How to store apples for winter: temperature, packing, and which keep longest

Store apples in the coldest spot that stays above freezing. The target is 30°F to 32°F (-1°C to 0°C) with high humidity, but anything from 32°F to 40°F (0°C to 4°C) works at home. Pick firm apples with no cuts or soft spots. Do not wash them. Wrap each one in newspaper or set them in a single layer in a ventilated box, crate, or perforated plastic bag. Keep them away from potatoes. Check the apples every week or two and pull out any that soften. Late-season varieties can last for months. Early apples last a few weeks.

Which storage spot to pick

Choose the coldest place in your home that does not freeze.

A root cellar is the best fit. An unheated basement, a cold porch, or an insulated garage can also work if the temperature holds in range. A heated kitchen is too warm. Apples soften and turn mealy there within days.

If you have only a bushel or less, use the refrigerator. Put the apples in the crisper drawer inside a plastic bag with a few small holes. The bag holds in humidity and the holes let air move. A spare refrigerator in the garage works well for a larger harvest.

Humidity matters as much as cold. Apples lose water through the skin, and dry air leaves them wrinkled. Storage experts at university extension services give a humidity target of about 90 to 95 percent. A damp cellar floor often gets close. In a dry room, the plastic bag or a lined box helps.

Check the temperature with a thermometer before you commit the whole harvest. Garages swing hard on cold nights. Apples that freeze turn brown and watery once they thaw.

Pick and sort apples for storage

Storage starts at harvest. An apple that is overripe on the tree will not keep. Pick when the fruit is mature and firm, not soft. My guide on when to pick apples covers the ripeness signs and the harvest months.

Lift the apple and twist. Keep the stem attached when you can. A torn stem leaves an open wound where rot gets in. Handle each apple like an egg. Bruises turn into soft brown spots in storage.

Sort into two piles. The storage pile holds apples that are firm and clean with unbroken skin. The kitchen pile holds everything with a cut, a bruise, a worm hole, or a soft patch. Eat or cook the kitchen pile first. Apples with scab marks on the skin are fine to store if the skin is not broken.

Do not wash the apples. Wet skin invites mold. Wipe off dirt with a dry cloth.

Pack apples so they keep

Airflow and separation are the goals.

Wrap each apple in a sheet of newspaper. The paper slows the spread of rot from one apple to the next and cuts down on bruising. Then set the wrapped apples in a cardboard box, a wooden crate, or a shallow tray. Use one or two layers. Deep piles crush the bottom layer.

If you skip the wrapping, set the apples in a single layer with a little space between them. Do not let them touch. Cover the box with a cloth or a sheet of cardboard to hold humidity and block light.

Label the box with the variety and the date. Different varieties keep for different lengths of time, and a label tells you which box to open first.

Avoid sealed plastic tubs and sealed bags. Trapped moisture causes mold. Apples also give off ethylene gas, and a sealed container traps it and speeds ripening.

Keep apples away from other produce

Ripening apples release ethylene gas. That gas pushes other produce to ripen, soften, and spoil faster. Potatoes sprout sooner next to apples. Carrots turn bitter. Store apples in a separate room, or in a separate box at the far side of the same room.

The reverse is also true. Apples pick up smells from onions, cabbage, and potatoes. If you store several crops, give the apples their own space. My post on how to store potatoes for winter covers the potato side of that pairing.

The same gas that spoils neighbors is useful in one case. A single apple in a paper bag will ripen a hard avocado or a green tomato on the counter.

Which apples keep longest

Late-season apples keep best. They ripen in cool fall weather, have firm flesh, and tend to hold their flavor and crunch. Early-season apples ripen in late summer, soften fast, and are best eaten or cooked within a few weeks.

Varieties with a good reputation for storage include Granny Smith, Fuji, and ‘Pink Lady’. ‘Honeycrisp’ holds its crunch well in cold storage. Golden Delicious keeps for a moderate time, but the skin shrivels in dry air, so pack it with extra care.

Some varieties go mealy quickly. McIntosh is one that does not hold texture for long. Use those first, or turn them into applesauce while they are still at their best. For a full list of varieties by type and season, see my page on types of apples.

Keep in mind that storage length depends on your conditions. A warm room cuts the time to weeks. A cold, humid cellar stretches it to months. Check the apples to see how yours are doing instead of trusting a date.

Check stored apples every week or two

One rotten apple can spoil the ones around it. Look through the box every week or two. Feel each apple. Remove any that are soft, wrinkled, or leaking. Wipe the spot where the bad apple sat, and check the neighbors for brown patches.

Apples that start to soften are still good to cook. Use them for pie, sauce, or baking within a day or two. If the flesh has turned brown through the middle, or the apple smells fermented, throw it out.

Fix common apple storage problems

Wrinkled skin means the air is too dry or the room is too warm. Move the box to a cooler spot and raise humidity with a plastic liner or a damp cloth near the box.

Mealy, soft flesh means the apples were overripe at harvest or the room is too warm. Eat them soon. Next year, pick earlier.

Brown, watery flesh after a cold night means the apples froze. Cook any that are still firm and throw out the rest. Move the box to a spot that stays above 30°F (-1°C).

Brown areas under the skin with the skin still intact can be a storage disorder related to temperature or harvest timing. The apples are safe to eat if the flesh is firm, but cut away the brown parts.

Mold on the skin means the apples were wet or packed too tight. Remove the apple, wipe the box, and give the rest more room.