Using unknown variety of 'crab' apples

[endymion]

Next door's fairly ancient ornamental 'Crab Apple' tree has been taken over by whatever rootstock it was grown on and has, for years, been covered with small (about 3" diameter) green apples.

Old neighbours let them fall, to be eaten by blackbirds etc., new neighbours are a bit tidier and have offered us the apples. Very kind of them, but I haven't a clue what we could do with them.

Would we be able to use them as cookers - for pies and so on?

[Alison]

Crab apples are quite tart and I don't like them much as pies and the like but they make truely lovely jellies. Last year I made some spiced crab apple jelly which involved washing them them boiling up with the cores etc insitu in some water with a cinamon stick and some other spices in the pot. Straining overnight in a jelly bag and then making into jelly. OH loved it and I've been told this year I have to make more

[Shadylane]

What about chutney? Mind you it's a pain peeling and coring them when they're that wee.

[Jeannine Anne]

You can do spiced whole crab apples, I have only done it with red ones but see no reason why you can't use others, they go well with roast pork,no need to peel .XX Jeannine

[shirlthegirl43]

We have lots of old crab-apple trees in our garden and if I manage to catch the ruddy apples (usually they go with the June drop or the first breeze without ripening) then they get made into pies, sauce, jellies etc. Just allow a wee bit extra sugar if you are making an apple pie with them.

[endymion]

Thanks.

I think I'll have to experiment a bit when we actually get some of the apples, not sure about spending time making apple jellies because nobody here likes the texture very much, but I could do some more chutney. We get through gallons of the stuff.

The 'spiced crab apples' sound good, do you have a recipe I could adapt?

We have lots of old crab-apple trees in our garden and if I manage to catch the ruddy apples (usually they go with the June drop or the first breeze without ripening) then they get made into pies, sauce, jellies etc. Just allow a wee bit extra sugar if you are making an apple pie with them.

These will, I think, be mostly windfalls because almost all the fruit seems to be at the top of the tree. They are, so far, mostly green although some have a hint of red, and look to be about 3" diameter.

Does anybody know when a crab apple stops being a "crab apple" and turns into just an "apple"? Is it the size or is it the acidity? (Go*gle hasn't been my friend)