Twenty Ounce

These very large apples, 12.5 inches around, are broad but tapered, green with dull red stripes, and glossy. One sample is markedly lopsided. ¶ 

The shape is a little bit ribbed only, and the peel has that greasy feel one gets from the natural wax of the fruit.

Lenticels are raised bumps with tiny light spots in the center.

Squeeze Twenty Ounce for a little give: I'm not expecting firmness inside.

Inside 20

The flesh is indeed yielding, also light yellow and fine grained. Also a little grainy, possibly a sign that I waited too long to try these. It has been an awfully busy October.

I said they were big: my two Twenty Ounce apples flanking a normal-sized Baldwin.

The Twenty's flavors are delicate, well balanced (sub acid) and good, a mix of subdued floral, sweet corn, and orange juice. 

These flavors are melded and I might be misstating some of that, but they have a fundamental integrity and blend pleasingly.

My second sample is a bit greener but still has some dull red streaks, broken and splotchy. Its flesh and flavors match those of the first.

Counting Ounces

"Twenty Ounce," of course, refers to the apple's size, though perhaps such measurements should not be taken too literally. (Compare with the nearly-as-big Nine Ounce.)

Trees of Antiquity informs us that Twenty Ounce originated in the Cayuga County, New York, farm of George Howland, who introduced the apple to the world in 1843.

New England Apples flags Twenty Ounce as primarily a cooking apple, and lists some orchards where you can get it.

Apples of New York (vol. 2, 227) praises this variety extravagantly. "One of the most satisfactory of the fall varieties for commercial planting.... highly esteemed for home use." That would have been in 1905.

The book also describes a redder sport, the Collamer (34), and says the original twenty ounce has a number of names, including Cayuga Redstreak. "It is quite distinct," the author warns, "from the Twenty Ounce Pippin."

Out on a Limb lists more of this heritage variety's many names and commends its deployment "on cheddar and apple pizza."

For more information about these sources, see my links page.