The other day, while wandering through the fruit and vegetables at the grocery store, I noticed virtually all the apples were the same price. Since my son was insisting that we get apples, I decided to take one of each kind and have a little taste test at home. For the next week we had an apple every day at lunch and rated them for sweetness, crunchiness, texture, and flavor. At least I tried to get the kids to rate them. In the end, I rated them and the kids either liked them or didn't eat them. Then children who participated are 6.5 yrs, 3 yrs, and 8 months old. The oldest and the youngest ate all the apples but the 3 year old did not like the Granny Smith. Below is a chart with my ratings:
| Apple Type | Sweetness | Crunchiness | Texture | Flavor |
| Royal Gala | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Golden Delicious | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Braeburn | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Fuji | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Granny Smith | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Red Delicious | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Rambow | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
Notes on the ratings:
The ratings are from 1 to 5 with 5 meaning it was the sweetest, the crunchiest, etc. Texture is closely related to crunchiness. By Flavor I meant the taste after that first bite. Can you still taste the apple or is it more like chewing wax?
Results
Best Eating: Braeburn - nice, long-lasting flavor, not too sour or sweet, nice crunch
Best Cooking: Granny Smith - sourest/crunchiest
Worst Eating: Fuji - there was no flavor after the initial sweetness.
Worst Cooking: Red Delicious - it was the sweetest and already brown when I cut it open so I'm guessing it wouldn't stand up well under heat.
The kids really liked this activity and began requesting an apple for lunch.
