FWIW: My Red Delicious Experiment

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On Oct 15th. I purchased the large bag of Red Delicious apples that Sam's Club sells. I separated the contents of the bag in two. One half I placed in the crisper of my refrigerator. The apples from the remaining half of the bag I placed in individual sandwich baggies and removed as much of the air as I could and sealed them. I then folded the baggie around the apple to assist in preventing air from entering the bag again. I then placed the apples into a tin which I then stored in my basement at approx. 60-75 degrees. That a large range due to the weather temps outside. Humidity was pretty much a constant at 45 %.

I've gone down and checked on the apples every couple weeks and today at almost 2 mos. following purchase, the apples feel hard to the touch and appear even better than the ones in the frig. do.

I wanted to see how long apples would keep well without the frig. and it's now 2 mos. and counting.

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), December 13, 1999

Answers

beej,

That's what they do in commercial cold
storage. They remove the oxygen from the
room. They keep apples like this for a year.
The rooms are a bit colder though. I can't
remember what temperature but it felt like
400.

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), December 13, 1999.


I once *accidentally* stored a bunch of apples in a ziplock bag for probably six months or more at room temperature. When I found them, they were as crisp and tart as the day I sealed them.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 13, 1999.

Any suggestions on grapefruit? I have a bushel coming. I also bought a few coconuts, which should last forever.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 13, 1999.

MARA--From the looks of the info. on the page linked below...you might want to try the same kind of storage as I listed above for the apples. There's some other neat info. you might be interested on the page.

Grapefruit INFO.

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), December 13, 1999.


maybe Seran wrap would cling to the apple, forcing out air, but cheaper than Ziplok bags??

-- RT (Rngfr40@yahoo.com), December 13, 1999.


Good point RT...In fact, depending on how large the grapefruits are, they'd prob. be too large for a reg. sandwich bag...but cause a lot of waste with a bigger bag. A tighter fit sounds right too. I think I'll try that next go 'round. Thanks.

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), December 13, 1999.


I have sealed 5 gal pails w/ apples in them (granny smith and red delicious) sitting outside in my storage pit. The apples are individually wrapped in newspaper to help retard potential rot. Presumably the sealed pail is a kind of baggie equivalent. So far so good.

-- silver ion (w@antemto.last), December 13, 1999.

beej, thanks!!! I will also try some apples. Whatever we can eat fresh will be nice (if deliveries stop...).

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 13, 1999.

Stoopit Citrus Tricks:

OK, I told you about how I lost a bag of apples, I may as well come clean and fess up to having lost (on more than one occasion) oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, and limes. (The perils of being a "new" batchelor with a cluttered house several years ago.)

Here's what my unintentional experiment revealed: most citrus fruits, if given the right storage, will have the skin dry out into a hard shell, which you'll have a tough time cutting.

When you *do* manage to cut them open, you'll discover that the fruit inside is the absolute sweetest, most flavorful you've ever tasted.

Now, some will mold and rot, and some others will ferment inside, but most, if stored at room temp and allowed plenty of air circulation (the exact opposite of what apples seem to like), will form that shell, and store for quite some time.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 14, 1999.


Thanks for the info. Ron. I'll bet YOU'RE the one whose post I read that made me try that experiment in the first place..grin. Looks like it's time for yet another experiment.

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), December 14, 1999.



Could be, could be... [g]

In my original Bagged Apple Adventure, I found a ziplock (probably a half gallon size) that I'd filled with apples, and promply lost track of for several months, room temperature, no special treatment (other than sealing the bag) -- didn't even squeeze out the air.

When I found them, I was amazed that they were as crisp and tart as the day they went in the bag.

My SWAG was that the apples either put out a chemical, or absorbed an atmospheric component (or components) -- or both -- and in short order, due to being in the sealed environment, reached some kind of stasis.

If I was doing it seriously, on a larger scale, I'd probably go over the apples carefully to cull out any with imperfections (to prevent spoilage from occuring and spreading), and then handle them *carefully* to avoid even minor bruising (for the same reason), and finally, put them into a sealable container that could provide a more stress-free environment than a ziploc bag -- something with a series of trays, maybe even one of the apple boxes used for shipping "premium apples", but only used for physical protection, with the entire box then placed into an airtight container.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 15, 1999.


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