening

Cortland

• A Ben Davis/McIntosh cross
• large flat, dull red apple with a purple hue and soft, white flesh
• Less aromatic than McIntosh
• Good keeper.
• Very good in salads.
• Mid season

Cox's Orange Pippin

• Popular in English markets. 
• Medium sized, golden yellow skin, with brownish orange
• often russeted. 
• Flesh tender, crisp, semi-tart
• early

Crispin/Mutsu *

• Light green to yellowish white
• Sweet, rich, full flavor
• Firm, dense texture
• Best for: eating fresh
• Mid - late season

Empire*

• A McIntosh type apple
• Long shelf life
• Aromatic and crisp with creamy white juicy flesh.
• Best for: eating fresh
• Early - Mid season

Enterprise

• Large, red apple
• Disease resistant
• Ripens 3 weeks after red delicious
• Stores well, flavor improves in storage

Fuji 

• Very sweet, aromatic flavor
• Yellow-green with red highlights 
• Originated in Japan.
• Best for: eating, salads, best applesauce apple
• Late season
  

Gala 

• Developed in New Zealand.  
• Sweet, aromatic flavor
• Best for: eating, salad, best applesauce apple
• medium to smaller in size with a distinctive red and yellow striped heart-shaped appearance. 
• Early to mid season
  

Ginger Gold 

• Very slow to turn brown, so it's a great choice for apple slices.
• Best for: eating, sauce, salad

Golden Delicious

• Firm white flesh which retains its shape
• Rich mild flavor when baked or cooked. 
• Tender skin
• Stays white longer when cut; 
• Best for: salads, blend in applesauce
• Early season

Grimes Golden

• Firm white flesh which retains its shape
• Rich mild flavor when baked or cooked. 
• Tender skin, with a "grimy mottled surface"; (but there IS also Mr. Thomas Grimes, who developed the variety, see Wikipedia)
• Stays white longer when cut; 
• Best for: salads, blend in applesauce
• Early season

Granny Smith

• Very tart
• Bright green appearance, crisp bite and tart apple flavor. 
• Best for: people who like tart apples rather than sweet ones :-)
• Mid to late season
• Not good for applesauce unless you add sugar (or like a very tart applesauce)

Gravenstein

• Greenish-yellow with a lumpy appearance
• A good, all-purpose apple,
• Good for applesauce and pies.

Hokuto

• A Mutsu/Fuji cross
• crisp texture of Fuji,
• large size and shape of Mutsu,
• sweet flavors
• late mid-season

Honeycrisp

• Introduced in Minnesota
• Very sweet and aromatic
• Great for juice, as it is a very juicy apple
• Best for: Eating, pies, baking  
• Mid season

Jazz

• Cross between Royal Gala and Braeburn, developed in Australia
• Very sweet, more flavor than Gala
• Vewry good fresh eating and applesauce, apple butter
• A "Club" variety, meaning licensed with limited commercial growing, first appeared on the shelves in 2004.
• late ripening

 

Jonathan

• One of the first red apples of the falll
• Sweet-tart taste with firm texturee
• Light red stripes over yellow or deep redd
• Best for: eating and cooking  
• Early seasonn

JonaliciousJonalicious

• Flavor like Jonathan but a little less tart and darker red skin. 
• Larger, crisper, and juicier than Jonathan, and a better keeper.
• Slightly sour/acid balance.
• early midseason

Jonamac

• A medium-sized Jonathan/McIntosh cross
• Sour flavored, aromatic and tender fleshed like McIntosh.
• Early season, a few days prior to McIntosh.
• Poor keeper.

Jonagold *

• A cross of Jonathan and Golden Delicious.
• Best for: eating, sauce, pies, salad, baking  
• Mid season

Jubilee

• Best for: eating, sauce, pies, salad
• Mid season

Keepsake

• Best for: baking, sauces or eating raw.
• Small apple with a red outer skin and a cream colored fine textured flesh.
• very sweet flavor with a high sugar content

Liberty

• A highly disease-resistant introduction from Geneva New York. 
• Liberty has superior dessert quality, similar to one of its parents, Macoun
• Best for: eating, sauce, salad
• flavor improves in storage
• late season

Macoun

• Named after a famous fruit grower in Canada
• Best for: eating, sauce, salad
• Very good, sweet, all-around apple

McIntosh *

• Popular in America since 1811
• Best for: eating, sauce, salad, good as part of a blend for applesauce
• Sweet, mild flavor

Melrose

• The official apple of Ohio
• Similar to a Jonathan but sweeter.
• Good for pies: the slices hold together in pies
• Keeps well

Mutsu

• Lousy name, but a great apple
• It is sweet and crisp
• A lot like a Golden Delicious
• Best for eating fresh and it makes a great applesauce

Northern Spy

• Large, high quality fruit
• Good for storage 
• Mid-late season

PaulaRed

• A tart apple with light to creamy flesh.
• Good for eating, in pies and sauces.

