How to Make Medlar Jelly and Medlar Cheese, it Finally Worked!

[@ThreeHornedUnicorn]

Hi there, Since there is so little info about medlars on the net, I felt that my experience would help out at least a bit. I processed my medlars a week ago and here are some very useful tips: - since they ripen literally one by one, keep them in a cool dry area and look for soft darker spots on the skin - this is when they begin to get bletted - separate these and wait until they are fully soft and dark on the outside, then put in a refrigerator. - once you have most of the medlars bletted, take them out the fridge, wait a bit to get them to room temp, then boil some water and pour it over them so that they can peel easily. - peeling: do not leave any of the outside skin on the fruit - peeling is easier starting from the base of the fruit, cutting the stem with a knife and going towards the hard part at the top. Then simply scratch off this hard part. You will be left with a squishy mass full of seeds. - add some water, to separate the seeds more easily, then sieve and remove the seeds. I actually used a potato press to get all the fruit mass and separate the seeds. Also, do add water if needed - it is going to get reduced afterwards anyway. - with what I had extracted, I made a pretty decent amount of jam, but you can actually eat it as it is. - for jam: add sugar to taste (I used a little less than 3:1 (fruit mass to sugar)),boil or bake in a tray in order to reduce the mixture and make it a little thicker, then add a teaspoon of citric acid, leave to cook for 5-10min more, then fill some jars, close them and leave them bottoms up until completely cool. - you can add different kinds of spices if you’d like - cloves, rose geranium leaf - whatever you like. Since I processed mine so little time ago, I haven’t actually tried any of the spiced jars, but the jam tasted wonderful even without any spices. I hope this was helpful! Keep up the good work!

[@gardenwiseadventures]

Thank you so much! This helps!

[@ThreeHornedUnicorn]

Update: This year we harvested the medlar tree about a week later and the results are tremendous - Almost all fruits have bletted and it has been less than a week of waiting. That would mean that more time spent on the tree means less time to wait afterwards and, practically, no fridge time needed. Also, I tried the marmalade with the cloves and it is absolutely amazing (for me, at least). The cloves actually mask a lot of the medlar taste so if you don’t like them, don’t add cloves at all. Furthermore, now that I watch the video again, I notice that the medlars used for that recipe are quite dry. Don’t wait so long. Use them while they’re mushy, and not that dry. Also, remove any cracked or oozing ones from the place you’re storing them as that would attract insects and also potentially ruin your batch by getting mouldy. PS: I will try adding cinnamon this year, as it kind of feels that it would be a good match.

[@ThreeHornedUnicorn]

And another update: Adding ground cinnamon to the mix is an absolute win. Also, it is very important to know how much medlar pulp you have after removing all seeds and skin, so weigh it before adding anything. So, the recipe is as follows: Remove all skin and seeds from medlars; Add water - about 2:1 (water to medlar pulp); Add sugar about 1:3 (sugar to undiluted medlar pulp), citric acid (1-2 teaspoons (don’t add too much, as medlars are already acidic)) and ground cinnamon (optional, but really good); Bake in a large dish until reduced to almost undiluted consistency and fill your jars. Turn them bottoms up, cover with a towel and leave to cool completely. The caps will seal due to the cooling. You can add unground spices to your jars (e.g. cloves) while filling them up.

[@samasonedderman]

A food mill would work out great I think. Thanks for this, I have loads of medlars and would really like to use the pulp of the medlar as well.

[@gardenwiseadventures]

Thanks for watching! I definitely agree! A food mill would make this a lot easier!

[@Fredjikrang]

Yeah, 250F is way too hard. I usually aim for around 212F at our altitude for jams and jellies. (Between 4,000 and 5,000 ft.) That is what I did for my quince jam and it is maybe slightly hard, but very spreadable. I made that mistake with my quince last year and ended up with something resembling a gummy candy more than a jam.

[@gardenwiseadventures]

Thank you! That helps to know a better target temperature! It's fun learning though. I have been melting it, thinning it out and using it as a syrup.

[@rcordiner]

They are all too old and rotted. You need to harvest in late October / early November. Lay them out in a tray and once bletted just scrape off the base and squeeze the pulp and seeds out. You can then boil this up with water and pass through a sieve to make a smooth paste before sweetening.

[@gardenwiseadventures]

@@rcordiner Thank you.

[@brianspiers807]

So so wrong ,

[@gardenwiseadventures]

The jelly definitely was not an ideal texture! The flavor was good, though! I am hoping it turns out better this year. This year's Medlars are currently bletting in my garage.