{"id":290627,"date":"2026-09-21T04:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/290627\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T04:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:46:18","slug":"this-storied-apple-is-pa-s-most-grown-but-youve-probably-never-seen-it-in-the-produce-section","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/290627\/","title":{"rendered":"This storied apple is Pa.\u2019s most grown, but you\u2019ve probably never seen it in the produce section"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story first appeared in PA Local, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA taking a fresh, positive look at the incredible people, beautiful places, and delicious food of Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania\u2019s most-grown apple isn\u2019t one you\u2019re likely to find at the supermarket \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t mean you haven\u2019t eaten it before.<\/p>\n

York Imperials, also known simply as \u201cYorks,\u201d have a longstanding reputation as trusty processing apples. So while they probably won\u2019t reach your fruit bowl this fall, some may already be tucked inside your pantry or fridge in the form of sauce, juice, vinegar, cider, or butter.<\/p>\n

The heirloom variety \u2014 sometimes called an \u201cantique apple\u201d \u2014 dates back approximately two centuries, when a York County nurseryman is believed to have developed it using a seedling from a local tree.<\/p>\n

Its popularity has endured among the region\u2019s growers. An estimated 26% of all apples cultivated in the Keystone State last year were Yorks, according to a report<\/a> from industry group USApple.<\/p>\n

When they\u2019re first picked, Yorks taste tart. But they keep for a long time, and as they ripen, they \u201cgradually get a sweeter, sugary taste to them,\u201d said Cindy Heller, the executive director and curator of the National Apple Museum<\/a> near Gettysburg.<\/p>\n

The oblong, thick-skinned fruits, which can be spotted or striped, aren\u2019t known for their visual appeal, she noted. (\u201cLopsided\u201d is a common descriptor on orchards\u2019 websites.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re looking at it, if you had that and you had a very pretty Gala apple or Honeycrisp beside it, you\u2019d be picking one of [the latter] without even a second thought on it, if you didn\u2019t know what the York Imperial could do for you,\u201d Heller said.<\/p>\n

Casual apple snackers, however, are rarely presented with that choice. Nearly all York apples \u2014 around 97% \u2014 go directly to food processors, per USApple data.<\/p>\n

York Imperials \u201cdeveloped that little niche\u201d in the industry a long time ago, said David Peters, president of Peters Orchards in Adams County. The variety is among the top four apple crops grown at his family\u2019s fruit and vegetable farm, and the bulk of the crop goes to Knouse Foods, a nearby farmer cooperative that makes products like Musselman\u2019s applesauce and Lucky Leaf pie fillings.<\/p>\n

The apple\u2019s long shelf life has helped build its positive reputation, Peters said. Yorks are harvested late in the season, and long before the advent of modern cold storage techniques, they could last months without going bad.<\/p>\n

The fruit\u2019s \u201cversatile\u201d texture is another reason for its popularity, Peters said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard, it slices well,\u201d Peters said. \u201cWhen you cook it, it keeps its shape, but yet also is kind of appealing where it\u2019s not like a real firm apple. It still gets kind of soft in the slices.\u201d<\/p>\n

York Imperials also blend well with other apples, he added, and can act as a thickener for applesauce. The variety\u2019s texture is so \u201cdistinct,\u201d Peters said, that he can tell when he\u2019s eating applesauce whether the blend is \u201cmore heavily to York.\u201d<\/p>\n

The apple\u2019s origins are typically traced back to Jonathan Jessop<\/a>, a York County clockmaker and horticulturist. Per Heller, the story goes that Jessop learned about the fruit through John Kline, a man who owned a farm in Hellam Township in the 1820s. Kline noticed that children would snack on the apples that had fallen from a tree on his property, even into the springtime \u2014 when most apples would\u2019ve rotted after sitting there all winter.<\/p>\n

Jessop took grafts from the tree and developed it in his nursery near York. The result \u201ctook off like crazy\u201d at Quaker auctions, Heller said.<\/p>\n

The apple was known by a few different names, she said. Some dubbed it \u201cJonathan\u2019s Fine Winter Apple\u201d since it could be stored and consumed through the cold months; a 19th-century merchant marketed it as the \u201cImperial of Keepers\u201d for the same reason. Eventually, \u201cYork Imperial\u201d stuck.<\/p>\n

An October 1899 item in a Kansas newspaper described the York Imperial\u2019s \u201cgrowing fame,\u201d noting that the \u201cgood shipper\u201d was catching on with farmers beyond Pennsylvania \u2014 along the mid-Atlantic and into Midwest \u2014 and was being sent off to Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt traveled well,\u201d Heller said. \u201cYou could pack it in barrels or in baskets, transport it, and you had almost no bruising, no harm to the apple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nowadays, the apple doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree. Of the estimated 3.7 million bushels of York apples cultivated across the United States last season, 2.7 million \u2014 weighing around 113 million pounds \u2014 were grown in Pennsylvania. The other million primarily come from Virginia and New York.<\/p>\n

\"PennsylvaniaPennsylvania is the top producer of Yorks. (Asha Prihar \/ Spotlight PA)<\/p>\n

Growing Yorks can come with challenges. The trees are biennial, Peters said, meaning that one year, they\u2019ll yield a large amount of fruit, but the next, \u201cthe tree kind of takes a year off.\u201d<\/p>\n

That trait isn\u2019t great for business, he said, but it is manageable. Since the York Imperial variety has been around for such a long time, its quirks are well-known among growers, so farmers have tried-and-true techniques for handling them, like applying tree acids. Newer types of fruit, on the other hand, can be wild cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a grower, we taste these wonderful apples each winter at different shows and conventions,\u201d Peters said, pointing to the many Honeycrisp hybrids as an example. \u201cBut we don\u2019t always know how they\u2019re going to grow \u2026 we don\u2019t always know how it\u2019s going to be received by the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when it comes to Yorks and other heirloom varieties like Cox\u2019s Orange Pippin or Idared, he said, \u201cwe know we have a market\u201d of folks who will seek out those particular varieties from year to year.<\/p>\n

For apple enthusiasts trying to get ahold of some fresh Yorks, roadside stands or farm stores are probably the best place to look, Peters said. Yorks are typically harvested throughout October.<\/p>\n

The fruit can be made into a good, thick homemade applesauce, he said, especially if you don\u2019t puree them completely and leave in some chunks. Or you can just snack on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly not a bad eating apple,\u201d Peters said, \u201caround December, January after it\u2019s been in storage a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

BEFORE YOU GO\u2026 If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org\/donate<\/a>. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you<\/a> who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.<\/p>\n

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