Quinces

[Mr Four Square]

Anyone got a recipe for making a quince wash?

I have heard they make a brilliant spirit with delicately perfumed scent. Sounds pretty good to me.

Any advice much appreciated thanks

[Icefever]

We get given a couple of bags of quines every year, the swmbo then makes jam and quince cheese out of them and they do give a perfumed scent to both.

Now a wash made from them... maybe a very nice drink..I've had a quick google on this but no luck as yet.

[chill]

You want to look for quince wine not quince wash:
http://www.wine-making-guides.com/quince_wine.html

Should be a nice eau de vie.

[packapoo]

If you're into cider, they aren't too bad.

[Myles]

Basicaly you can think of them as a highly fragrant apple. It is not accurate but might be close enough. Possibly as an apple enhancer rather than used on their own.

[Icefever]

You want to look for quince wine not quince wash:
http://www.wine-making-guides.com/quince_wine.html
Should be a nice eau de vie.

Well done Chill.......never give it a thought..

[Mr Four Square]

Thanks for the link. I'll file that away while i try to learn more. To fill a 23 litre pot that recipe would take 125 fruit or 25 kilos per wash. I'm wondering how little work I can get away with and still get a tasty drop. Maybe scratting 10 kg of them up like apples, mixing up some water and sugar and letting the yeasites do the rest?

The french have been making this stuff for years and call it Cong. The Balkans are into it too. They must have an effective way of getting flavour out of them. If it is anything like Slivovitz it will involve huge amounts of fruit and loads of time. Its hard to imagine anyone pressing the things for juice, you'd squeeze 10 kilos for a small glassful which doesn't sound too clever. Rock brandy anyone? More questions and experimenting required.

[chill]

You could use my lazy way. I make fruit brandies in the summer when the season is right (fruit is cheaper). One way is to freeze them and then slice or chop them. Freezing ruptures the cell walls letting all of the goodness out. Or run them through a food processor. Or just slice them. I think freezing might be good here, quinces are on the hard side. Then put 5-10Kg of them in a fermentor with about 5KG of sugar and 23L of water. Add yeast and wait. A few days of fermenting and the fruit softens up. Get your hands in there and break up any pieces. Watch out for the pits in things like plums - they can be SHARP. On the bright side, blood does not seem to affect the taste...

Chuck

[Mr Four Square]

Thanks Chill if I can't find out the old way then what you are suggesting is what I will do . You can bet the French don't add loads of sugar to their traditional spirit so logically they must use loads of fruit to up the sugar levels. And if they do that then how do they get the juice out??

That's the question monsieur Charles

On the bright side, blood does not seem to affect the taste...Chuck

Just more nutrient for the yeast ...

[chill]

Yes, I am sure the french did not do it that way. But they had access to lots of cheap fruit and sugar was expensive. Look for an article on apple cider making, that is what they did. The fruit is pulverized/grated and then put in a large press and squeezed. I'd love to be able to do that, but space is limited and if I set up a cider press on the premises, the missus would be after me with a stick, or worse!

Chuck

[Mr Four Square]

I'd love to be able to do that, but space is limited and if I set up a cider press on the premises, the missus would be after me with a stick, or worse! Chuck

Its the "worse" you have to watch out for !

I have found a few youtube clips in Serbian? on making their quince eau de vie called Dunjaveca. Looks like they scrat them up (big quantities) ferment the pulped fruit and still when dry.

So your suggestion for an easy way is looking spot on Chill. Scrat about 10kgs of them, add sugar and water.

Next step, call the brother in law with the trees...

Oh and make a whirling slicer dicer thingy which should be fun >:D

[chill]

Let us know how it goes. I am very interested. It is a few months to quince season here, but this sounds like something new for me to try this year.

Chuck

[Mr Four Square]

A bit of progress ...
Step 1 "First catch your hare" I found a big basket full of Quinces adding rustic charm in a country cafe.Convinced someone to part with 5 kgs worth - enough for a 23 litre sugar wash (thanks for the recipe Chill) .

Step 2 take to it with my Hack-o-Matic 2000. A sharpened 6" stainless ruler attached by threaded rod to the drill.


Step 3 stop and rough cut the quinces by hand because the HoM just bounces off the top of the ripe fruit.

Step 4 go you good thing! The HoM rips the first 80 % to a fine chip. Spend the next10 minutes trying to chip the last few. seems to be the way with lots of things in life. Maybe cutting the blade down would help.


Step 5 put the bag of chipped Quinces in the freezer till I get through the 100 litres of plum wash I still have to distill.

To be continued ...

[Phantom]

There are vid clips around, about using a garbage disposal shredder for scratting the fruit - just make up a wood frame to mount it on and a small hopper to guide the fruit.

Pulp comes out like apple sauce.

Pressing cloths and a 2 to 3 inch frame to make the "pressing cheeses".......

Press from 4x4 timber and coach bolts, pressing panels from wood and wood tray to catch/direct the juice. The actual pressing is done with a car jack.

Or you can modify a smallish workshop press - theres 10 tonne presses on ebay for less than a hundred quid.......

Thats for apples........

Quinces ? Properly frozen and thawed shouldnt need scratting once defrosted they should press fine.

Messy as hell process but reasonably cheap to do in larger amounts.........its just the bloody wasps !

Now I just need to work out where to get the quinces.......

Oh, and the kit unbolts for small area storage and washing down with sulphite.........

[packapoo]

You've got the idea.
Made up a similar pressing system for my cider.