Apples

Varieties & Approximate Harvest Dates

Keep in mind that weather plays a large role in ripening dates and availability each year.
During some harvest seasons, some apples are available before or after the dates shown in this schedule. This apple harvest schedule shows typical dates and is posted for customer convenience, but please don't depend solely on it. For the most up-to-date information on our apple crops, follow us on social media!

Fruit Facts

Yellow Transparent

Availability: Most of July

A popular favorite of local applesauce makers who prefer a more tart, full-flavor apple with smooth, light texture and attractive light color.

Best Alternatives:
Earligold or Summer Rambo

Earligold

Availability: Late July - Late August

A transparent-type variety that makes a light-textured, light-colored and full flavored applesauce. This cultivar originated in Washington state.

Best Alternatives: Yellow Transparent or Summer Rambo

Summer Rambo

Availability: Late July - mid-August

A grass green-colored Lancaster County favorite for applesauce and apple pies. First grown in France in the mid-1500's.

Best Alternatives: Earligold or Smokehouse

Ginger Gold

Availability: Early August - Early September

Our top-selling applesauce variety, with crunch and flavor. Great for fresh eating too. Almost as sweet and tasty as Golden Delicious, but ripens six weeks earlier. Discovered by a fruit grower in Virginia after a tragic storm in 1969.

Best Alternatives: Earligold or Golden Supreme

Sansa

Availability: Early August - Early September

The first "real" eating apple of the season. An "offspring" of Gala and also related to Jonathan. Originated in Japan and has tremendous flavor, juice, and crunch.

Best Alternatives: Zestar or Gala

Zestar! (Minnewashta cultivar)

Availability: Late August - Early October

An early season apple with crisp, juicy texture and a zesty flavor with a hint of brown sugar. Outstanding texture, flavor, and storage life. Developed at the University of Minnesota, who also introduced the Honeycrisp.

Best Alternatives: Sansa or Honeycrisp

Gala

Availability: Late August - Most of Winter

The most popular eating apple in the U.S. with a glowing red-orange appearance, sweet & wonderful taste, and an excellent crunch. Originated in New Zealand and includes both Red Delicious and Golden Delicious in its ancestry.

Best Alternatives: Zestar or Sansa

Honeycrisp

Availability: Late August - Early October

An "explosively crisp" apple, with light, crunchy texture and sweet flavor. Introduced in 1991 at the University of Minnesota. Honeycrisp is also a fine baking apple.

Best Alternatives: Zestar or Crimson Crisp

Smokehouse

Availability: Most of September

Originated as a chance seedling behind the smokehouse of a Bird-in-Hand farm in the 1800's, making it a Lancaster County specialty. Green skin color and tart flavor compares to Granny Smith. Ideal for all cooking, baking, sauce, and salad purposes.

Best Alternatives: Summer Rambo or Grimes Golden

McIntosh

Availability: Mid-September - Thanksgiving

A mildly tart, somewhat mellow and aromatic apple that's great for snacking, drying, most cooking purposes, and applesauce. McIntosh has been the premier apple grown in New York and the New England states.

Best Alternatives: Cortland or Empire

Jonathan

Availability: Mid-September - Early-December

A tart and spicy all-around apple. This variety has great "stay firm when baked" flesh for pies and dumplings.

Best Alternatives: Jonagold or Idared

Red Delicious

Availability: Mid-September - Spring

The best known apple, primarily used for fresh eating. Discovered on a farm in Iowa in the 1870's. Originally called "Hawkeye" before Stark Brothers Nursery bought the rights to the apple and renamed it.

Best Alternatives: Golden Delicious or Cameo

Grimes Golden

Availability: Mid-September - Early November

Excellent for pies and cooked-apple dishes. Also a great-tasting fresh eating apple with a mellow texture. Discovered by Thomas Grimes in West Virginia in 1804 and believed to be a parent of Golden Delicious.

Best Alternatives: Ginger Gold or Golden Delicious

Cortland

Availability: Mid-September - Early December

An excellent all-around apple with mellow texture, "stay-white-longer" flesh, and makes red-colored applesauce. Originated in New York State as a cross between McIntosh and Ben Davis.

Best Alternatives: McIntosh or Empire

Crimson Crisp

Availability: Mid-September - Most of Winter

A crunchy, sweet-tart fresh-eating and salad apple that rivals Honeycrisp.

Best Alternatives: Zestar or Honeycrisp

Empire

Availability: Late September - Most of Winter

Combines the best traits of both its parents, Red Delicious and McIntosh. Great for snacks, desserts, and salads, as well as the main ingredient in apple pie.

Best Alternatives: Cortland or Red Delicious

Golden Delicious

Availability: Mid-September - Spring

Kauffman's best selling apple. In 2014, our orchard crew harvested 2423 bushels of Golden Delicious in three weeks' time. Great for all purposes.

Best Alternatives: Golden Supreme or Grimes Golden

Jonagold

Availability: Late September - Most of Winter

A large, beautiful apple with mellow texture and great taste. A cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious. Great when blended with a sweet variety for a great no-sugar-added applesauce.

