Canning Quince Paste

This Christmas I made quince paste for gifts. Quince paste is easy: you boil 4 parts peeled, diced quince, 2 parts water and 1 part sugar for a long while.
Then puree it in a blender. Then simmer it forever until it renders in to a thick, gooey concoction. If you want true paste, you need to go further and spread it on an oiled pan and bake it at a low temperature for even longer. I stopped at gooey and called it paste, for convenience.

Mon Dec 19 03:15:51 2005: The paste prepared
Here's my great pot of quince oobleck. Quince paste is really good as a topping on ice cream, or as a side for stinky cheese. The quince paste I've made has always had a bit of a gritty mouthfeel, I don't know if that's the nature of the quince or my hasty paring skills.

Some more quince facts:

The quince is related to the apple. It is a tree or bush with large, pale leaves. The fruit tends to be larger than the largest apple. It is very hard, pale green to yellow, and covered in fuzz. It's shaped like a pear-shaped pomegranite.
Supposedly, the quince was the original forbidden fruit, but the wily quince pinned the rap on the hapless apple.
The quince is foul to eat. Even when very ripe, it cannot be eaten raw due to its severe astringence. It smells really nice, though, and some savages strew them about to make their straw huts and BMW's smell good.
The quince has a ton of pectin, so is used to make jellies with other fruits.
Quince jelly, for some reason, is a beautiful bright red. See for yourself the sickly hue of quince paste. I don't know how to make quince jelly.

The paste prepared

Mon Dec 19 03:03:24 2005: Wash the crap.
Wash the jars, lids, and rings. I don't have a dishwasher, so here you see me with a bottlebrush. Instructions often recommend soapy water...
What the hell else do they expect me to wash them with?

Wash the crap.

Mon Dec 19 03:01:07 2005: Double gloved, for your protection.
This is my most valuable advice. Don't buy the special canning jar-lifter (a pair of giant, curiously bent tongs). I put on a pair of cotton gloves, then thick rubber gloves over those. To sterilize them, I thouroughly wash my gloved hands in antibacterial soap. In this get-up, I can immerse my hands in boiling water for 15 seconds or so without discomfort.

Double gloved, for your protection.

Mon Dec 19 02:55:56 2005: Sterilize the jars.
Put the jars in boiling water. Let them stew for 10 minutes. Set the lids in 180 degree water (boiling is 212), which I suppose is meant to make microbes uncomforable. I just poured some boiling water into a bowl.
To some degree I'm banking on the acidity of the fruit to keep this stuff from becoming a rotten nightmare. I wouldn't trust my canning skills to preserve, say fermented beaver tail.

Sterilize the jars.

Mon Dec 19 02:48:30 2005: Slop in the goop.
Spoon in some goo. Fill it to within a quarter inch of the rim. The home-canning trade sells big funnels, and special scoops to go along with the jar-lifter. I don't see how it would even be possible to deal with all that accoutrement to handle scalding slop, water, glass, etc. It would be a disaster, ask me.
I use a spatula for spooning purposes, because it's required for the next step anyway.

Slop in the goop.

Mon Dec 19 02:43:51 2005: Remove yon air bubbles.
Slide the spatula along the sides of the jar, to remove air bubbles. I'm not sure what the purpose of this step is. I think it just moves the air bubbles away from the glass for cosmetic purposes.
Stuff will slop out as you do this, so just gloop a bit more in as you go.

Remove yon air bubbles.

Mon Dec 19 02:40:35 2005: About to wipe.
With a damp cloth, wipe clean the threads and rim of the jar.

About to wipe.

Mon Dec 19 02:38:05 2005: Position the seal.
Shake dry the seal and place it over the cleaned rim.

Position the seal.

Mon Dec 19 02:36:31 2005: Put the ring over the seal.
Tighten the ring over the seal until it's "fingertip tight". I figure this means don't crank down on the thing. You can see the outstreatched fingers of my hand approaching the ring. Arthritic grandmas, I believe, are permitted to use their whole hand to tighten it--but hale youths such as myself are cautioned, predictably, to take care not to ruin everything.

Put the ring over the seal.

Mon Dec 19 02:33:03 2005: Into the pot.
Place the sealed jar upright into the boiling pot. There should be an inch of water over the jar.

Into the pot.

Mon Dec 19 02:31:00 2005: Set them down.
Removed the jar from the boiling water after 10 minutes, and set it somewhere to cool--being careful not to bump it. After a while, the lid will pop inward. With enough cooling jars, it sounds like you have a frog in your kitchen, making short croaks occasionally. Probably looking for a girl-frog, the perv.

Set them down.

Mon Dec 19 02:20:21 2005: The finished product.
The quince paste is in the back two rows, slightly paler. Apple butter is in the fore.

