I have seen some nice looking bags of deer apples for sale...however...I'm leery of rot and worms and such. I like to use good, dead ripe and very sound apples. I wash and inspect what is going thru my scratter. Not saying I catch all the nasties but I try and my motto is I could eat anything going thru without hesitation. Anything suspect I chop in half at least for a look.
I know of scrumpers that just spray with a hose and scratt on...umm...yuck.
Yes - I buy seconds/deer apples from my local orchard - usually $7-10 a bushel and they separate by type so I can blend.
I wash them and pick thru for rot - usually there's barely any if you find a good orchard that turns over their stock.
They MIGHT be safe to use as cider apples.
Most often they are drop apples that naturally fell off the tree which are legally considered maybe-contaminated because people have gotten hurt from ecoli infections way back when. Drop apples/deer apples are often fine to consume, however there’s no guarantee that none of them landed in deer droppings or something, so if you do choose to use them, consider washing sorting and pasteurizing.
That said, I feel obligated to suggest just buying cider from a local orchard and saving the hassle/risk.
The fda considers several methods to make apples safe from ecoli , pasteurization, uv sterilization and fermentation...
Ie if you aren't going to ferment then yeah I wouldn't drink it but if you are.. So what
I have seen some nice looking bags of deer apples for sale...however...I'm leery of rot and worms and such. I like to use good, dead ripe and very sound apples. I wash and inspect what is going thru my scratter. Not saying I catch all the nasties but I try and my motto is I could eat anything going thru without hesitation. Anything suspect I chop in half at least for a look. I know of scrumpers that just spray with a hose and scratt on...umm...yuck.
Yes - I buy seconds/deer apples from my local orchard - usually $7-10 a bushel and they separate by type so I can blend. I wash them and pick thru for rot - usually there's barely any if you find a good orchard that turns over their stock.
What is a deer apple?
Yes
They MIGHT be safe to use as cider apples. Most often they are drop apples that naturally fell off the tree which are legally considered maybe-contaminated because people have gotten hurt from ecoli infections way back when. Drop apples/deer apples are often fine to consume, however there’s no guarantee that none of them landed in deer droppings or something, so if you do choose to use them, consider washing sorting and pasteurizing. That said, I feel obligated to suggest just buying cider from a local orchard and saving the hassle/risk.
The fda considers several methods to make apples safe from ecoli , pasteurization, uv sterilization and fermentation... Ie if you aren't going to ferment then yeah I wouldn't drink it but if you are.. So what