Wonder why it seems harder and harder to make the caramel dip stick to caramel apples these days?
The Reason:
There is a new preservative coating that apple wholesalers are applying to apples to make them stay fresh longer. It is called LAC Resin or Shellac Resin. It makes the apples look very shiney and very fresh, however, caramel apple dip will NOT stick to these apples. In the past all you had to do was wash apples that were waxed with soap and water to get the wax off. Soap and water will not remove this new coating. The only thing that will remove it is alcohol.
So what do you do?
Buy your apples direct from your local orchard!
Did you buy your apples from a local orchard or from a produce wholesaler? If you got them from a wholesaler and the apples look like they are polished and shiney, then this is the problem -- not the caramel dip. There should be a label or sticker on the apples saying that it contains LAC Resin or Shellac Resin but that may not always be the case.