My mother showed us how to peel apples the real old fashion way, with a paring knife. I was about 8-9 years old. she showed me how to hold the knife safely and spiral peel the apple. We had contests as to how long of a strand of apple we could get without it falling apart. You would start at the top of the apple, as near to the stem as possible. You would gently turn the apple around and around until you came to the bottom of the apple. You go down the apple as you turn it. It didn’t matter to her if you cut off too much of the main piece of the apple. After it was peeled, we either ate the peels or moms would place the peels and core into a large skillet and cook it until it was very soft. She would drain the cooked apples thru a cheese cloth getting all of the juice out into another pot. The liquid was made into apple jelly and the soft smashed cooked apples was fed to the hogs. Mom would squeeze everything out of the apples. The apple fresh, the peels and the juice was all used. Then, the scraps fed the pigs/hogs.
Waste not, want not
Deana
My Yorkie, has a bad liver, is allowed carrot sticks and apple pieces…. She likes both, but the apple is more a treat…. I zip bag up the pieces and suck the air out, trying to stop the browning…. Lemon juice would upset her tummy…. …
Deana
I also make applesauce with peels, I stick blend them in when it’s cooked & can. Mix it with her canned LiverCare, takes treats so much easier…. ?
Alice E
I do either the old school way, or my peeler/corer/slicer depending on volume and intended use. If I’m cooking up or canning a large bunch of apples I pull down the corer/slicer part and just peel them with it putting them in a big bowl with fruit fresh, then quarter and core them the old way and they are ready to cook as quarters. It really depends on why I want them. For eating fresh I use the slice off the core method for just one apple. I don’t have one of those wedger tools that cores and wedges them, but have thought about getting one.
claire
Whole. My 7 yr old eats the most apples. I buy organic now , they are a dirty dozen.
Carla
Old School. However, if you don’t mind a little waste on special occasions, slice like in your first picture and then use a small cookie cutter in the middle. Really cute for a party with the right cutter. I did this for cucumber with a small heart-shaped cutter for our valentine party–except for with cucumber, the cutter is “skinning” it for you. (Then I nibbled on the remnants or fed them to our feeder bugs).
Tara
I use my Ikea apple slicer Bonus, is using it for onions! So, it’s not a unitasker!
Heidi
My Pampered Chef apple wedger is probably the most frequently used tool in my kitchen! When my kiddos were smaller, they wanted to eat apples whole “just like Daddy” so I used a corer to pop out the core and they could eat the whole thing…and use it as a telescope until they bit into the hole. 🙂
Alexis R
I either cut it the old school way or use my apple wedger from Pampered Chef. I will have to try that!
Carrie
it’s the old school method for me
Steph @ The Cheapskate Cook
I’m a quick cut cook – since I like cooked apples more than straight up raw, I just go back to the core and cut super close to it after wards then toss those little apple pieces in with the rest of the apple slices
Tanya Peila
My question is how to you keep them from turning brown?
Jessica
That’s the douse them in lemon juice part. Sorry, it’s small and at the top of the post somewhere, buried, hidden. 😉
Alice E
You can drop them in lemon-lime pop instead of lemon juice. I keep one or two cans/bottles around for use with raw fruit such as bananas, apples and peaches. Pineapple juice actually works too, so if I’m making a mixed fruit bowl for a special occasions I start by adding a can of pineapple chunks with the juice and then add things like cut up bananas or apples. Orange sections with any juice from sectioning are also helpful. I just work with what I have. A co-worker used to bring apple slices with dip to potlucks and she just sliced the apples into a container with the pop and brought them that way.
It cuts into nice even slices with minimum effort and little waste. It might be too small for really large apples.
Nancy
I’m “old school.” That’s the way my mama did it so I know where I learned it.
Jessica
Yes, that’s what I call “the old school way.” I didn’t have a picture of it, but it is the way to waste the least. 😉
Laura
I use the “quick cut wedge” method. To minimize waste, I cut off the little bits around the core and store them in a bag in the freezer. Later, I use these pieces in muffins or scones.
Amy
Ha! You can tell my mom never taught me how to cut an apple. I have started cutting them in fours through the core and then cutting into the apple on an angle to cut the core out so I can get every last bit too. I do tend to gravitate towards this lazy version though 🙂
Konnie
I use a apple slicer/corer but don’t cut all the way to the bottom. Pull the corer back up and hold the apple together – wrap in plastic wrap. It stays together and sealed so you don’t need lemon juice. When the kids eat at school they unwrap and can pull off each piece very easily. The kids think it’s funny because it looks like a whole apple but they open it and it all falls apart!
kp
I do it the quick cut way. The kids get all the wedges, and then I’ll eat around the seeds, since I HATE wasting anything.