Best Alternatives: Jonathan or Crispin

Idared

Availability: Late-September - Mid-December

Developed at the University of Idaho's Agricultural Experiment Station and well-suited for baking, cooking, and drying uses. Used at Kauffman's for making tart apple schnitz.

Best Alternatives: Jonathan or Rome

Crispin

Availability: Early October - Spring

A sweet, juicy, firm textured, crispy, white-fleshed variety developed in Japan, where they call it Mutsu. Great for salads and cooked apple dishes, too.

Best Alternatives: Golden Delicious or Cameo

Stayman

Availability: Mid-October - March

Discovered around the close of the Civil War by J. Stayman, this variety is one of the most popular cultivars grown at Kauffman's. Rich, snappy, and distinctive taste and texture.

Best Alternatives: Rome or Goldrush

Rome Beauty

Availability: Early October - Spring

A better keeping variety that is firm and attractively colored. It has a mild flavor and is good for all baking and cooking purposes. Used at Kauffman's for peeling and coring apples for bakeries and restaurants and in Arianna’s Apple Dumplings.

Best Alternatives: Stayman or Idared

Fuji

Availability: Mid-September - Spring

Unusually sweet and extra crunchy. Developed in Japan and claims Red Delicious as a parent. A classic apple for fresh eating and salads and is an outstanding keeper.

Best Alternatives: Cameo or Braeburn

Cameo

Availability: Early October - Most of Winter

Pleasingly sweet flavor, big crunch, and good keeping qualities. The thin skin enhances its fresh-eating pleasure. Believed to be related to both Red Delicious and Golden Delicious, Cameo was discovered in Washington State in 1987.

Best Alternatives: Fuji or Braeburn

Granny Smith

Availability: Late October - January

The famous green baking apple discovered by Margaret Smith in Australia before 1900. Hard, juicy, and tart. Perhaps the most widely known cooking apple.

Best Alternatives: Stayman or Pink Lady

Goldrush

Availability: Thanksgiving - Spring

Great for fresh-eating and in baked apple dishes. A disease-resistant apple developed through the combined efforts of Purdue University, Rutgers University and the University of Illinois. Firm texture and spicy taste.

Best Alternatives: Granny Smith or Pink Lady

Pink Lady

Availability: Early November - Spring

Developed in Australia and includes Golden Delicious in its ancestry. Sweet-tart, outstanding flavor and very crisp texture. The pink skin and white flesh add to the attractiveness of this variety.

Best Alternatives: Braeburn or Goldrush

Frequently Asked Apple Questions

What is the best variety for fresh eating?
We are constantly looking for the "perfect" apple. We haven't found it yet, but we think some of the varieties we grow get really close! Although everyone has their own preferences, there are some apples that seem to "have it all" when it comes to fresh eating.

If you want a sweet, crunchy apple:
Try Sansa, Honeycrisp, Gala, Golden Delicious, Crispin, Cameo, or Fuji.

If you want a mildly tart and crisp apple:
Try Honeycrisp, Empire, Jonagold, Braeburn, or Pink Lady

If you want a tart and crunchy apple:
Try Smokehouse, Jonathan, Stayman, Granny Smith, or Goldrush.

If you want an apple that is flavorful with a more mellow texture:
Try McIntosh, Cortland, Idared, or Jonagold.

How many quarts of applesauce can I expect from a half-bushel basket/bag of apples?
10 quarts.

What is the best variety for applesauce?
Our most popular applesauce apple is Ginger Gold; however, personal preference comes into play quite a bit on this question.
The opinions we hear generally fall into one of these categories:

  • For a thin, smooth sauce: The early varieties - Transparent, Earligold, & Summer Rambo - supply this texture.
  • For a mildly tart and crisp applesauce: Try Honeycrisp, Empire, Jonagold, Braeburn, or Pink Lady.
  • For a naturally sweet sauce that doesn't need a lot of sugar added to it: Try Jonagold, Fuji, Cameo, Gala, Golden Delicious, Golden Supreme, Ginger Gold, or Crispin. Some of the Kauffman wives cook the apples in apple cider instead of water to add natural sweetness.
  • For a tart applesauce, if you don't mind adding sugar: Varieties listed in category #1 are good options. You may also want to try Smokehouse, Cortland, McIntosh, Stayman, Goldrush, or Granny Smith.

Is it a good idea to blend varieties when making applesauce?
We recommend it! Just as the flavor, body, smoothness, and sweetness of apple cider are enhanced by using a mix of varieties, so it works for applesauce. We suggest using at least one tart and one sweet apple.

Which apple is the best variety for baking?
Again, this depends heavily on your preferences. Most people use a tart or slightly tart apple for optimum flavor. Our top-selling baking apples are Jonathan, McIntosh, Idared, Rome, Stayman, and Granny Smith. New varieties that are baking favorites of our employees are Ginger Gold, Empire, Jonagold, Cameo, and Goldrush. Give these a try, you'll love them!

What is the life expectancy of an apple tree?
Our orchards are replaced roughly every 20 years. This is not necessarily so much because of the trees' health, but rather to stay abreast of trends in varieties, orchard training systems, and customer preferences.