Quince Jelly too sweet-advice needed please

[selfraising]

Hi
I made a batch of quince jelly and followed the recipe which was adding 1lb of sugar per pint of strained liquid but the resulting jelly is far too sweet to eat, even for OH who has a sweet tooth I still have some spare quinces to cook up and thought I would have another go. Can I reduce the sugar content and if so, by how much?

[vicky]

I can't tell you the exact quantities but I did my quince jelly 'to taste' and put a lot less sugar in than 1Lb per pint.
You could add lemon zest and juice too. And chillis!

[selfraising]

Thanks Vicky. This is my first year of making jellies and my first time with Quinces so don't really know what I'm doing I thought the sugar helped preserve and set the jelly, which is why I stuck religiously to the recipe I will give it another go and do as you suggest.

[rana]

Sefraising - you are right in thinking the sugar is a preservative. You will get away with a little less but if you reduce the quantity of sugar too much there is a risk that the jelly will go mouldy.

[FionaH]

Or you could send it round here SR, wont sit around long enough to go mouldy

[selfraising]

Sefraising - you are right in thinking the sugar is a preservative. You will get away with a little less but if you reduce the quantity of sugar too much there is a risk that the jelly will go mouldy.

Thanks Rana, so by how much, do you think, is it safe to reduce it by without it going mouldy?

[Hilary B]

If you reduce the sugar you wil have to boil it a lot longer, and will end up with rather less jelly. The sugar content of the end result won't be very different (sugar contributes to the set as well, enormously) but there will be more 'fruit' taste to balance it, so it should be less sweet.
I'd add some lemon juice too. It may be that the quinces are sweeter than expected.....

[stella]

I always put less sugar in when making jams/jellies as I dont like things to be too sweet. So most of them dont end up rock hard but hey if you keep the bread straight they dont always dribble off the end

[selfraising]

If you reduce the sugar you wil have to boil it a lot longer, and will end up with rather less jelly. The sugar content of the end result won't be very different (sugar contributes to the set as well, enormously) but there will be more 'fruit' taste to balance it, so it should be less sweet.
I'd add some lemon juice too. It may be that the quinces are sweeter than expected.....

I also wondered if the sugar content of the quinces were particularly high. I only used granulated sugar, so no added pectin and the set was a lot firmer than the other jellies I have made. I added the juice of two lemons but maybe I need to add more.

[selfraising]

I always put less sugar in when making jams/jellies as I dont like things to be too sweet. So most of them dont end up rock hard but hey if you keep the bread straight they dont always dribble off the end

Ha ha, that's true!

[rana]

I also wondered if the sugar content of the quinces were particularly high. I only used granulated sugar, so no added pectin and the set was a lot firmer than the other jellies I have made. I added the juice of two lemons but maybe I need to add more.

The addition of lemon juice is to aid in the release and activation of pectins. This is necessary to accomplish a good set. If your jelly (or jam) is setting properly then you are using the appropriate amount of lemon juice. I guess excess lemon juice would just affect the taste of the jelly.

By the way are we talking (Cydonia) quince or Japanese (Charenomeles) quince.

IMOH japanese quince makes by far the best flavoured jelly.

[selfraising]

I'm not sure which quinces they are as they were given to me. They are at least as big as a large pear, if not bigger and yellow

[Flummery]

They usually reckon that an under-ripe fruit makes a better jelly as it contains more of its own pectin. I'd be wary of altering the sugar content - if you have a firm set already, adding more lemon juice will make it very stiff indeed.