# Storing apples



## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

Hello all,

I pick about 90 lbs of apples today at a local orchard and have been reading the different methods of storing them. They need to be in a cool and humid place. I have one unfinished room in my basement which gets nice and cool in about a month. What to do until then? I am planning to store them in wooden crates, should I put them in a fridge until then? I have a fridge in the same room, I would have to move the beer out 

I read about wrapping them in newspaper individually? Does anyone do that?

Thanks


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

I'd find the coolest place you can and set them out in trays, make sure they are not touching. I find that if you put them in the fridge they will deteriorate quickly once removed. I don't wrap mine as I like to be able to inspect them every week or two, any that are wrinkling I take out and eat/cook. 
Storing apples is more about the type of apple, the way they were handled and how they were grown.


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

pmkrv12 said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I pick about 90 lbs of apples today at a local orchard and have been reading the different methods of storing them. They need to be in a cool and humid place. I have one unfinished room in my basement which gets nice and cool in about a month. What to do until then? I am planning to store them in wooden crates, should I put them in a fridge until then? I have a fridge in the same room, I would have to move the beer out
> 
> ...


I don't know what your situation is but I've found that the best way to store them is in mason jars after 90 minutes in a pressure canner, we're still eating apples canned in 2008. If anyone gets the urge for a "fresh" apple, they can buy one of those out of cold storage at the store.


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

Quite a many years ago, I had a customer that would make sure I was working at his house every fall when his apples came in. He would have me help him put the apples in an old cattle water trough. It was about a 75 gallon tank, but you could use a 55 gallon drum.
We would put a layer of straw, about an inch or two, then a layer of apples, then straw, then a layer of apples and so on. We would try to not let the apples touch each other. Then he had a screen to put on the top to keep mice out. 

He just kept this tank in his un-attached garage and I don't ever remember him worrying about it being too warm when we were packing them.

I also don't know what happened from them freezing during the winter. I did eat some of them at late spring/early summer and they were fine as far as I remember. (It was about 25 years ago, so I cant really remember all of the details)


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## AdmiralD7S (Dec 6, 2012)

Took me a minute, but I tracked down this document: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/pm1078.pdf

Hopefully that will provide some insight


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## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

AdmiralD7S said:


> Took me a minute, but I tracked down this document: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/pm1078.pdf
> 
> Hopefully that will provide some insight


Thank you great information. I decided to store them in baskets and instead of using straw I have layers of bubble wrap between them. I will have to see how this works. In the mean time we are eating, dehydrating apples and making apple butter.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

I'm right there with ya, but am canning apple pie filling, apples with syrup, apple butter, apple sauce, baking and freezing apple muffins, apple bread, and dehydrating lots of them too.


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## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

Update It was just not cool enough yet in our basement so some one of them went bad. I had used a big back pack when I picked them and I think that bruised them some. So I have probably used a third of them to make apple butter and apple sauce since. I have them in the fridge now, and they stay better


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