# Nasty mealy apples vs crispy, juicy ones. How can I tell before I buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599 "2005-10-24T02:21:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599/41 "2005-10-26T20:52:01Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > Perhaps you do not know that some apple varieties will literally slush themselves into apple sauce when heat is applied. You DO want your apple pie to contain actual pieces of apple, rather than apple paste, right? No. Cooking down to thick sweet sticky apple paste is most lovely. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599/42 "2005-10-26T20:57:38Z")
Wow. I don’t think anybody pointed this out: they _sound different_ if they’re mealy inside. Tap them with your fingernail; the crisper the sound, the crisper the apple. If you hear “dunk, dunk”, then they’re not so good. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599/43 "2005-10-27T02:32:08Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > No. Cooking down to thick sweet sticky apple paste is most lovely. Ok, then we agree to disagree. That sounds disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599/44 "2005-10-27T02:50:16Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > An apple seller at Pike Place Market (one of the greatest wonders of the world) told me that “Grapples” have been infused, artificially, with white grape juice. Actually, it’s [artificial grape flavoring](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapple_%28fruit%29) rather than grape juice (check the ingredients on the package). I bought a package once. It was $3.69 for 4, and definitely a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599/45 "2005-10-27T03:07:03Z")
Around here, the red and golden delicious are the cheapest apples available by far, and I stopped buying the reds decades ago because of their mealiness, so I usually buy goldens. They also happen to be my favorite. I usually buy the smaller ones, green or yellow, and I don’t recall ever getting a mealy one. _wanders off to kitchen to get a golden_ ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599/46 "2005-10-27T11:39:37Z")
The best apples are eaten in-season and (preferably) harvested locally. I go for a batch that has lots of different shapes and sizes, maybe a little bit scabby looking. Lovely red “Snow White” apples always taste disappointing - it’s almost impossible to breed for looks, uniform size, yield, disease resistance, shelf life _and_ flavour, so I just go for the varieties that promise flavour. My favourites are: **Discovery** needs to be eaten almost straight off the tree, as they don’t keep very well, but they are possibly teh most delicious apple ever. **Russet** is a scabby looking apple, but with a totally unique flavour and texture. Even when they go a bit old and wrinkly they’re still good. I love 'em. **Cox’s Orange Pippin** is an old classic, but there seems to be no uniform quality in the sub-cultivars. Some can be big, uniform and a little tasteless, others are small, odd looking, and quite delicious. As for the commercial varieties, Pink Lady is OK as they go, but Golden Delicious seem to be disappearing off the shelves. Which is no bad thing, though I have to say I did eat a GD apple straight off the tree once, and it was indeed golden and delicious, rather than the usual yellow and tasteless. I guess they lose a lot of flavour once picked. Oddly, some varieties of apple need storing for a period to be at their best. Most are best as fresh from the tree as possible. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599/47 "2005-10-27T14:34:19Z")
Fridgemagnet, I’ve never seen any of those varieties here in the US. By the way, I think the reason apples taste better right off the tree is that apples taste better when they’ve been allowed to ripen on the tree. Apples sold in stores have to be picked before they’re fully ripe so that by the time they’re sold they won’t be overripe. I think that’s true, anyway. It’s the reason home-grown tomatoes are so good compared to store-bought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasty-mealy-apples-vs-crispy-juicy-ones-how-can-i-tell-before-i-buy/327599.md?page=2)