Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Grapes.

Next we did grape jelly......a friend picked the grapes from their garden for us!

I made home made grape juice.....a lot of work for not much juice ;) The jury is still out as to if I would make home made juice again or make jelly again......I'll let you know the first time we pop it open LOL!!!!

Here is the recipe for that:
Grape Jelly (no pectin)

4 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds Concord grapes and 1/2 cup water)
3 cups sugar

To prepare juice: Select 1/4th firm-ripe and 3/4th fully-ripe grapes. Wash and stem grapes. Crush grapes. Add water; cover; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Strain juice through damp jelly bag or several layers cheesecloth. To prevent formation of tartrate crystals in jelly, let juice stand in a cool place 12 to 24 hours; strain again to remove crystals.
To prepare jelly: Put grape juice in a large saucepot. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Boil over high heat, stirring constantly, to 8 degrees F above the boiling point of water or until jelly mixture sheets from a spoon. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. ladle hot jelly into hot, sterilized jars,leaving 1/4th inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 5 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Yield: about 4 half-pints.

Mary also makes grape jelly :) Here is her video for that! No home made juice ;) I just choose to make home made juice and to not use the pectin.......don't know why it's just a "thing" with me I guess!!!

Mary Ostyn - How to Make Grape Jelly from Mary Ostyn on Vimeo.

1 comment:

Elaine McD. said...

I did not know that jelly was so easy....I might even try it next year with our concord grapes...there is a VERY easy way to make grapejuice too. Thanks for posting the video -- wow, she makes it look do-able.