I have a recipe that calls for using tart baking apples. WTF? What makes a “tart baking apple” different from a “tart apple” like a Granny Smith?
TIA
The amateur cook ventures that it may have something to do with the apple’s texture–one that will remain in neat, aesthetically appealing slices vs. one that will disintegrate into apple sauce. Am I correct that Jonathan apples are favorites for pies?
From what I was taught a baking apple is a large apple to tart to eat fresh. So it needs to be cooked with sugar. (They also make very good apple wine).
The best baking apples are generally Granny Smith apples. Trust me.
http://www.bluejayorchards.com/AppleVarieties.htm
Follow the link to a great list of apples with their various uses. It mostly has to do with the consistency of the cooked apple.
Some are too mushy when cooked, which makes them great for applesauce, but not good for pie. Some are better cooked than fresh.
You’re on the right track - Granny Smiths are great tart baking apples, as are Greenings.
A baking apple is one that cooks well. Baking apples are usually firm and tart. Most baking apples are also good to eat fresh, but at least one - the Rome Beauty - is only good cooked (it has an unappealing texture when raw). Rome Beauty apples used to be common in grocery stores, but now they’re rare - an indication that people don’t cook as much as they used to.
BTW, there is more than one apple called a “greening”. My favorite for baking is the Rhode Island Greening. It’s tart, with a rich flavor. It’s also very hard when uncooked - many people would find them too hard and tart to eat raw, although I like them that way.