Quince fruit trees for jelly making

[gavinjconway]

Hi All - I know nothing about growing quinces and want to grow for making Quince jelly... Do they grow large and what are their growing requirements. Cant seem to find much info on the forum or google..

[gavinjconway]

[small]

There was a short thread about quinces last Autumn, so as a follow-up to that - I made a quince jelly from my Chaenomeles fruit and it was absolutely lovely, so I'd recommend planting this - it's a smallish bush which is also very ornamental with its early flowering.

[davejg]

Look around any new estates round your area, they tend to plant these a lot thorny plants with red flowers now later yellow green fruiys like a very hard oranr or lemon

[Jeannine]

Try Buckingham nurseries in the UK, they usually have a couple of varietes and are a good company,mail order of you wish, you could e mail them any questions too.

I am very jealous. I love quince jelly

XX Jeannine

[jennym]

If you want a tree, the quince type is Cydonia oblonga. These produce the very large, roughly pear shaped fruit, and often mis-shapen. They grow to become quite big trees, and are usually very vigorous.
If you want a bush, the quince type is Chaenomeles japonica. These produce the smaller, roughly apple shaped fruit. Some bushes can be quite thorny, but they are much more controllable than the tree type.
I have both.
I reckon the jelly made from Chaenomeles japonica is by far the nicest.

[gavinjconway]

If you want a tree, the quince type is Cydonia oblonga. These produce the very large, roughly pear shaped fruit, and often mis-shapen. They grow to become quite big trees, and are usually very vigorous.
If you want a bush, the quince type is Chaenomeles japonica. These produce the smaller, roughly apple shaped fruit. Some bushes can be quite thorny, but they are much more controllable than the tree type.
I have both.
I reckon the jelly made from Chaenomeles japonica is by far the nicest.

Thanks for all the info... I'm thinking of both types and get some really good tasting jelly....

[Digeroo]

I have an exquisite Chaenomeles japonica with large salmon pink flowers.  I got it from a cutting out of a skip.  The owner told me not to bother because it never flowered but it has been gorgeous and covered in flowers year after year for about 20 years.

Fruits are very hard.  My OH likes a couple added to an apples crumble.  I refuse to to more.   Peeling and coring two is all I can manage.

I have made jelly but cooking them in pressure cooker to soften them up first.

Sorry to say got very lazy about jam now you can get nice pots of 89p in Lidl.  Though not quince.

I am interested that you think that Chaenomeles japonica is best I thought I had a second rate product compared with the bigger real quinces, seems not.

Does anyone know if you can made Membrillo (spanish quince marmelake) with the Chaenomeles japonica

http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/easy-quince-cheese-recipe-membrillo-467

[Spudbash]

Yes, I've made japonica fruit paste (aka fruit cheese aka membrillo) and the recipe works, but the flavour is more floral than when I make it with quinces. For serving with cheese (eg manchego as the Spanish do), I'd recommend quince rather than japonica. But otherwise the japonica fruit is at least as lovely. I've cooked with three or four different japonica varieties and they are all very good eating.

My quince tree is about seven years old now and large enough to present a problem when pruning it. And I'm wondering how many quince dishes we can get through in a year - perhaps I'll need to swap some fruit with someone else who has a different glut!  ;D Before planting, I was lucky to get hold of a few varieties from the National Fruit Collections and did a comparative tasting: all fairly similar, but Vranja seemed to have livelier flavour, so that's what I planted. I also had the good fortune to taste Isfahan, which had a far less grainy texture than the others.

In the garden, the japonica is obviously ornamental, with the blossom in a range of colours, and some types can, I believe, be trained against a low wall or fence. Having said that, the quince tree has beautiful, single blossoms in spring and it is fun watching the fruits develop. Just now, mine are growing out of their 'Sylvanian families' phase (ie coated with a layer of brown fuzz known as frise) and are turning green and looking quite like pears. They'll soon turn bright yellow and glow in the sunshine...



