# Would you like to supersize that apple? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261 "2007-02-22T19:06:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/1 "2007-02-22T19:06:16Z")
[This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8286923&posted=1#post8286923) totally unrelated thread brought to mind a question I ponder on and off. Can you still buy a normal sized apple? When I go to the grocery store, the average weight of apples is now about 1/2# each. If I pick through the selection, I might be able to get down to 1/3# average, but it would take work. That’s just WAY to much apple for most snacks. Are the big chain grocery stores only accepting the largest size apples, or are all apples really that big these days? I can’t imagine a kid eating a whole apple as a snack any more. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/2 "2007-02-22T19:13:19Z")
A ‘normal’ sized apple these days is a 100ct apple. I just checked one and it came in at 0.40#. If you want something that weighs less then that, you’re either going to have to call around to the mom and pop type store and ask if they “Carry any thing smaller then a hundred count”\* Or find find an apple orchard. \*the number is how many are in the box, so the smaller the fruit the bigger the number will be. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/3 "2007-02-22T19:31:46Z")
Or go the organic section…there seem to be normal size apples there. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/4 "2007-02-22T20:40:52Z")
[QUOTE=C3] Or go the organic section…there seem to be normal size apples there. [/QUOTE] It’s all those hormones in the water, I tell you! ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/5 "2007-02-22T20:43:11Z")
One of the reasons I don’t eat fruit is that so much of it comes in sizes too big for one sitting for me. Humungo bananas, big honkin’ apples and oranges - blech. I like fruit but not that much of one at once. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/6 "2007-02-23T02:04:46Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] One of the reasons I don’t eat fruit is that so much of it comes in sizes too big for one sitting for me. Humungo bananas, big honkin’ apples and oranges - blech. I like fruit but not that much of one at once. [/QUOTE] Share. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/7 "2007-02-23T02:08:53Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] One of the reasons I don’t eat fruit is that so much of it comes in sizes too big for one sitting for me. Humungo bananas, big honkin’ apples and oranges - blech. I like fruit but not that much of one at once. [/QUOTE] Now you _know_ that isn’t true; the banana was designed for the hand, or possibly the hand for the banana. Oh, I can’t remember - you’d better ask Kirk Cameron. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/8 "2007-02-23T02:10:19Z")
[QUOTE=C3] Or go the organic section…there seem to be normal size apples there. [/QUOTE] This seems to be the answer these days. When I go to the “regular” supermarket, all of the apples are indeed gargantuan. But at our local Natural Foods Co-op, the apples actually fit in your hand, and are perfect for a snack. Whole Foods Market seems to split the difference, depending on the week and the variety. ---
**Author:** ![nubadi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b38774/32.png) [@nubadi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nubadi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/9 "2007-02-23T02:14:44Z")
Look for bagged apples. Most grocery stores sell 3 pound bags of apples, and those apples are much smaller. They seem to taste better, too. A large apple tastes “watered down” if you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/10 "2007-02-23T03:00:00Z")
Well, as doctors got bigger, the apple entered a natural-selection arms race to ensure its continued ability to keep them away. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/11 "2007-02-23T03:43:26Z")
You don’t live near an orchard or a farmer’s market? There’s one nearby where I live and they sell smaller apples. (Sometimes charmingly mishapen, but oh-so-tasty.) ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/12 "2007-02-23T03:45:54Z")
Around here, I buy the apple variety “chestnut” in the fall. You pretty much have to go to an orchard to find them, but they are bite-sized. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/13 "2007-02-23T04:24:24Z")
Wait! If you really want to impress that teacher, you _have_ to give them a big apple. A little dinky prune looking apple is just too insulting… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/14 "2007-02-23T16:56:31Z")
The apples in the stores are normal apples. The varieties fall within the size they always hit, they average about .4 pounds like already stated. You need to buy varieties that are smaller, and most of them are not in the store except for 3 months a year. Apples are stunted when the weather is not as good, or a larger crop sets and isn’t thinned. Growers or warehouses sort them before shipping and you get the size the local store decides to buy. They normaly charge a higher price for the less blemished, and larger apples. Large apples aren’t watered down. The nearly tastless apples are from picking them before ripe, storing them for months, and exposing them to ethylene gas to turn them red. The best flavored apple is one that hangs on the tree until ready to drop, and that receives cold air to which the apple makes more sugar. Growers can’t leave large crops to turn super sweet, because they risk a freeze. I leave some on the trees and am willing to let them freeze so I get some super good ones. My grandma had a full size tree that produced a apple like the Wolf apple. I don’t like it’s taste much, but two apples made a pie. My favorite and it’s a small variety is the Snow apple. I stopped buying apples in early January, because thy were almost tastless. Soon the Australian crop will be on the shelves and the taste will be back. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/15 "2007-02-25T10:01:15Z")
Ask for “Schoolboy” apples. They’re much smaller than the typical apple. Our Fred Meyer’s carried them in a Granny Smith and some red variety. ---
**Author:** ![ArdentAgentApples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@ArdentAgentApples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArdentAgentApples)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/16 "2007-02-25T19:16:33Z")
To me, the bigger apples don’t taste as “appley”. They have a kind-of watery flavor. I prefer the smaller ones at an organic market cuz of the taste, not the size. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/17 "2007-02-25T23:20:55Z")
What **nubadi** said. There are plenty of small apples out there but they always go into the bagged apples. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-supersize-that-apple/393261/18 "2007-02-26T02:33:54Z")
Where I am, there are always a variety of sizes of apples. Today at the regular grocery, there were very small Braeburns, medium of around 4 varieties, and several large. Are you shopping near Three Mile Island?