Quinces: Anyone know about making quince jelly please?

dorsetmiss_2

I was given some quinces and thought I'd make some quince jelly. I've got to the simmering in water til soft stage but thought that the 'mush' would be a pinky colour, (isn't quince jelly pink?), whereas its actually yellowy/green. Now wondering if I've used the quinces before they were ripe:rolleyes: A quick squiz on the net seems to indicate that they should be yellow to be ripe whereas these were more green! Is it worth continuing do you think or should I just bin the lot? I'm so disappointed as the smell from the quinces was wonderful.....:o

thriftlady_2

I know about quinces

First off, have you got quinces from a tree like these Quince tree link

or are they japonica quinces from a bush like these ? Japonica quince



Blimey, sorry for the long links:o
I would say for both fruit the greener the fruit the better the set. Unripe fruit has more pectin But you need some to be nice and ripe too. I make jelly with tree quinces and whilst they are cooking to a mush they are a pretty yellowish looking mixture. Maybe they could do with some more cooking, I generally give them at least an hour.

The jelly should indeed be pinky amber when finished, but I think you'll find when you boil the juice up with the sugar (after a night spent in the jelly bag),it will darken and get pinker.

dorsetmiss_2

Oooh there is always someone to help out on this site :j

The quinces are the Chaenomeles ones I think, (2nd link), they are on a bush thingy which is growing up the front of a friend's house. I've had a little bashlet with a small quantity to see what happened........(Overnight in a jelly bag!!!!! I just whacked them through a sieve!!) Very quickly reached setting point....could easily have ended up with quince toffe, (or glue!). The taste is very unusual, intense and just a bit astringent tho not unpleasant. Not pink though! Was wondering about cooking up a batch of Bramley Apples and combining the 2 mixes? Would that work


Thanks for the help so far :T

thriftlady_2

Looks great Dorsetmiss:j
Its along time since I clapped eyes on chaenomeles jelly so can't remember what colour it should be, but definitely in the amber to pink range rather than red to purple tree quinces (cydonia oblonga) do make a lovely pink jelly very close to the colour of crab apple jelly.

morganlefay

From Jane Grigson’s fruit book

Good if you have a mix of perfect and not so perfect fruit. If you don’t have very many add windfall or cooking apples up to half the weight of the quinces.

Set aside three of four nice quinces after washing them all and rubbing away any grey fluff. Cut the rest up into chunks and put them in a preserving pan half full of water.
Peel the best quinces then slice and core them neatly. Throw cores and peel into the pan. Lay the slices on top. If the water doesn’t cover the fruit add some more. Bring to the boil and simmer till the fruit on top is completely tender, remove the slices with a slotted spoon. Boil the panful hard, crushing it down occasionally with a spud masher. When the fruit is completely pulpy strain through a jelly bag.

Measure the quantity, for each 600ml juice allow 500g sugar ( that’s a pound to a pint), put the reserved slices into the juice and boil hard until a set is reached. Put the slices into two or three sterilized jam jars, then top up with jelly. Put any remaining jelly into more jars. Cover and store in cool, dark place. The preserved slices can be used for adding to apple pies during the winter. When you add the sugar to the juice you could also add spices – say a cinnamon stick and a few cloves.

Obviously you don’t have to do this thing with the slices but I thought it sounded quite good and might try it if I can find any big enough to make it worthwhile peeling them !

I wasn't sure about the 'grey fluff' though that's what she says !

PONDSAVER_2

M grandfather has a quince bush in his garden but he has never done anything with them - so maybe I could give the jelly a shot but what would it then be used for is it like a marmalade?

wendym

The 'grey fluff' doesn't refer to the little fruits from chaenomeles, but the pear-sized (and shaped) quinces that grow on trees rather than bushes. They are much harder to find, although last winter my Waitrose sold them, and I treated myself to just one to add to apples, as my tree produced just one, which dropped into my neighbours' garden and was badly damaged when they threw it back. This year I don't have a single quince.

thriftlady_2

My quince tree only produced 2 or 3 the first year it fruited, next year it was about 6, then I too had a barren year. But ever since (last 4-5 years) I've had 50- 70 fruit :eek:

This year I've made jelly, stewed some for the freezer, added some to apple crumble, made beef and quince tagine, pureed some for stirring into yogurt and freezing, baked some like apples,made quince muffins (delicious), made a cobbler with some and 2 bottles of quince vodka. I also gave away a huge box and still have a basket of them in the garage. There are also many rotting on the ground, but hey, I'm all quinced out:rolleyes:

wendym

I'm open-mouthed with astonishment and envy, thriftlady!

Jane Grigson starts her section with 'first catch your quince'.

My tree fruits less each year. I think it's about 10 years old now. I wonder whether you living in such a fruit-producing area has anything to do with it?
Or perhaps my husband's maniac pruning sessions have discouraged it.

We finished the last of our quince vodka at New Year. Ah well.....

dorsetmiss_2

PONDSAVER wrote:

M grandfather has a quince bush in his garden but he has never done anything with them - so maybe I could give the jelly a shot but what would it then be used for is it like a marmalade?

I had a dollop of mine today with mature cheddar cheese and oat biscuits and it was yummy...should think it would go well with cold meats too. So glad I persevered and didn't bin the lot! Got 5 jars of all quince jelly and 5 of apple and quince. Wish I'd known about the thing with the slices though as it sounds nice! Will know for next year.

Now, about this quince vodka........... does anyone have a recipe:rotfl:

PONDSAVER_2

yes I seem interested in the quincce vodka too......