# How do I clean \*A LOT\* of apples quickly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545 "2006-09-21T12:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/21 "2006-09-21T21:47:32Z")
[QUOTE=VunderBob] I have 2 apple trees in my yard, and there’s a buttload of fruit that I’ll pick in about 2 weeks. The wife wants to make homemade apple sauce. [/QUOTE] Wow. Tough job. Grandma cleaned, peeled, and made apple sauce out of about two bushel a day for a weekl Two trees will keep you out of trouble for a few days. > [@](#): > > An orchard near where I grew up had an automated apple washer, but they had a couple hundred trees, too. Any ideas? I doubt the garden hose can do it, and I suspect my pressure washer will make them mush… Try washing them down with a garden hose, and get an apple peeling machine. It will make short work of the peeling chore, cuts thin peelings. Use a hand pressed cutter/core thingy to finish the job. Voilla All ready for the little woman to give you the sauce. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/22 "2006-09-21T21:54:39Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] [Not if you use one of these.](http://web.acsalaska.net/~fmurtley/applepeeler.mov) [/QUOTE] Now that is hard to beat. Beats the older models. Have to get one. Thanks. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/23 "2006-09-21T21:55:52Z")
I like to clean apples with a Hoover Dustette, while in a loose-fitting dressing gown. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/24 "2006-09-22T00:01:11Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] I like to clean apples with a Hoover Dustette, while in a loose-fitting dressing gown. 🙂 [/QUOTE] TMI. Way TMI. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/25 "2006-09-22T04:46:29Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] I like to clean apples with a Hoover Dustette, while in a loose-fitting dressing gown. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Suddenly, I’m feeling frisky. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/26 "2006-09-22T06:18:28Z")
[slight hijack] This seems like a good place to ask something which (as a Brit - please be kind) has long puzzled me … What _is_ “applesauce”? 😕 I can think of two things which could fit this description - “apple sauce” which is an accompaniment to pork, and apple puree. But I can’t imagine anyone wanting to turn a huge load of apples into either of these - surely there are better things to do with apples (pie!!)? Also I get the impression that to an American “applesauce” is a food item in its own right, not an accompaniment of any kind. Anyone? [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/27 "2006-09-22T11:06:53Z")
Applesauce is a sweet puree of apples that is usually served as a side dish. It’s good with pork or chicken, but kids like it for almost any meal. If the OP has a kid (or kids), this amount of applesauce might last him through December. Also, homemade applesauce is, like so many other foods, far better than the pale imitation you get in the stores. [Here is a photo](http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/2005/homemadeapplesaucephoto.jpg) of homemade, and here is [the wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applesauce), with a shot of store-bought. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/28 "2006-09-22T11:45:15Z")
We had quite an orchard of apple trees - really old and interesting varieties We used to pick them and store them. Never saw them covered in sh/t - so what that muck is, is bemusing me. Bird sh/t ? The hose idea sounds sensible, I think I would use a shallow tray rather than a bath, we used to have a 4’ x 2’ x 6" zinc thing that was rather useful until I used it for changing engine oil. You are going to need a load of Kilner jars - maybe make some cider :-} ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/29 "2006-09-22T11:46:36Z")
[QUOTE=Shrinking Violet] I can think of two things which could fit this description - “apple sauce” which is an accompaniment to pork, and apple puree. But I can’t imagine anyone wanting to turn a huge load of apples into either of these - surely there are better things to do with apples (pie!!)? [/QUOTE] Regarding why, the applesauce project came about because my neighbor runs a bed and breakfast, and she’s going to use the applesauce there. To me, it seems like a good way to use up some of the apples in a way that preserves them. Because I bought the property midway through the growing season, the apples have not been properly cared for: no bug spray, fertilizer, etc. For the organic crowd, that’s a plus, but it’s a nightmare for me because they will rot much sooner and have bigger treefalls. I’m giving away 5 gallons of fallen apples a week to some people who have horses, and that doesn’t take into consideration the ones too rotten to feed. I’m in the market for a cider press and other equipment. Next year, after tending to the trees and crop, I want to sell cider and apple butter at the local farmer’s market. That will be a very good way to use up the metric buttload yield. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/30 "2006-09-22T11:49:08Z")
[QUOTE=FRDE] Never saw them covered in sh/t - so what that muck is, is bemusing me. Bird sh/t ? [/QUOTE] Not much bird crap. Mostly it’s dust (soil) that’s stuck to them. The area gets quite dry in the late summer. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545/31 "2006-09-22T12:29:59Z")
[QUOTE=VunderBob] Not much bird crap. Mostly it’s dust (soil) that’s stuck to them. The area gets quite dry in the late summer. [/QUOTE] Not much use for this year But could you address the dryness for the next one (or ones thereafter) ? Fast growing tree breaks, watering the ground over the trees to keep an up draught - that sort of thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-a-lot-of-apples-quickly/373545.md?page=1)