It is back-to-school season and you know what that means: we are back for lunch. It is also time to uncover tips and tricks that make you less early in the morning.
For generations, a good old pocket of apple slices has been a staple at lunchtime. I remember that I have opened my bag as a child to find a plastic bag with thin -cut apples that were thrown into a kind of preservative to prevent it from browning before browning. Although crispy and tasty, we have covered a long way from the coating of the natural with the unnatural.
I recently learned the trick of pressing lemon on a cut apple to prevent it from becoming brown. Curious why it works, I consulted an expert.
Why do cut apples become brown?
I spoke to Veronica Tegen, the CEO of The food geek and board member of the Midwest Fruit Explorers.
“Apple get brown when they are cut in their meat because of an enzyme that reacts with oxygen,” she explains. “When the enzyme oxidizes, it creates Melanin.”
According to Tegan, not all apples are brown. For example, Cortland, Empire, Cameo and Gala will tan slower because their meat contains less of this reactive enzyme. However, each variety begins to tan when it remains untreated.
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So they prevent apple slices from brown
Tegan shared three ingredients that weaken the browning (citrus fruits, honey and salt), which alleviate all slow oxidation by removing the air pollution of the apple and the contrast of the enzyme. However, everyone works something else.
She explains that acid ingredients such as lemon juice change the pH of the apple to slow down the reaction. Salt breaks the enzymes that make the apples brown; And Honey Solutions coat the apples, which prevents oxygen from interacting with the cut surfaces of the apple.
My colleague has already written about salt to swear a salt water solution to keep her apples crispy and white. I decide respectfully for the lemon alternative. Why? Well, because in my experience, no matter how much I washed out from a salt water solution, I still returned with a salty aftertaste. The lemon, on the other hand, gives the apples an additional piece of sharpness.
How to use lemon juice to stop browning
Tegen recommends to soak the apples in one half of one half to a tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of water for no longer than 30 minutes. One reason why I prefer lemon compared to other soaking methods is that in a pinch you press a lemon half over the slices until they are coated and you can then throw it into a re -lockable bag. How is that for a piece of wisdom?
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