The solo dark jar is from a batch of apple butter I made previously using a crock-pot , rather than the microwave. I find the rich, reddish brown color much more appetising than that of the microwave batch. I think the sugar carmelizes under direct heat, whereas the microwave just evaporates the moisture.
It tastes the same, though.

The finished product.

Mon Dec 19 03:15:51 2005: The paste prepared Here's my great pot of quince oobleck. Quince paste is really good as a topping on ice cream, or as a side for stinky cheese. The quince paste I've made has always had a bit of a gritty mouthfeel, I don't know if that's the nature of the quince or my hasty paring skills. Some more quince facts: The quince is related to the apple. It is a tree or bush with large, pale leaves. The fruit tends to be larger than the largest apple. It is very hard, pale green to yellow, and covered in fuzz. It's shaped like a pear-shaped pomegranite. Supposedly, the quince was the original forbidden fruit, but the wily quince pinned the rap on the hapless apple. The quince is foul to eat. Even when very ripe, it cannot be eaten raw due to its severe astringence. It smells really nice, though, and some savages strew them about to make their straw huts and BMW's smell good. The quince has a ton of pectin, so is used to make jellies with other fruits. Quince jelly, for some reason, is a beautiful bright red. See for yourself the sickly hue of quince paste. I don't know how to make quince jelly.	The paste prepared
Mon Dec 19 03:03:24 2005: Wash the crap. Wash the jars, lids, and rings. I don't have a dishwasher, so here you see me with a bottlebrush. Instructions often recommend soapy water... What the hell else do they expect me to wash them with?	Wash the crap.
Mon Dec 19 03:01:07 2005: Double gloved, for your protection. This is my most valuable advice. Don't buy the special canning jar-lifter (a pair of giant, curiously bent tongs). I put on a pair of cotton gloves, then thick rubber gloves over those. To sterilize them, I thouroughly wash my gloved hands in antibacterial soap. In this get-up, I can immerse my hands in boiling water for 15 seconds or so without discomfort.	Double gloved, for your protection.
Mon Dec 19 02:55:56 2005: Sterilize the jars. Put the jars in boiling water. Let them stew for 10 minutes. Set the lids in 180 degree water (boiling is 212), which I suppose is meant to make microbes uncomforable. I just poured some boiling water into a bowl. To some degree I'm banking on the acidity of the fruit to keep this stuff from becoming a rotten nightmare. I wouldn't trust my canning skills to preserve, say fermented beaver tail.	Sterilize the jars.
Mon Dec 19 02:48:30 2005: Slop in the goop. Spoon in some goo. Fill it to within a quarter inch of the rim. The home-canning trade sells big funnels, and special scoops to go along with the jar-lifter. I don't see how it would even be possible to deal with all that accoutrement to handle scalding slop, water, glass, etc. It would be a disaster, ask me. I use a spatula for spooning purposes, because it's required for the next step anyway.	Slop in the goop.
Mon Dec 19 02:43:51 2005: Remove yon air bubbles. Slide the spatula along the sides of the jar, to remove air bubbles. I'm not sure what the purpose of this step is. I think it just moves the air bubbles away from the glass for cosmetic purposes. Stuff will slop out as you do this, so just gloop a bit more in as you go.	Remove yon air bubbles.
Mon Dec 19 02:40:35 2005: About to wipe. With a damp cloth, wipe clean the threads and rim of the jar.	About to wipe.
Mon Dec 19 02:38:05 2005: Position the seal. Shake dry the seal and place it over the cleaned rim.	Position the seal.
Mon Dec 19 02:36:31 2005: Put the ring over the seal. Tighten the ring over the seal until it's "fingertip tight". I figure this means don't crank down on the thing. You can see the outstreatched fingers of my hand approaching the ring. Arthritic grandmas, I believe, are permitted to use their whole hand to tighten it--but hale youths such as myself are cautioned, predictably, to take care not to ruin everything.	Put the ring over the seal.
Mon Dec 19 02:33:03 2005: Into the pot. Place the sealed jar upright into the boiling pot. There should be an inch of water over the jar.	Into the pot.
Mon Dec 19 02:31:00 2005: Set them down. Removed the jar from the boiling water after 10 minutes, and set it somewhere to cool--being careful not to bump it. After a while, the lid will pop inward. With enough cooling jars, it sounds like you have a frog in your kitchen, making short croaks occasionally. Probably looking for a girl-frog, the perv.	Set them down.
Mon Dec 19 02:20:21 2005: The finished product. The quince paste is in the back two rows, slightly paler. Apple butter is in the fore. The solo dark jar is from a batch of apple butter I made previously using a crock-pot , rather than the microwave. I find the rich, reddish brown color much more appetising than that of the microwave batch. I think the sugar carmelizes under direct heat, whereas the microwave just evaporates the moisture. It tastes the same, though.	The finished product.