Bruised apple suggestions

strelitzia32

Does anyone have any clever suggestions or tricks for bruised eating apples? I've got a large amount that have various tiny bits of damage, from a spot caused by a wayward blue tit landing, to a bruise from a windfall.

I don't want to throw them (there's more than I could eat before the bruises grow), and cooking full dishes with them is similarly impractical. I'm also storing a lot of unblemished apples which will keep just fine as is, so I don't mind if suggestions mean they don't remain "fresh".

I'm interested to hear what everyone else does to use or somehow preserve their bruised apples. Seems such a shame to waste them.

AuntyRach

I find bruised apples don’t keep well. I know you aren’t keen on cooking them but maybe go for a one-off cooking session to make a sauce or chutney that will freeze. What about juicing them? You could give away some or leave a bucket outside your home (if suitable) with a pick-your-own message? 

strelitzia32

Thanks @AuntyRach. I'll have to buy a juicer machine, but that's a good idea. I'll have a look at the sauce options, perhaps some cinnamon and apple sauce would be good.

Has anyone tried drying apple in an oven? Does it work? The apples are very juicy, I think it's probably going to lose a lot of flavour if there is a way to do it....

Dovefromabove

I would just cook them to a puree with no additions, and freeze in batches ... then you can add sugar and  flavourings to suit when you come to use them.  That way they'll do for everything from apple sauce to pie fillings and crumbles and lots of things in between. 

Mander

I did this last year with a load of windfall apples from a random tree in the public bit of my street. They were not the greatest tasting apples, as I think the tree is primarily meant to be ornamental but I cooked them down in the crock pot and made a decent enough American style applesauce (with spices and a bit of sugar). Maybe apple butter? That's basically just applesauce that has been cooked down into a paste that you use like jam. 

fidgetbones

I cut out all the usable bits, peel goes on compost heap. Animals get the cores on the lawn. This year the birds and a visiting deer have had more than we have. I freeze the cooked apples in silicone muffin trays, then pop out the blobs into a large bag in the freezer. One blob is a single person portion to go with porridge in winter.  As they are eating apples, I add no sugar.

Skandi

All of our apples come under the "bruised" category this year! So we have a lot of jars of apple pure (unsweetened) that can be used for pies or as apple sauce for pork and we also have some jars of apple jelly.

Drying in the oven does work, they will taste like any other dried apples soak the slices in water with a bit of lemon juice/citric acid before you dry them to stop them turning brown.

Plashing

Our son brought us a bag full of fallen brambly cooking apples,all we did was just cut the bad bits out and cooked them and then put them in the freezer.

strelitzia32

Thanks everyone, that's very helpful. I've had mixed success freezing produce before, so it's good to know it'll work fine. Cooking and freezing them without any additions so they are versatile is such a good idea, one of those things that's only blindingly obvious after someone tells you!

Lots of chopping and peeling ahead!

Thanks again all. 

purplerallim

This is this mornings batch of apples given to me yesterday.  Mixed varieties slices for the freezer to put in pies and apple sauce in the ice cube tray, nothing added yet I do that when I use them.

Hope your hands aren't as sore as mine when you finish @strelitzia32😁

strelitzia32

That's a serious effort there @purplerallim! Do you feel like doing all mine for me, as well?

Here's one of mine next to a regular supermarket apple (No, this isn't photo shopped or manipulated!)