Quince Variety??

[Rooster]

My wife bought some quince cheese from our local farmers market today and she's so taken with the flavour that she's been going on about it all day. I have looked around to buy a quince tree / shrub but I have become confused about which variety will be best. Could anyone give some advice on which would be best for jams preserves or quince cheese on a small plot.

Thank you, R

[Flummery]

The ornameltal quince is chaenomeles and is grown for its lovely early flowers (mine's been in flower for weeks). Some do set fruits but if you want the fruits specifically look for a 'fruiting quince - probably the easiest to get is Vranja. The big companies have them. T&M for eg.

[Rooster]

Thanks Flummery 'er indoors is ordering a Vranja from the net as we speak.

[Paul Wagland]

Vranja is recognised as the 'Moneymaker' of quinces. We have two of them, plus one of an unknown variety that is much more productive, despite being a younger tree. Wish I could tell you what it was!

They are truly beautiful trees, worth giving lots of space to. They like damp soil and grow well on river banks etc.

[Rooster]

just noticed "resitance is fertile" Paul it made me laugh and my wife has pinched it for her blog entry.

[Paul Wagland]

Well it's not as if I didn't pinch it, so she's very welcome to it!

[Phreddy]

I have always known the chenomales as the Japanese flowering quince and inedible unless buried in sugar.
In BG I have a couple of 'real' quince trees. It is like a furry apple to look at, green then ripens to yellow. It can be used as a replacement for apple, in fact I prefer the Q to the A in pies. Don't think that it can be eaten raw.
Has 4 large pips. Probably not the one for quince cheese.

[TonyF]

Actually Phreddie, it is the one for quince cheese, I made some last year.

Alternative types are Champion (autofertile) and Coigne de Portugal (autofertile). Monstreaux de Vranja fruits mid October, the others a bit later and they all grow up to 12/15 feet high.

They take an awful lot of cooking, even when ripe and they go brown very quickly after you cut into them. I made cheese and jam from them last year, it was superb so my chums tell me. Can't let a bit of difficulty make fruit go to waste can we?

[Paul Wagland]

Had a chance to do some research now.... For those that are interested, Chaenomeles speciosa is the flowering quince, and the fruit is used to make jellies and jams.

The quince more widely regarded as 'edible' is Cydonia oblonga, also called C. vulgaris or Pyrus cydonia (which is a clue to it's close relation to pears). Also used for preserves (in particular quince jelly) the fruit can be eaten raw. Makes a decent wine, apparently. My best fruit book lists eight cultivars, including 'Vranja'

There are also Japanese quinces (C. japonica) and Chinese quinces (Pseudocydonia sinensis)... even Tibetan ones! The fruits of these are edible when cooked, usually as pickles or candied.

[Rooster]

My Quince tree arrived this morning (Vranja) and is now in the ground, thanks for all the help.

Rooster

[Phreddy]

I shall get some pictures in a couple of weeks and show you what my 'real' quince looks like. I also have the 'jap' job as a flowering shrub. Don't remember if it made fruit.