Why You Should Cook Your Apples for Apple Pie (2024)

FAQs

Should you precook apples for apple pie? ›

A combination of sweet and tart apples, tossed with a little brown sugar, salt, lemon, and cinnamon, promised a perfectly balanced filling. Precooking the apples solved the shrinking problem, helping them hold their shape in the oven while also eliminating any excess liquid, and thereby protecting the bottom crust.

You don't want them to be as firm as they are raw, but to have some texture rather than becoming mush. There are two essential factors, the type of apple you choose and the cooking method.

It's hard to know exactly how many apples you'll need for an apple pie, but for one 9-inch pie, you probably won't need more than 10 apples. If your apples are smaller, you'll probably need 10; if they're really big apples, you'll use fewer of them.

Baking apples are typically varieties that hold their shape well when cooked and have a firm texture, such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn. Eating apples, on the other hand, are varieties that are meant to be eaten raw and have a softer texture, such as Red Delicious or Fuji.

Pre-cooking your filling basically allows you to control the juiciness before it goes into the oven, so there are no major surprises when it's time to bake.

To bring out the best apple flavor and texture, pre-cook the filling for only about 5 minutes on the stove.

You get the most health benefits of apples when you eat them whole, raw and unpeeled. Juice, cider and applesauce aren't as healthy because cooking and processing apples remove valuable nutrients. Apples' nutrients vary a bit, depending on the type you eat. Red Delicious apples may be the healthiest variety of apple.

Boiling apples is a simple, easy, yet surprisingly delicious way to soften up your apples and prepare a tasty treat for you and your kids. Boiled apples can be spiced up with cinnamon and sweetened with sugar or honey, and they can be ready in less than twenty minutes.

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

However, baking a perfect apple pie calls for specific criteria to ensure success, and it all comes down to two basic pillars: flavor and texture. The goal is a type of apple that will soften in the oven until tender, yet keep its shape and maintain some textural bite, rather than becoming a mushy, mealy mess.

What is the benefit of cooking apples? ›

The simple answer is that cooked apples and raw apples are good for you in a number of ways. Eating an apple whole with its skin is a great source of dietary fibre. A high fibre diet is associated with good digestion and gut and bowel health. Cooking apples and eating apples are also packed with antioxidants.

If you've been filling your apple pies with raw, thin slices of fruit, it's time to rethink your strategy. Sautéeing the apples along with sugar and spices will add a deep, rich caramelized flavor to your pie. But there's an even better reason to add this step to your pie-making process.

So in general, use cooking apples where extra moisture and a much softer texture would be of benefit, and eating apples where you need the fruit to retain its shape and give off less liquid.

You can dice each quarter crosswise for slightly bigger apple chunks, or you can slice the quarters lengthwise for thin apple slices. If you're not quite ready to assemble your pie just yet, freeze the apple slices for later.

If you're making a traditional two-crust apple pie, the crust should not be pre-baked. If the bottom crust is baked, you won't be able to pinch it together with the top crust after adding the filling. Prebaking is only practical for single-crust pies.

Add butter and melt. Add apples to melted butter, increase heat to medium, and cook- stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes until softened (they should still have a little bite to them). If you have larger apple pieces, you can pop a lid on your pan for a few minutes to help steam them to soften a little quicker.

A Salt Water Brine Keeps Apples Unbrowned for Days

Then simply soak apple slices in the brine for 10 minutes, shake them dry, and put them in airtight containers in the fridge. The apples will look like the moment they were cut, even four or five days later.