Just be sure to add the lemon juice to them since windfall (aka deer apples) need extra acidification since they are lower pH and have a higher bacterial count.

Dave

Just for clarity - that means they are "lower pH" as in lower-acid pH.

Dave

Do you know whether they are drops, or just seconds (damaged during sorting)?

I don't understand this idea of windfall apples being less acidic. With some of my not-recently-pruned-but-shoulda-been trees, to harvest the high ones, I just shake the branches and they fall off - an exercise that requires a hardhat, or in my case, a pretty stiff straw cowboy hat. I heavily mulch around the base of the trees with dried grass clippings, so they have a soft place to land.

I can see that the wormy or deformed apples that fall off may not be much good, but what about perfectly formed ripe ones that fall?

Overripe fruit is less acidic, so maybe they figure if it's ripe enough to fall instead of having to be picked, it's riper? Then there is the bruising, which I guess causes a drop in acidity, and finally the bacterial contamination from the ground. Of course if there is any decompostion, there are a lot of bacteria in the rotting part(s) too.

Orchards in CT can't sell or use drops/windfalls in cider, but can sell seconds (damaged by machinery during sorting, bug bites, deformed, small). Hard to find this year though - they're processing them all into cider, pies, etc. since the harvest is smaller than usual.