Preparation
Do you make pie after pie or do you prefer to make a mix of different seasonal recipes, like applesauce, apple crumble, and apple-cider doughnut cake? For those bushels of apples you bring home—whether you picked them yourself or bought them from your local grocery store or farmers’ market—there are a variety of apple tools that will help you peel, core, and slice these fruits with ease. This is especially important when you’re baking something like Martha’s Mile-High Apple Pie, which requires prepping five pounds of apples.
What tools are most useful? For Jürgen David, director of pastry research and development at the Institute of Culinary Education, a Y-peeler is a must. “I prefer the Y shape over a standard peeler shape because it gets a better grip on the apple and I have more control over the peeler,” he said. David recommends looking for a peeler with a comfortable and ergonomically-designed grip. He also listed a melon baller as a must-have apple tool, as they can be used to core apples. “You can also use it to scoop apples for poaching or roasting, and the melon baller will create a really nice shape,” David said. He recommends looking for one with two different sized scoops on each end to give you more flexibility on size.
Khoran Horn, chef and owner of Stripp’d Juice and Guardhouse in Philadelphia, is all about multitasking tools like a rotary apple peeler and corer. “This will kill two birds with one stone and allow you to crank out peeled apples for a multitude of reasons: cider, pies, cobblers, or even to brighten up a salad,” he said. “Also, you can’t go wrong with the classic push down doohickey that wedges the apple with sheer brute force once they are peeled.”
Best Peeler: Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler 3-PackBest Multipurpose Tool: Microplane 2-In-1 Apple ToolBest Corer: Martha Stewart Collection Apple CorerBest Paring Knife: Linoroso Paring KnifeBest Tabletop Tool: Williams Sonoma Apple Peeler/Corer
