7 ways to prevent apple slices (or cubes) from turning brown

Baking an apple pie yourself? Yes, fun. Peel the apples, set them aside, sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice over them, continue with the flour, butter, eggs and sugar, for goodness’ sake, the apples are turning brown. That doesn’t matter all that much for a pie, but if you really want to keep cut apples ‘fresh’ for a little longer, there are several ways to do so. And some work better than others!

In the test kitchen at The Kitchn, no fewer than seven ways to prevent apples from discoloring through oxidation (exposure to air) were tried. The lemon juice method, for example, is a familiar one, but it turned out not to be the most effective (and not the cheapest) way. First, the apple slices were kept in the substance for five minutes, then rinsed, and the time they retained their color was recorded. Handy, right, to see the results lined up from ‘worst’ to best…

Lemon water

Not pure lemon juice, but diluted with water, as a bath to submerge the apple slices in. After five minutes, they were rinsed under the tap. Sealed in a resealable bag, they kept their original color for 3 hours at room temperature, and 2 hours when left uncovered on a plate.

Citric acid (powder)

What is called citric acid in English is available here as citric acid powder: a bright white powder that produces a (very) fresh, sour flavor, even in very small quantities. Make sure to use the variety intended for consumption (not cleaning) if you want to try this method. For the test, the apple slices were tossed with half a teaspoon of powder, then rinsed and stored after five minutes. But honestly, according to the test cook, this isn’t the best method either. Although the slices did not discolor through oxidation for seven hours, they became sour. Even rinsing them under water hadn’t helped.

Lemon juice

The old familiar method, using half a squeezed lemon for this test to toss with and coat half an apple cut into slices. These also remained good for around seven hours after rinsing, without discoloring, and were also considerably less sour than those tossed with citric acid powder above. That’s why it ranks a little higher on the list, but it still produces rather sour apple slices that are really only suitable for use in sweet baked goods (or as a fresh accent in a salad), and less suitable for taking along and snacking on as they are.

7-Up

Well, if you still have a can of 7-Up or a similar soft drink in the fridge, you could try this. But honestly, it’s a waste, and in my view it’s also a strange idea to pour a sugary carbonated drink over something healthy like an apple… The slices did remain good in the open air for three hours after the 7-Up bath and rinsing, and for seven hours in the sealed bag. But it can be done better, and more cheaply!

Water

Plain water without lemon juice worked perfectly well, also because no rinsing was necessary, so you can simply leave the apple slices in a sealed bowl or bag. They stayed good for six hours in there, and were also very crisp. Without a lid, they began to oxidize after four hours.

Honey water

A somewhat fancy method, especially when you consider that good honey isn’t cheap. But according to the test cook at The Kitchn, honey is a natural preservative with a fairly high acidity. That helps when preserving fruit. The test used a bath of 1 tablespoon of honey in 240 ml of water; after five minutes, the slices were rinsed, and both on an uncovered plate and in a sealed bag, they retained their original color for 12 hours. After that, they could even be stored in the fridge without any problem. But then again, would you want to use your expensive honey for something like this when you can also do the following:

Salt water

Simple, effective, and cheap, which is why according to The Kitchn this was the winning method for preventing cut apples from turning brown. Half a teaspoon of salt dissolved in 240 ml of water (at room temperature), in which the apple slices soaked for 5 minutes before being rinsed. According to the test cook, they didn’t taste salty at all afterward, and just like the apples from the honey bath, they could easily sit at room temperature for 12 hours without discoloring while waiting to be used. Since this was also the cheapest method, it was chosen as the winner! And by the way, here you can read how best to store apples…

Also read:

• “My mother’s apple pie is the best,” says everyone
• We need to talk about Lidl’s little apple pie
• Top hack: how to squeeze a lemon without a knife (and without seeds!)

Source: The Kitchn