I’ve tried Pink Ladys (or should that ne Pink Ladies lol ). They certainly don’t look like an ideal red apple, but they’re crisp - not at all mealy - and a little tart, which I like. I gave up on red apples for eating years ago and just got Granny Smiths.
Mealy apples are for me very unpleasant.
with you on the grannies — had a pink lady and it was ok — but, i’ve gotten so used to the grannies, that even the pink lady was too sweet.
I hate mealy apples. They may be great for baking, but if I’m gonna have an apple it’ll better be juicy, crisp, and the perfect balance of tart & sweet.
V8
Used to like it.
Now? I wouldn’t use it for an enema on my most hated enemy.
The worst. Granny Smiths are my usual pie apples if I can’t get Cortlands or Northern Spys.
My bet is they’re forcing them on American schoolchildren as part of federal lunch programs. Cheap, last a long while.
Oh, you are right about grafted rootstock.
But what most people miss is that (except for some “heirloom” trees) the plants are not allowed to grow more than a few years. In other words, apple orchards turn over relatively frequently. This means that a lot of growers are sticking with RD by replanting.
Pink Lady is my first choice.
I have a bowl of apples right now that will become apple butter in the crockpot tomorrow.
My mom started to use Granny Smiths when they became available. The resulting pies were fabulous. I have no idea why ATK disses them for pues. Because they can, I guess.
Do you make Tarts Tatin? I started making them with “pie” apples, Gravensteins if I could find them. But someone on eGullet turned me on to using… Golden Delicious. The GD works well, provided you use the most unripe fruit you can find.
No Tartes here, Tatin or otherwise, but I have a French friend who I know has made at least one tarte. I’ll ask her.
I don’t take stock in a LOT of what ATK recommends. 
Whoops - I meant “pies” - and yeah, there’s a lot of ATK and Cook’s Illustrated recommendations that are both puzzling and, frankly, worthless, and that doesn’t even count their self-congratulatory schtik and constant chortling.
I have no idea what “pie apples” are, but I use Granny Smith apples for Tarte Tatin. They work really well.
I think ATK /CI hit its peak many years ago, when the ‘science(ish) cooking’ space was much smaller and basically limited to ATK, Alton Brown, and ‘people who got Harold McGee’s book’
ATK has always been a very ‘middlebrow aspirational’ thing. They give you well researched methods (mostly) and at the very least, their equipment reviews provide a good starting point. Nowadays it’s a little cringeworthy seeing a couple of middle-aged white ladies going on about how to make “authentic” pad Thai at home with pantry ingredients. Especially when you can now watch actual Thai people make it.
As opposed to table apples and road apples…
I inferred you meant the type of apples normally used in pies, and I didn’t know what those were.
I think you’re correct. And, I loved Alton Brown in his original iteration. Later on, not so much. McGee’s book - I have that (of course. Otherwise I doubt I’d be here).
Dear God, I saw that one the other day. I had it on in the kitchen on my iPad (I switch back and forth with Antiques Roadshow because I can’t bear to watch the news). I wish I could binge watch Jaques Pépin instead.
I have my DVR set to record whatever Pepin shows it detects. There are two series, across several channels, and I consistently have 18-20 shows to choose from.
Sadly, I don’t have a DVR.
