Extension > Food > Food Safety > Preserving and preparing > Fruits > How to freeze whole apples, apple slices, and apple pies
How to freeze whole apples, apple slices, and apple pies
Suitable apples to freeze
- Firm, crisp and ripe, free of bruises and decay.
- Apple varieties suitable for pie and sauce are good candidates for freezing like Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, Jonathan and Granny Smith. Avoid apples that have a mealy texture, like Red Delicious.
Preparation
- Wash apples in cold water.
- Peel.
- Cut them in quarters.
- Remove the core portion.
- Cut into slices.
To prevent browning
- Slice your apples into an ascorbic acid mixture. Make sure you follow the package directions. You can also mix ½ teaspoon Vitamin C in a quart of cold water.
- After you have soaked the apples in the ascorbic acid solution, drain them well and freeze using a dry pack or sugar syrup freezing method.
Dry pack freezing method
- Place apples slices on a cookie sheet. Put in freezer.
- When they're solidly frozen, remove the slices with a spatula and pack in freezer plastic bags or plastic freezer containers.
Procedure to freeze pie slices to make an apple pie
- Place the sliced apples, sugar and spice mixture into an aluminum pie plate.
- Wrap with heavy duty foil.
- When ready to bake your pie, pop the frozen apple pie mixture out of the plate and slip directly onto the crust.
- Bake the completed apple pie at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. Finish baking the pie until the crust is golden brown and apple mixture is bubbling.
How to freeze unsweetened apple juice or sugar syrup
- Make a syrup using two cups of sugar to four cups of water
- Add one-half teaspoon ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) to the sugar syrup mixture to prevent browning.
- Pour one-half to three-quarters cup of syrup over each pint of apple slices.
- Leave one-half to one-inch headspace in the freezer container to allow for expansion during freezing.
- Seal the containers, label and freeze.
Freezing apples whole with the skins on
- Wash the whole apples, drain, core and dry.
- Place them in freezer bags and freeze.
- When you're ready to use them, run cold water over each frozen apple, just before peeling.
- Apples frozen whole can be used for pie, apple sauce or in other recipes that call for cooked apples.
Reference
Freezing Apples — National Center for Home Food Preservation
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