Pink Lady

• Rich red/pink color with white flesh
• Very sweet and crisp
• Best for eating and makes a naturally sweet, smooth applesauce and it is good in salads and pies.
• A cross between a Golden Delicious and a Lady William. 
• Late season

Red Delicious  

• WAS the most popular apple variety in the world! for decades (now being replaced by Fuji and Gala)
• Best for: eating, salad, very good  as a base apple for applesauce
• Thin bright red skin with a mildly flavored fine-grained white flesh. 
• Bruises easily and does not keep well.
• Early to mid season
• There are many, many varieties of red delicious, so there is a range of properties.  Not all red delicious are the same!

Rome

• Best for:  baking and cooking - but not applesauce - not sweet enough, and it has a fairly bland flavor
• Very smooth red apple with a slightly juicy flesh. 
• Very hard flesh
• Mid to late season

Shizuka

• A sister to Mutsu developed in Japan, with milder flavor.
• Mid season.

Spartan

• A cross between the McIntosh and Pippin apples. 
• Good all-purpose apple.
• medium size and has a bright red blush, but can have background patches of greens and yellows.

 

Stayman or Stayman-Winesap

• Juicy, cream-colored to yellowish flesh with a tart wine-like flavor. (often also called winesap)
• Good storing apple, bruise resistant, dull red coat. 
• Best for: Cooking, pies and cider

Suncrisp

• A hard tart, long keeping apple.
• Red over orange color; Golden Delicious-type
• Ripens late in the season
• Best for: Baking, storing

Sundance

• Sweet, tart yellow apple with reddish highlights
• Late season
• Good for eating frssh, applesauce

SweeTango

• Similar to Honeycrisp
• Ripens mid August - September
• Developed at University of Minnesota
• Tightly licensed

Winesapp

• Rich red color with white flesh
• Crisp texture and juicy
• Best for cooking

Yates

• Mid to late season
 
• Rich red color with white flesh
• Sweet
• Best for eating
• Late season
• Small

YorkYork

• Crisp and flavorful
• "lop-sided" shape
• Deep red with green streaks
• Best for eating. holds texture during cooking and freezing

Images from the U.S. Apple Association (mostly)!

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English Apple Varieties

These links take you to photos on GardenAction.co.uk

• Bramley - The English gush over this apple with a fever (fevour?:) that borders on mania. It's basically a granny smith type, a higher acid content and lower sugar apple, with a stronger, more tangy taste. Bramley's are considered to be an ideal cooking apple.
• Charles Ross
• Crispin
• Early Victoria
• Early Worcester
• Ellisons Orange
• Epicure
• Gibsons Scarlet
• Golden Spire
• Greensleaves
• Howgate Wonder
• Ingrid Marie
• James Grieve
• Jonagored
• Jupiter
• Katy
• Orleans Reinette
• Peasgood Nonsuch
• Red Gravenstein
• Red Victoria
• Rev W. Wilks
• Ribston Pippin
• Rosemary Russett
• Spartan
• Sturmer Pippin
• Sunset
• Superb
• Tydermans Late Orange
• Warners King
• Winston

 

More about apple varieties can be found:

University of Illinois Apple page

More Apple Varieties

Apple Photos
Over 100 photos of apple varieties

Apple photos and brief descriptions

Credits:

photos:
Jonamac, Macoun, PaulaRed: Courtesy of New York Apple Association, © New York Apple Association

And if you are looking for shipping containers for apples and other fruit, see this page.

 

See here for related tools, equipment, supplies on Amazon See here for related tools, equipment, supplies on Amazon

Home Canning Kits This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, Jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You will never need anything else except jars & lids (and the jars are reusable)! There is also a simple kit with just the canner and rack, and a Pressure Canner, if you want to do vegetables (other than tomatoes). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here! Average Customer Review: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Lids, Rings, Jars, mixes, pectin, etc. Need lids, rings and replacement jars?  Or pectin to make jam, spaghetti sauce or salsa mix or pickle mixes?  Get them all here, and usually at lower prices than your local store! Get them all here at the best prices on the internet!