We determine the \bar qq condensate for quark masses from zero up to that of the strange quark within a phenomenologically successful modelling of continuum QCD by solving the quark Schwinger--Dyson equation. The existence of multiple solutions to this equation is the key to an accurate and reliable extraction of this condensate using the operator product expansion. We explain why alternative definitions fail to give the physical condensate.

PACS numbers: 12.38.Aw, 12.38.Lg, 12.39.--x, 14.65.Bt