Ingredients for 4 – 5 jars of jelly

• 3 1/2 lbs of quince, washed, stems removed, cored, quartered (leave skin on)
• 7 cups water
• Enough sugar to add almost a cup of sugar (about 7/8 cup) for every cup of juice (about 4 cups)

Put quince pieces in a large stockpot with a thick bottom and add water (if you are eyeballing it, put in enough water to cover the pieces of quince by about an inch.). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, until the quince pieces are soft. Mashing the pulp. With a potato masher, mash the quince to the consistency of slightly runny applesauce. Add more water if necessary. If the mash is too thick, you won’t get enough juice out of it.

To strain the juice from the pulp, place a metal strainer over a pot. Drape 2 layers of cheesecloth over the strainer. Ladle the pulp into the cheesecloth. Let the pulp strain for 3 to 4 hours. If you aren’t getting enough juice out of the pulp, you may need to mix more water into the mash. Do not squeeze the cheese cloth or the jelly will be cloudy.

Measure the amount of juice you have. Should be about 4 to 5 cups. Pour into a thick-bottomed pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Measure out the sugar – a little less than a cup for every cup of juice. Add sugar to the juice.

Bring to a boil, initially stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved, so that the sugar does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. As the jelly cooks, skim off the foam that comes to the surface with a spoon. IInsert a candy thermometer to monitor the jelly temperature. As the temperature rises above the boiling point of water (212°F), you will notice the consistency of the jelly/juice begins to change. When the temperature is approximately 8 degrees higher than boiling point at your altitude (anywhere from 220°F to 222°F at sea level) the jelly is ready to pour into jars.

As the jelly is boiling, sterilize the jars. There are several ways to sterilize your jars for canning. You can run them through a short cycle on your dishwasher. You can place them in a large pot (12 quart) of water on top of a steaming rack (so they don’t touch the bottom of the pan), and bring the water to a boil for 10 minutes. Or you can rinse out the jars, dry them, and place them, without lids, in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes. Sterilize the lids by letting them sit in just boiled hot water for a few minutes.

Use a large ladle to pour the jelly into the sterilized jars to 5/8 inch from the top rim of the jar. If you have one, use a jam filter to pour the jelly into the jar wiout missing the opening. Quickly close the lid, hold closed jar upside and sit down to let cool. You will hear a popping noise as a vacuum seal is created as the jars of jelly cool. The most rewarding sound after all that work!