Stop Apples from browning
My apple tree went crazy producing apples this year so I will probably be using this tip!
Jill
From: Kimberly H.
I’m not sure if you take tips from subscribers, but I thought I’d pass this along. . .
My mother is a home economics teacher and taught me several years ago that salt water will keep apples from turning brown when cut. It is cheaper than using lemon or lime and always on hand.
I just fill a bowl with a mixture of water and about 1 Tablespoon of salt and put it in the sink. As I cut the apple (or anything else) I let it apple sit in the mixture. When I’m done cutting, I just rinse off the apples – and that is it!!! Easy, cheap, and works WONDERS! Try it – the apples will not turn even hours later! My husband is a chemist and he is trying to figure out why this works, but it does :)
PS From Jill
It has been a couple of years since I got this tip and I use it all the time now. I love it. I don’t even rinse the salt water off. It is so much easier then lemon juice. First lemon juice tends to make everything slightly sticky. Second I don’t always have lemon juice on hand but I always have salt. Three it is much cheaper to use the salt and last I think it does a better job in helping with the discoloration then the lemon juice. This is really a winner.
photo by: thewrittengeek
My boys liked sliced apples in their lunches, but one son in particular wouldn’t eat them if they started turning brown. I added just a little Sprite (about a teaspoon) one day into the reusable bag with the apple slices. This worked well enough to suit him. The soda didn’t leave the apples with a slight bitter taste like lemon juice did (he was a really picky eater!).
I like taking cut up apples to work for lunch with sugar and cinnamon and never liked the way the apple turned brown, so this tip is good. Salt is a preservative and was used a lot before refrigeration. Meats stayed fresh by being salted too. In fact I read that salt was such a treasure before refrigeration that people would do crimes just to get it, because it was so valuable and not always readily available. In fact, most spices were like gold centuries ago. We don’t always appreciate that these days.
Karen it is the citric acid in the sprite that keeps the apples from browning.
being citric it has the same effect as the lemon juice.
Any clear pop would do the same thing.
strange that now a days we use salt for cleaning when at one time if a cook in a large wealthy household needed salt she had to send for the housekeeper or lady of the house to come down and unlock the box it was stored in.
Yes, Grandma, and salt was so valuable that in the Bible Jesus mentions it when He says we are to be the salt of the world. Christians stop the world from decaying and going bad. Also, when someones says you are worth your weight in salt that meant the same as your weight in gold. And the word “salary” derived from salt being so valuable that it was used to pay debts. Even wars were fought over it. Hard to believe these days. The history of salt is fascinating.
I make a 3 fruit salad one banana, one apple and one orange (makes 3 servings) and I use buttermilk to keep the banana and the apple from turning brown. I sprinkle in sugar to taste of a packet of sweetner and maybe a drop of vanilla or other flavoring to taste. The buttermilk turns the apple and banana a nice white!
That fruit salad sounds good, Myrna.
Thanks for this tip, it worked beautifully! It was so nice to be able to take cut apple slices to work and not have them turn brown. I’m wondering if this will work for a cut avocado?
You know Lisa I haven’t tried it with an avocado but it would be worth a try. I have used the salt water a bunch and it sure does work better then lemon juice. Not only is it cheaper but I did a test the other day with the same apple and the salt water kept if from turning brown at all where the lemon juice helped but not completely. Besides lemon juice – especially when used in in dehydrating which is what I do a lot – tends to leave a sticky coating.
I have been looking at a lot of information on the net on stopping fruits
(and Avocado – Fruit/Vegetable ? ) from browning due to the oxygen in the
air starting the natural decomposition process…
When certain fruits and vegetables are cut the fruit cells are ruptured, as
well as bruising, which also damages the fruit cell structure, then this (Damage) exposes natural chemicals which, when combined with oxygen from the air start the break down (decomposition) process.
To arrest this process, to prevent this ‘browning’ then we need an ‘inhibitor’
oxygen scavengers (anti-oxidants) do this. Acids such as Citric, Tartaric and
my Favourite – ASCORBIC work really well. Citric is found in it’s highest
concentration in lemons. But it makes the flesh of apples go ‘soggy’
Ascorbic Acid (NOT Sodium or Calcium Ascobate) works a treat. I found a
chemist that sold a product called “Vitamin C” ascorbic acid 1g/g made by
melrose (www.melrosehealth.com.au) it’s pure ascorbic acid – Pharma Grade. 1gram/100mL works well.
i.e – 1 gram Ascorbic Acid / 100grams filtered water.
Get a hand mist spray pump (atomizer bottle) dedicated for this purpose (500mL) and store it in the fridge, slice your fruit and ‘spray paint’ with
the solution. Storage of the prepared fruits and vegies in this way and in sealed containers then the fridge ASAP.
“Spray Paint” should really read “Mist Coat” as the solution of 1 percent is
quite strong – not that you can O.D on it ! Experiment with the amount of
spraying and concentration, don’t expect the fruit to last like apple sauce !
This was incredibly helpful. Thank you so much!
I just tried this today and it worked awesomely. No browning after sitting in the fridge all day! I wonder how much sodium is actually absorbed into the apple?
Probably not enough to even calculate especially when you have spread it out over that many apples.