APPLE FIGURES & TIPS

Since it's apple season I thought you might enjoy some of these apple statistics.
The six top apple-producing states in the United States are Washington, New York, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The 2000 U.S. apple crop was estimated to be 254.217 million 42-pound cartons.

The largest U.S. apple crop on record is 277.3 million cartons, harvested in 1998.

In 1997, there were 9,000 U.S. apple growers and 453,200 acres of commercial orchards.

Apples trailed only oranges and grapes in the amount of U.S. acreage committed to fruit production in 1997.

In 1999, the average U.S. consumer ate an estimated 18.7 pounds of fresh apples and 29.7 pounds of processed apples.

In 1999, the People's Republic of China produced the world's larges crop of apples. The United States was the world's second largest producer, with Turkey, Italy, and France completing the list of the world's top five apple-producing countries.

The United States, New Zealand, and Japan are the leaders in apple breeding.

APPLE TIPS WHEN COOKING WITH APPLES

1 pound of apples yields 4 cups when chopped or sliced, and 1 1/2 cups of applesauce.
1 pound of apples may contain 4 small, 3 medium, or 2 large apples.
Apple juice and apple cider can be used interchangeably in recipes.
2-2 1/2 pounds of apples will suffice for a 9" or 10" pie. That means 9-10 small apples, 7-8 medium or 5 large apples.
Overripe apples, once the bruises have been removed, make good applesauce or cider.
Under ripe apples can be chopped, diced, sliced, and grated for sauteing with vegetables or for putting into cakes, muffins, pies, and other cooked dishes.
Sliced or cut apples will stay white longer if dropped into a bowl of water containing 2 Tbsps. of lemon juice. (Cortland & Golden Delicious do not discolor as quickly as other varieties.)

APPLE VARIETIES & THEIR BEST USES - (These are just a few of them, there are lots more!)

ALL-PURPOSE: Braeburn, tart-sweet; Cortland, pleasing tartness; Empire tart-sweet; Fuji, sweet, slightly spicy; Golden Delicious, sweet; Granny Smith, tart; Ida-Red, tangy-winey;
Jonathan, slightly tart; Jonagold, sweet-tangy; McIntosh, tart-sweet; Mutsu or Crispin, sweet; Winesap, tangy-winey.

COOKING: Rome Beauty, tart-sweet



EATING: Gala, sweet; Red Delicious, sweet

The above information came from "Apple Cookbook" by Olwen Woodier.