They'll save in the fridge. Then on baking day trim them up and walla, apple pie!!

They should keep that long. Your other alternative is to process and freeze with some sugar and Fruit Fresh.

Thanks for the responses. I trimmed off the bitten parts, and dipped the washed apples in pure lemon juice with a little water added. They look fine after being in the crisper all day. Tomorrow, I'll pick more, and repeat the process.

What is Fruit Fresh? Where would I find it at the grocery? Is it with sugar or what?

Thanks!

Suzi

Fruit Fresh is a powder that contains ascorbic acid and works very well to forestall apple browning, like lemon juice but not with the tartness. I've sprinkled the cut surface of an apple, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and have had no browning the next day. Of course it won't last that way indefinitely. I find it in the section of the grocery store that has canning supplies but I'll bet that it could be located online if you can't find it locally.

An update! I did as you said, and served the best apple pie my family has ever had on our Fourth of July celebration!

I got tons of compliments. The apple variety is Anna. It's got the perfect blend of acid and sugar for a pie, and it's so crisp and tasty, it's hard to resist eating those raw slices!!

Happily, there are a enough unripe apples on the tree to make a couple more pies!

Thanks!
Suzi

Citric acid (from pickling/canning area of store) or ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) both help prevent browning.

And you're probably aware that raw apple pies freeze exceptionally well; if they take up too much space you can easily make the filling part in advance and freeze it in pie-sized units.

This post was edited by marknmt on Fri, Jul 5, 13 at 19:44

Wow! I'm not aware you can freeze raw apple pies. My pie is a little different... I did that google thing for Mom's BEST apple pie, found a recipe, followed it to the T, and WINNER!

What they do in the recipe is simmer a caramel and pour over the latice crust and into the pie.

I made my crust with lard, which moma told me is the ONLY way for a flaky crust...

So wondering if I can just freeze the entire pie and put that simmered caramel over prior to baking..........

So many questions!

Suzi

Well, your Mom was at least half right; I happen to prefer a crust that uses half lard (leaf lard if you can get it) and half butter. Some old timers swear by goose fat or bear fat, but I haven't had the experience. Not sure I want it. ;-)

And yes, you can certainly freeze the pie and pour on the simmering caramel after thawing the pie.

I worked in bakeries for some time and it was our practice to hand-make and freeze hundreds of pies before every major holiday. Your pies will no doubt be much better than our mass-produced ones. It's very satisfying to make a good pie.

This post was edited by marknmt on Tue, Jul 9, 13 at 20:15