The Best Pickers, Peelers, and Tools for Apple Picking

Lille Allen

Congratulations. You’ve donned your coziest asymmetrical poncho and calf-length boots and made your way to the countryside for a day of apple picking, cider sipping, and hay rides. As a single person, I never once felt the urge to gather my own apples, but then I had kids, and it suddenly felt like an overwhelming need. (I must harvest! I must document! I must share!) And so a group of my friends and I packed up the old minivan with ourselves, our kids, and our snacks and began making the annual trek to Carter Mountain, a sprawling Virginia orchard with the kind of scenic vistas that make you want to hold an apple cider donut up to the sky and snap a pic for all the world to see.

Stephanie Ganz

Fast-forward 12 years, and I’ve become a self-proclaimed apple picking expert. I know now to only go on weekdays (even if it means skipping school — this is learning, the old-fashioned way way) and to make sure everyone wears cute but functional boots because those sloping hills are caked with mud. It’s an autumnal rite of passage that always results in taking home a treasure trove of Jonagolds and winesaps, inevitably raising the question, “What am I going to do with all these apples?!” We’ve definitely got a few ideas, but first, here are all the tools you need to pick, prep, and bake your way to apple happiness.

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Grab it

Apple Picker

When I upgraded to this real-deal fruit picker after years of picking apples by hand with a toddler on my shoulders like a total rookie, I felt like I had finally ascended to pro level. The grabbing mechanism releases the apple from the branch easily, at which point the apples drop into the attached (machine washable) mesh bag. You can buy the grabber attachment by itself and connect it to a tree-pruning tool or even a broom, but I prefer the telescoping pole on this model, which extends to 12 feet, giving me access to the shining, ripe apples (or any other tree fruit for that matter) at the height of the tree.

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Prep it

Vegetable Peeler

Your first stop, after polishing off a few apples on the car ride home, will probably be a baking project, which will require peeling your apple bounty. “This time of year we process a lot of apples, sweet potatoes, and winter squash and absolutely cannot do it without our Kuhn Rikon Swiss Peelers,” says Evan Colibri of Virginia Pie Shop. “They last a long time and are so easy to use.” The go-to peeler in every kitchen I’ve worked in, the Swiss peeler is lightweight and ergonomically friendly; these particular ones are five bucks and available in eight vibrant colors so they’re easy to spot in the utensil drawer.

Apple Slicer and Corer

If you’re looking for a tool that can core and slice apples at the same time, this slicer and corer from Williams Sonoma is the way to go. Most of the slicers I’ve found give you eight hefty slices, great for dipping in honey but less than ideal for baking in a pie. This model is adjustable, giving users the choice between eight big pieces or 16 thinner, more baking-friendly slices.

KitchenAid Spiralizer

If you’re planning to go hog on a whole bushel of apples this year, it might be worth investing in this KitchenAid stand mixer attachment, which makes the fastest work out of your apple hoard. This works similarly to the Johnny Apple Peeler, Corer, and Slicer, but instead of turning the handle by hand, the mixer does the work for you. You can also choose whether you want to peel or slice or both. The downside is that this requires owning a KitchenAid stand mixer to use, but the advantage is that it works as a spiralizer for other fruits and vegetables, making it more versatile.

Pyrex Pie Pan

These glass pie pans have some key advantages: They allow bakers to watch for crusts that achieve GBD (golden brown delicious) status without having to guess, meaning no more soggy bottoms. And the wide rim allows for easy grabbing (hence the name) and doubles as a guide for fluting the crust.

Pocket Pie Press

An apple hand pie dipped in cinnamon sugar is one of the best ends your apple haul can meet. This tool creates uniform, well-constructed 6-inch by 3-inch hand pies for frying or baking. The press’s crimped edges seal together nicely, helping bakers avoid blow-outs. Sturdy and easy to use, this would be a great choice for baking with kids.

Digital Thermometer

There’s a fine line between an old-fashioned candy apple and apple tanghulu, the Chinese candied fruit that’s taken over TikTok. All you’ll need to make either version is apples, sugar, water, a heavy-bottomed pot, and a dependable digital thermometer, and then let the ASMR crunching begin.

Slow Cooker

I’m loyal to Crock-Pot since I grew up with one frequently bubbling away on the counter, and this model is a nice upgrade from my childhood version, with programmable settings — choose from high or low temp and your cooking duration — in a cool, sage-y green.

4-Ounce Ball Jars

I like these smaller quilted Ball jars for canning things like apple butter and applesauce because they’re cute and well-suited for giving as gifts, plus they’re great to have around for packing up leftover salad dressings and sauces.

Stephanie Ganz is a writer and recipe developer whose work has appeared in BUST, Bon Appétit, The Kitchn, and Epicurious. She’s the author of the Substack newsletter But Wait, There’s More.