Ask Lisa: #01

Real answers to your questions, from one busy mom to another.

Since I've started sharing the lunches I pack for my kids, I get a lot of questions about how I do things. One of these days I will write a post with all of the frequently asked questions. There is one question that I get more often than any other, by far... 

What do you do to keep the apples from turning brown?  

It's a funny thing, it's not something I ever thought about until people starting asking.  Brown apples was something I had never had a problem with. But it seems to be a pretty common problem, so I wanted to try to figure out why. 

My first answer was:  I do nothing. 

I assumed it was maybe the type of apples I was buying.  

I buy only organic apples, and I tend to go for the more tart varieties, like Fuji or Gala. But then I heard from folks that they purchase those kinds too, and they turn brown.

I can literally cut apples and store them in the fridge for days without them turning brown. 

Why do my apples not turn brown?

Then one day I quickly cut up an apple with a regular table knife.  And the apple turned brown very quickly.  It occurred to me, maybe the knife had something to do with it.  I almost always cut them with a very sharp knife, but that day I hadn't. 

So I did a little experiment. 

These two apples were both cut 24 hours before the picture was taken.  

The one on the left was cut with the table knife. The one on the right was cut with a very sharp chef's knife.  I think it's a pretty big difference between the two. 

So there you have it - maybe the knife is the difference.

Because really, there is nothing else I do to them other than cut with a good sharp knife.

The apple on the left was cut three days before, the one on the right was cut just before the picture was taken. Not much difference. 

Get yourself a good knife and a good sharpener, and maybe you'll never have to hassle with brown apples again.