Hans Kylberg wrote:

> At 07:06 1999-04-17 -0700, Mary wrote:
> >Do waxed apples have the antifungal toxins?
>
> Apples have natural wax.
> I was talking of what they are spraying onto oranges to make storing/
> transport possible.

Yes, apples have natural wax, but almost all the commercially available apples
also have a wax coating sprayed on them (so they keep from one year to the
next).  This probably has fungicide in it.

The keys for flavorful apples are: picking them ripe, and having flavorful
varieties.  Commercial apples (e.g. Red Delicious) were bred to turn red long
before they are actually ripe, so they can be picked and sold earlier.  I have
some 30-year-old Delicious apple trees in my yard.  They have a lovely sweet
perfumey flavor when picked ripe, and keep that flavor for months in storage.

> >BTW, we want to dry out apples this year. Any suggestions? Do we peel them
> >first then slice and dry? Or leave the peel on and dry them?
>
> I used to peel first an take out the core (there is a special tool for
> this), then cut to form rings. This is the usual way. The peel I dried
> separately, and then used for cooking apple tea.
>

Apple tea is a great idea.  I just peel them, cut into quarters, core, then cut
each quarter into thirds (thinner slices).  OR if your fruit dryer supports
this, you can make applesauce and dry it in sheets for apple leather.

Lynnet