Types:
Canadian apples are widely available across most provinces year-round. There are over 100 varieties of apples grown in Canada and they come in a number of different colours, sizes, flesh textures and skin thicknesses. Canadians have access to fresh apples all year depending on the variety, climate it is grown in, shelf-life and storage. The primary growing regions are Ontario and British Columbia, but Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island also have a commercial apple industry. Here’s a list of popular Canadian apple varieties you might find in your grocery store:
Royal Gala:
Small to medium in size with a yellow-orange background colour and red blush. Its thin skin and crisp, sweet flesh make it ideal for eating fresh.
Available from BC: September – May
Available from ON and NB: September – February
Ambrosia:
A large bi-coloured apple with a bright pink blush over a creamy-yellow background. Ambrosia is crisp and juicy with a distinct aroma and a sweet low acid flavour. They are slow to brown which make them perfect for apple slices and salads.
Available from BC: September – May. (Originally found in BC)
Available from ON: October – March
McIntosh:
McIntosh – have a deep red colour with a green background. Macs are mildly tart and sweeten as they ripen. The flesh is more tender and they are excellent for sauces, pies or eating fresh. (Originated in Canada)
Available from BC: September – February
Available from ON and NB: September – May
Red Delicious:
A larger sized apple with deep red colour and elongated shaped. Notable for the five bumps on bottom. It is firm, sweet and juicy making it excellent in salads or for juicing but not recommended for cooking.
Available from BC: October – July
Available from ON: October – July
Spartan:
Medium sized red variety. It is sweet and succulent making it a delicious fresh apple that pairs well with strong savoury flavours too.
Available from BC: October – July
(Developed by Pacific Agri-food Research Centre in BC).
Available from ON and NB: October – April
Honeycrisp:
Large sized fruit with distinctive crisp texture and juicy sweet taste. Best eaten fresh but has a shorter shelf life due to their high sugar content.
Available from BC: October – December
Available from ON and NB: September – March
Granny Smith:
Bright green colour with a firm crisp texture and tart tangy flavour. Ideal for baking as it makes them sweeter.
Available from BC: October – March
Pink Lady:
A green background covered by a distinctive pink blush. Sweet but slightly tart, they are crunchy and great pairings for cheese boards and pies.
Available from BC: November – January
Fuji:
Medium to large size; firm and greenish pink in colour with white flesh. Great for eating fresh but their extra sugar content means you’ll need to add less sugar if you bake with them.
Available from BC: October – May
Available from ON and NB: October – February
Empire:
A cross between the McIntosh and Red Delicious, it has a dark red blush with a splash of yellow or green. Slightly tart; juicy, firm and crisp. It makes great applesauce.
Available from ON and NB: October – July
Idared:
A medium to large fruit with bright red skin with greenish-yellow patches. Its tart flavour keeps well when cooked. Ideal for eating fresh or oven baking.
Available from ON and NB: October – July
Crispin (or Mutsu):
Greenish-yellow skin with an orange blush. Larger than average and has a tart taste and firm texture. Delicious in pies and chunky sauces.
Available from ON: October – April
Golden Delicious:
Greenish-yellow exterior and oblong shape with five distinct bumps on the bottom. They are firm and juicy. Slices keep their shape when baked in pies and you’ll need to use less sugar because they are naturally sweet. Favourite choice for snacks and applesauce.
Available from BC: September – March
Available from ON and NB: October – May
Cortland:
Bright red with yellow cheek. Mild, sweet taste and crisp texture. Excellent for salads and fruit plates; resists browning. Good for pies and sauces.
Available from ON and NB: October – April
Northern Spy:
Northern Spy – has an elongated shape, bright red-striped skin with green background colour. It is great for pies and baked apples, but most production is used in processing.
Available from ON and NB: October – May
Other varieties include: Sunrise, Jonagold, Salish, Nicola, Red Rome, Ginger Gold, Newtown Pippin, Jerseymac, Elstar, Braeburn, Russet, Red Prince, Shamrock, and Sinta.
There are also several cider apple varieties grown in Canada.
How to Buy:
Look for shiny, firm apples. Skin should be unwrinkled and free of blemishes, bruises or soft spots.
How to Store:
Refrigerator:
Apples in the grocery store are usually purchased at peak ripeness and will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator. Store in a ventilated plastic bag in the crisper drawer away from other fruit as apples give off ethylene gas, which can other fruit to ripen faster. Remove damaged fruit as it will spoil quickly and ruin the other apples.