Beverly Leonard
My mother showed us how to peel apples the real old fashion way, with a paring knife. I was about 8-9 years old. she showed me how to hold the knife safely and spiral peel the apple. We had contests as to how long of a strand of apple we could get without it falling apart. You would start at the top of the apple, as near to the stem as possible. You would gently turn the apple around and around until you came to the bottom of the apple. You go down the apple as you turn it. It didn’t matter to her if you cut off too much of the main piece of the apple. After it was peeled, we either ate the peels or moms would place the peels and core into a large skillet and cook it until it was very soft. She would drain the cooked apples thru a cheese cloth getting all of the juice out into another pot. The liquid was made into apple jelly and the soft smashed cooked apples was fed to the hogs. Mom would squeeze everything out of the apples. The apple fresh, the peels and the juice was all used. Then, the scraps fed the pigs/hogs.
Waste not, want not
Deana
My Yorkie, has a bad liver, is allowed carrot sticks and apple pieces…. She likes both, but the apple is more a treat…. I zip bag up the pieces and suck the air out, trying to stop the browning…. Lemon juice would upset her tummy…. …
Deana
I also make applesauce with peels, I stick blend them in when it’s cooked & can. Mix it with her canned LiverCare, takes treats so much easier…. ?
Alice E
I do either the old school way, or my peeler/corer/slicer depending on volume and intended use. If I’m cooking up or canning a large bunch of apples I pull down the corer/slicer part and just peel them with it putting them in a big bowl with fruit fresh, then quarter and core them the old way and they are ready to cook as quarters. It really depends on why I want them. For eating fresh I use the slice off the core method for just one apple. I don’t have one of those wedger tools that cores and wedges them, but have thought about getting one.
claire
Whole. My 7 yr old eats the most apples. I buy organic now , they are a dirty dozen.
Carla
Old School. However, if you don’t mind a little waste on special occasions, slice like in your first picture and then use a small cookie cutter in the middle. Really cute for a party with the right cutter. I did this for cucumber with a small heart-shaped cutter for our valentine party–except for with cucumber, the cutter is “skinning” it for you. (Then I nibbled on the remnants or fed them to our feeder bugs).
Tara
I use my Ikea apple slicer Bonus, is using it for onions! So, it’s not a unitasker!
Heidi
My Pampered Chef apple wedger is probably the most frequently used tool in my kitchen! When my kiddos were smaller, they wanted to eat apples whole “just like Daddy” so I used a corer to pop out the core and they could eat the whole thing…and use it as a telescope until they bit into the hole. 🙂
Alexis R
I either cut it the old school way or use my apple wedger from Pampered Chef. I will have to try that!
Carrie
it’s the old school method for me
Steph @ The Cheapskate Cook
I’m a quick cut cook – since I like cooked apples more than straight up raw, I just go back to the core and cut super close to it after wards then toss those little apple pieces in with the rest of the apple slices
Tanya Peila
My question is how to you keep them from turning brown?
Jessica
That’s the douse them in lemon juice part. Sorry, it’s small and at the top of the post somewhere, buried, hidden. 😉
Alice E
You can drop them in lemon-lime pop instead of lemon juice. I keep one or two cans/bottles around for use with raw fruit such as bananas, apples and peaches. Pineapple juice actually works too, so if I’m making a mixed fruit bowl for a special occasions I start by adding a can of pineapple chunks with the juice and then add things like cut up bananas or apples. Orange sections with any juice from sectioning are also helpful. I just work with what I have. A co-worker used to bring apple slices with dip to potlucks and she just sliced the apples into a container with the pop and brought them that way.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for the tip!
Rachel
I like the apple wedger. First one I saw was from Pampered Chef
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=10342&catId=90&parentCatId=90&outletSubCat=&viewAllOutlet=
It cuts into nice even slices with minimum effort and little waste. It might be too small for really large apples.
Nancy
I’m “old school.” That’s the way my mama did it so I know where I learned it.
Jessica
Yes, that’s what I call “the old school way.” I didn’t have a picture of it, but it is the way to waste the least. 😉
Laura
I use the “quick cut wedge” method. To minimize waste, I cut off the little bits around the core and store them in a bag in the freezer. Later, I use these pieces in muffins or scones.
Amy
Ha! You can tell my mom never taught me how to cut an apple. I have started cutting them in fours through the core and then cutting into the apple on an angle to cut the core out so I can get every last bit too. I do tend to gravitate towards this lazy version though 🙂
Konnie
I use a apple slicer/corer but don’t cut all the way to the bottom. Pull the corer back up and hold the apple together – wrap in plastic wrap. It stays together and sealed so you don’t need lemon juice. When the kids eat at school they unwrap and can pull off each piece very easily. The kids think it’s funny because it looks like a whole apple but they open it and it all falls apart!
kp
I do it the quick cut way. The kids get all the wedges, and then I’ll eat around the seeds, since I HATE wasting anything.