The flavour of Gravenstein makes it best used for cooking, baking, and cider-pressing mainly due to its low sugar content and large fruit size. It's also a great choice due to the massive number of apples produced by a single Gravenstein tree! In fact Gravenstein is one of the largest-growing apple trees cultivated today, giving it the status of a shade tree as well. This apple is also among the oldest varieties still cultivated today, as records of growing Gravenstein apples date as far back as 1669. That means that this apple has been grown and enjoyed for over 300 years! An interesting quality of Gravenstein is that its apples do not store well at all after being harvested, meaning that they must be eaten or cooked right after being harvested. This is incredibly uncommon in the agricultural world of today, where the shelf life of produce is arguably the most important quality for the industry. The fact that these apples continue to be in high demand despite not storing well is incredibly unique and is a sign that Gravenstein apples are among the best in the world.