Freezer:
Apples freeze well and make great additions to smoothies and baking. You can wash them and freeze them whole but they are inconvenient to use directly from the freezer. For optimal convenience, peel and core your apples then slice or dice to desired thickness. Add apple chunks to a lemon juice bath immediately after cutting for five minutes (4 cups water + 2 tablespoons lemon juice) to prevent browning. Drain in a colander and spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer until frozen solid (4 – 6 hours depending on the size of the apple pieces). Transfer to a freezer bag, remove as much extra air as possible and label. Properly prepared apples will keep in a deep freeze for up to one year.
How to Prepare:
Apples are one of nature’s perfect foods that lend well to both sweet and savoury dishes. Apple-based sauces, glazes, butters, barbecue sauces and compotes all go well with mild meats like pork, chicken and veal. However, baked or fried apples are a wholesome treat when topped with cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg and they shine in pies, cobblers, breads, muffins, Betty’s, tarts, cakes, and other desserts.
Read More:
Ontario Apple Growers have a great comprehensive usage guide that gives you preparation suggestions for each variety of apple: http://onapples.com/apple-usage-guide
Nutrition Fact:
One medium apple contains about 80 calories and is a good source of fibre and Vitamin C.
How They Are Grown:
Apples, like many tree fruits, are grown in orchards in warmer climate zones in Canada like the interior of BC, Southern Ontario and Quebec. Each variety of apple tree can look different from the next but all have been selected and bred to produce high quality, delicious fruit in our Canadian climate. Apple trees take two years to mature and bear fruit but don’t reach their full production potential until year five or six. Trees are planted along a trellis system of sturdy posts and high-tensile wires that trains the tree to grow in a certain direction, supports it upright and allows for easy picking. A tree supported by a trellis will grow 30% more apples in the first five years than a tree without the support.
Although most of the harvest happens in the fall, apple growers are busy year round. Tree pruning is an ongoing process that invigorates the plant and trains the branches to grow in the direction that allows for more sun exposure on the remaining apples. In the spring after the blossoms open up, farmers select extra blooms to remove or ‘thin out’ so the tree can put the most energy into the optimum number of apples. They manage bee hives or bring in an apiarist (beekeeper) to help pollinate the blooms during the spring because apple trees rely on the use of pollinators to produce fruit. The rest of the time, apple farmers maintain the orchards, trim out dead or broken branches, ensure the trees have enough water and monitor for pests and disease.
Fruit ‘thinners’ go through the orchard each summer during the apple growing season and pick off smaller, misshapen or damaged fruit. Thinning works to reduce the amount of apples on the tree so the ones left are of the best quality possible. The removed fruit isn’t necessarily wasted as it reduces the amounts of pesticides and other pest management practices growers have to use by reducing the stress on the trees.
Apples are harvested at different times between August and November depending on the variety. Because they bruise easily, they are picked by hand by trained harvesters who pick the fruit at different levels of ripeness depending on how long they will need to be stored. As apples continue to ripen after they’re picked, the more immature ones will come off the tree with a starchy tart flavour but have a longer shelf life for shipping and sale. Sweet ripe fruit needs to be eaten within a few days and usually goes directly to a nearby market. A tree may need to be harvested three or four times to collect all the fruit because apples ripen at different speeds on the same tree depending on when they were pollinated.
Once they leave the orchard
Apples are transported to a packing house where they are transported through the facility by a water system and gentle brushes and conveyors. They are cleaned, sorted, and given a grade based on a set of requirements dictated by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada. High tech colour and infrared cameras and sorters are used to determine the grade based on colour, size, defects and weight of the apples and then segregate them into different packing lines based on that grade and what their end use will be.
The washing process removes the natural protective coating on the apple skin, so a very thin layer of wax is reapplied to prevent skin damage during transportation and give them a longer shelf life. This non-toxic, food-grade wax is easily removed when you wash your apples at home before eating.
The apples that make it through the grading process for sale in the supermarket are weighed and given a sticker that tells you where they came from and what variety they are. They are inspected one final time before being packed into boxes and shipped to the retail store or put into storage. Apples that don’t make the grade for fresh consumption are used for processed apple products like juices, sauces or baking. About one third of apples produced are sent for processing.
Storage
Apples are stored at a packing house in a refrigerator or special environmentally-controlled rooms which control the level of oxygen and essentially puts the apples to sleep and stops the ripening process. This type of controlled environment can extend the storage life for six to eight months without impacting the quality of the apple and allowing Canadians access to their favourite apple varieties all year long.
Canadian crop is available: September – July depending on the variety
Grown in: British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
For More Information:
- Apple Growers of New Brunswick
- BC’s Apple Story
- Niagara Peninsula Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association
- Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association
- Norfolk Fruit Growers Association
- Ontario Fruit and Veggie Growers Association
- Ontario Apple Growers
- The Quebec Produce Growers Association
- Les Producteurs de Pommes du Quebec
What’s in Season? Fiddleheads