Spudbash  :)

[artichoke]

I have been controlling a Cydonia oblonga for about 10 years against a 6 foot fence. I keep it down to about that height (a little taller) and do not let it spread more than  about 4 feet forwards away from the fence, and I suppose it is about 5 foot wide, competing happily for fence space with a cherry on one side and a fig on the other. I prune it regularly as I don't want it to take over a small garden. It is not hard to take out a mature branch every now and then, and to trim the twigs with secateurs.

It makes lovely jelly and quince paste. If you bake the quinces in a very slow oven and some water for a few hours, it becomes red,  soft and easy to deal with, the skin peeling off like paper.

I agree it is a beautiful sight in spring with its lovely big flowers and soft silvery leaves.

Keepers Nursery is a wonderful place for quince trees: http://www.keepers-nursery.co.uk/searchresults.aspx?descr=QUINCE&pageno=1

[gavinjconway]

If you want a tree, the quince type is Cydonia oblonga. These produce the very large, roughly pear shaped fruit, and often mis-shapen. They grow to become quite big trees, and are usually very vigorous.
If you want a bush, the quince type is Chaenomeles japonica. These produce the smaller, roughly apple shaped fruit. Some bushes can be quite thorny, but they are much more controllable than the tree type.
I have both.
I reckon the jelly made from Chaenomeles japonica is by far the nicest.

Me back again... I have noticed one of my neighbours has some Japonica growing on the door arch way... with green to yellowing  fruits about golf ball size... they say they thought they were not edible!! eeeks so much fruit has gone to waste over the years!!!

MMMMMMMMMMM - When do we pick them and how do we let them ripen before making jelly etc...

[Digeroo]

Golf ball size is quite small perhaps wait a bit in the hope they are still growing.  In my experience they are never anything but rock hard so peeling and coring is an issue.  If you are going to make jelly then you do not need to but they will have to be cooked long enough to soften them up.

I tend to use a pressure cooker.  I try and cut them in quarters but be very carefully they do not cut easily perhaps banging them with a sledge hammer would do the trick. ;D ;D

[gavinjconway]

I thought we had to pick before the frost and leave to ripen first.. ?? Am I on the wrong track then..  ???

[jennym]

I thought we had to pick before the frost and leave to ripen first.. ?? Am I on the wrong track then..  ???

You may be thinking of medlars, where you have to leave them to soften (blet).

I find that the bush quince do vary in size, and tend to pick them when they start to yellow. I only ever make quince jelly with them, as no-one here seems to want anything else. Have picked some and  made some jelly already, but I suppose it depends on where in the country you are.
They cut reasonably easily when they are ready but they are a lot harder than apple. I use a heavy sharp knife - I just cut them in half horizontally (across the fruit, not down it) and knock out the seeds before using for jelly.

[gavinjconway]

It is growing like a creeper on the wall but thick woody branches....  I'll take a photo and upload..

[Digeroo]

Perhaps it depends on the variety.  Mine produces quite large fruit which have a lovely smell to them.  I sometimes put one in an apple pie for the flavour, but tend to only be able to peel one or two.  But I have never found one soft.  Perhpas I have been too impatient.

Mine looks like this

http://www.bluebellnursery.com/catalogue/images/6633905_1.jpg

[antipodes]

Ha ha yes don't wait for the fruit to "ripen"! Even fully ripe they are rockhard! Quite a few grow in France. They are ready when a very rich colour, and the smell becomes all pervasive. They have a very powerful floral fragrance. To cut them, use a big sharp knife on a firm surface, they really are hard. Wash thoroughly before chopping then cook in pressure cooker if you can. I made some quince and apple mmm well, it was a kind of very fruity jam, almost a paste, which I use at Christmas for cooked meats and best of all Foie gras if you like that.
Here they are usually ripe around the first frosts.  They keep well once picked, just don't let them touch each other.

[saddad]

Or store them near anything else or they will taint them...  :-X