Want to do the messy business of cutting up an apple before going off to work? Or perhaps you want to send your kid to school with a sliced apple, knowing that they'll be more likely to eat it that way? You don't want those apple slices to turn brown, though, so what do you do? You use this smart little rubber band trick.
This idea comes from Lydia at @ Home With Real Food. She explains how you can cut up an apple and then bind it back together with a rubber band, just like it had never been cut! Then the apple stays sealed and fresh, with no exposed cut edges to get brown.
Smart, right? See the rest of Lydia's photos and explanation at her blog:
• Read more: Apple Puzzle at @ Home With Real Food
Have you ever tried this?
Related: Food Science: Why Sliced Fruit Turns Brown
(Image: Lydia of @ Home With Real Food)
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Interesting... I always eat my apples cut up. This would have been handy at my last job (psych hospital) where we weren't allowed to have knives.
Alternatively, swish them with some water with lemon juice and put them in a baggie. The citric acid stops them from turning brown. (I never have rubberbands).
This may be a silly question, but why cut them up?
To Urgan: anyone with TMJ would be cautioned to cut up apples.
That's a great idea! I love the way you cut the apple too. Much simpler than my quarter-then-core method.
@URGAN, lots of reasons. My lower front teeth are a little misaligned, and it makes biting into a whole apple hurt a little. For kids, a whole apple is really big compared to their mouth so slices are easier to eat.
Urgan: If I'm just having an apple plain, I like to eat it without cutting it up first. However, sometimes I plan on dipping it in yogurt, or perhaps in some peanut butter. Then I much prefer a cut up apple, to assist with the dipping and scooping!
I for one prefer to eat apples that have been cut up, so I think this is brilliant. And the thick rubber bands that hold together certain produce (like broccoli) from the store are perfect for this. I always feel compelled to save rubber bands, so I already have a bunch...
I prefer to chomp into an apple but haven't in years due to soft as chalk teeth. The extra second to cut it up far outweighs the thousands on dental work,IMO!
I just keep a knife at my desk at work and cut hunks off while I'm eating it, and if I was doing it for kids I'd probably just toss it in a ziploc bag, but this is a very cute way of sending it off.
I prefer mine cut up as well and even cut them in the morning to eat with my lunch later in the day. But consider me strange but I really don't mind them turning a little brown. Never bothered me.
Very clever, and a much better solution for me than the lemon juice solution. I love lemon, and I'm always doing it for pies and such, but if I want an apple, then I want an apple, and not a lemon flavored one. Smart!
Brilliant. I've tried this before by wrapping in plastic wrap after cutting but it never stays together very well. Rubber band is a great idea!
It might just be my keen sense of taste, but I can't abide the taste of a rubber band. If I touch one and then touch my finger to my lip for something, the bitterness kills me. I'd rather have a brown apple! (Although honestly, they don't seem to get brown as fast as they did when I was a kid...?) Just something for others with a strong sense of taste to think about. :)
Upon reading these comments, I'm reminded of a similar conversation from the television show 'Firefly'. Of course their reason for always cutting up fruit had to do with pressure sensitive grenades, hidden in fruit, and not wanting to get their heads blown off. Yes, I'm a geek. LOL
does this really work? i can't imagine the rubber band being tight enough for no oxygen to get to the cut portion of the apple..
Similarly I wrap a cut up apple in Glad Cling Wrap for my child's lunch. Add a little tub on Peanut Butter, it works!
Um-- little lemon juice works just as well.
@JEFFRED: YESSSS! I'm not the only one thinking of Zoe and Mal!!! Geeks FTW.
I did this for my daughter's lunch and it worked like a charm.
My kids eat more apple when you cut it up. You should see how much they leave on the core otherwise.
Been doing this for my sons lunch for 2 years now. It's easier for kids to eat cut up apples, especially when they have loose teeth. Save your rubber bands from broccoli and other greens. You know the thick smallish ones.
Funny, my mother emailed me these pictures this very week! A chain email in of helpful household tips (me, I was excited about using walnut oil to "heal" scratches on wood furniture/cabinetry).
I think this idea would work well for an avocado cut in half