[Maryann]

Sorry I know this isn't exactly a new topic as have been reading some of the older posts about them but I have just discovered quinces and could use some advice.
A work colleague gave us some large pear shape green ones. They have smooth green speckly skin (no fuzz) with tinges of yellow. Could these be of the Cydonia Oblonga family or are they more likely to be the Japonica flowering quince variety?

[Maryann]

  No replies....can't believe it. You lovely people are normally so good at replying   

I have since tried to make some jelly from half of the batch I was given but only got a very small amount of juice from the 2.5 lbs of quinces. So I pureed the flesh and mixed it in with the juice to make some jam. It was unbelievably sour so had to use quite a lot of sugar to sweeten the jam and even now it's got quite a sharp/sweet flavour.
It set solid like a 'cheese' rather than a jam so I'm really not at all sure I have managed this first effort very well at all, or if the fruit is maybe not just ripe enough. Worse still - maybe it isn't an edible variety 
Now I'm thinking I really need to get the fruit checked out before eating any of this 'jam' 

[compostqueen]

It does look like a true quince, judging by its size, as the ornamental ones are small - I think

Maybe it's not ripe as you say.  Have you followed a recipe for quince jam or have you made it up?

I understand they should be peeled and deseeded. 

[Maryann]

Thanks for replying - was feeling very uncertain about the fruit.
I have a steam juicer - bit like this one
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/steam-juicers/Mehu-Liisa-Recipes.pdf
and so I prepared the fruit for steaming by cutting into pieces and removing the seeds and core as I though I might want to use the pulp for something later. I didn't peel the fruit though. After steaming it the remaining pulp is very soft and went through my potato ricer really easy.
So after steaming (same as jelly bag process) I was left with about 400ml of juice (which isn't enough for jelly) and the pulp. I decided to add the juice back to the pulp to make jam with which is a process I do regularly with other fruits like raspberrys or blackberries to make seedless jam and normally works very well.

I used roughly the same amount of sugar as weight of fruit as hadn't weiged the pulp but had to keep adding more as so tart.
I admit it wasn't strictly to any recipe but quite often jam making is trial an error and normally works out ok if you follow basic rules.
I must have done something wrong I guess. Hubby likes the flavour and says it's a bit like marmalade and nothing wrong with it but I'm worried it might not be edible. It has a lovely orange colour and is very thick set - more like a fruit cheese.

[sarajane]

Maryann I haven't got a clue about making quince jams.  I did however have some recently in Ibizia.  It was very much like a fruit chese, had to be sliced and the locals were eating it with cheese as a desert.  I enjoyed the flavour .

[Maryann]

Maryann I haven't got a clue about making quince jams.  I did however have some recently in Ibizia.  It was very much like a fruit chese, had to be sliced and the locals were eating it with cheese as a desert.  I enjoyed the flavour .

Thanks for that Sara - I had read that Quinces are much more appreciated in Europe but are now back in favour here. You can't buy commercially produced jam here because Quinces are very labour intensive and they can't make enough profit from them.
I think what I have produced may well be like a fruit cheese - which is what you would have had in Ibizia. When I did the saucer test to see if it had set it was solid like a little jelly and I could pick it up in one piece. I have potted it up into jam jars but will open one and see what it is like now it has cooled. I believe it is eaten with cheeses and cold meat. As long as it is edible and won't poison anyone then I'm happy  but will try and make jelly with next batch as that is what Quinces are best known for.

[Maryann]

This seems to be more or less what I have done......more by luck than judgement!

http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/quince-cheese/

[Annen]

My old Good Housekeeping cookery book has recipes for quince cheese, jam and jelly if you wanted I could type them up and send to you. 
If it is any help, I have an ornamental quince in my garden and the few fruits it makes are small and round rather than pear shaped.

[surbie100]

Hi Maryann,
The quinces you were given don't look very ripe to me - which might explain the amount of sugar you had to use and the amount of juice you got. All the ones that I have used have been yellow, some with brown blotches. Some of the quince varieties hold their shape when cooked (Isfahan for example) so aren't great for jelly, but make ok membrillo/cheese.

I also use the small fruit from my mum's ornamental quince, which make great jelly (and cheese with the leftover mush) but you need an awful lot of them.

I'm totally hooked on the flavour and am trying to find a dwarfing 2 year quince for my plot - as the 4 50ml jars/year don't last long!
Surbie

[Maryann]

I'm wondering if they were picked too soon as they do have little patches of yellow here and there. However the seeds were really dry inside the fruit so it's a bit of a mystery. I am keeping the remaining fruit in a bowl in the living room to see if they ripen any further but I would really love to be able to get them identified.
The person who gave them to us knows very little about them - they come from her Mum or Grans garden and she was sure that jelly was made from them in the past but normally they just get dumped on compost.
It's a bit of a mystery but one thought was they must be ornamental because they are green not yellow but now I have heard from a few people who tell me that ornamental quinces are very small and these are large and pear shape mostly.
Would be nice to get to the bottom of it 
Thanks for all your replies and comments - really helpful

[gavinjconway]

They have been picked too soon - they must be yellow and probably picked just before the frost sets in... They are the Cydonia Oblonga family - the Japonica are small (about 40-50mm) compared to those..

[noshed]

The ones on our site are picked around now when they are yellow. They taste very aromatic, like pears

[Maryann]

Have sent email with photos of my quinces to local orchard here in Kent and hoping they will give positive identification for me. Will update you if I hear anything 

[gavinjconway]

Dont you believe us that they are of the Cydonia Oblonga... they are for sure and not the Japonica type... I have used both last year for jellies!!

The Japonica grows on a scraggly spikey bush and the Cydonia Oblonga are a something like a cross between a pear and apple... grow from green as in your pic to a deep yellow..

Google images for Quinces and then Japonica Quince - you will see the difference... no need for nurseries to identify for you - we know on this forum!!

[Maryann]

Dont you believe us that they are of the Cydonia Oblonga... they are for sure and not the Japonica type... I have used both last year for jellies!!

The Japonica grows on a scraggly spikey bush and the Cydonia Oblonga are a something like a cross between a pear and apple... grow from green as in your pic to a deep yellow..

Google images for Quinces and then Japonica Quince - you will see the difference... no need for nurseries to identify for you - we know on this forum!!

Ha ha yes of course I do - the email was sent off a few days ago but I haven't heard back from them yet. Also several people I know on a cooking forum said no way could they be Cydonia Oblonga because of the colour and the fact they had no fuzz on them so I thought best to make sure.