Topic: quince

[telboy]

Thanks jennym,
I have always called my quince bush 'Japanese quince' not knowing the true name.
It must be 32 yrs. old now, never grows much but fruits well every year.
I will make some quince jelly from it soon, as last year the freezing weather ruined the fruit.
The flavour & perfume are exquisite!
 ;)

[antipodes]

I was given some quinces by a friend. I  made several jars of a thick apple+quince purée, slightly "jammified" which is a corker when served with meat or pate or foie gras, best of all. They are a bugger to cut and core though! You've got to really hack into them!
these ones were deep yellow and smelt wonderful too.

[qahtan]

 yes that is the worst thing about them so ***** hard to cut and core..
 grrr, your hands really hurt after you tackle a few of them,,,,,
 qahtan

[artichoke]

Sorry if I have suggested this already, I forget, but if you put them whole into a casserole of sweetened (or plain) water, put a lid on, or metal foil, and bake them in a slow oven for a couple of hours, they go soft, the skin peels off like paper, and you can then do what you like with them. The juice is delicious, too.

[jennym]

I don't peel or core quinces. For the bush quince Caenomeles japonica it usually goes like this. Large sharp knife, like a butchers knife, heavy chopping board. Position knife carefully across the quince (not vertically from stem end, horizontally like the equator) and push down cleanly with weight on the tip end of the knife too.
If they're that hard they don't cut, then they might not be ripe enough, or knife not sharp enough. Sometimes I whack the back of the knife with a wooden rolling pin, that always does the trick!
The fruit cuts in half, and if you tap each half sharply most of the seeds fall out. I tend not to want too many seeds in, as they darken the colour of the jelly.
Only just cover the fruit with water, bring to the boil and turn down heat and let simmer until they're soft enough to mash with a potato masher. Or pressure cook them. Then strain through a series of sieves and use that juice when making your jelly, half sugar half juice by weight.

[goodlife]

I process my japanese quices just about same way..minus the whacking bit ;D
I just cut the core off and rest is cooked and put though sieve ..result is like apple pure.