PickYourOwn.org
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How to Make Homemade Grape Jelly from Bottled Grape Juice - Easily!Making and canning your own grape jelly from grape juice (either bottled, frozen or fresh) is also quite easy. Here's how to do it, in a few easy steps and completely illustrated. You can use bottled white grape juice, red, Concord or any other variety; or even frozen juice concentrate. You can make the jelly sugarless, or add sugar, honey or even Splenda, depending upon your own needs and tastes. These directions work equally well to make other types of jelly from other juice, such as raspberry, blackberry, etc.; by themselves or mixed berry jelly, or see this page for directions about making other types of jelly from bottled or frozen juice. Any variations will be spelled out in the directions inside the pectin package.Related pages: See this page for How to make muscadine or scuppernong jelly or this page for Jam-making directions and this page for apple jelly directions! For easy applesauce or apple butter directions, click on these links. Ingredients and Equipment
Grape Jelly-from-Juice DirectionsThis example shows you how to make grape jelly. You can use this recipe to make almost any type of jelly from the fruit juice; where there is a difference, I will point it out! The yield from this recipe is about 12 eight-ounce jars (which is the same as 6 pints). Step 1 - Wash the jars and lidsNow's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sterilize" cycle, the water bath processing will sterilize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sterilize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sterilize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.
Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out. Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot jelly. Step 2 - Measure out the sugar
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| Table 1. Recommended process time for Grape Jelly in a boiling water canner. | ||||
| Process Time at Altitudes of | ||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | 0 - 1,000 ft | 1,001 - 6,000 ft | Above 6,000 ft |
| Hot | Half-pints or Pints |
5 min | 10 | 15 |
Step
9 - Remove and cool the jars - Done!Lift the jars out of the water with your jar lifter tongs and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them!
From left to right:
Q. I was reading the instructions on making grape jelly. We have a super-duper juicer that we can run the grapes through and skip the grape-food processor/ crushing steps, but is that a suitable thing to do?
A. Sure, that ought to work great!
Q. I don't have a jelly sieve, so you suggest cheesecloth (which I do have). Will the jelly come out clear using cheesecloth (even doubled up). I really don't want to use a pillow case as I've heard is the way to go. Will cheesecloth do the trick?
Yup! It just depends what you want to achieve. The finer the cloth, the more clear the final product. But that also reduces the yield, and the “cloudiness” is actually bits of fruit, which I like!
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You can get all of the tools in a kit here:  |
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Home Canning KitsFeatures:* All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set! * Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner and "Ball Blue Book" of canning. * Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter. * A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection. This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother
used to make everything from applesauce to jellys and jellies to tomato and
spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and
lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs,
lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel,
labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars and lids (and the jars are reusable). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here! Average Customer Review:
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Canning booksCanning & Preserving for Dummies
Click here for a larger photo, more information, pricing, ordering, etc. |
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The Ball Blue Book of PreservingThis is THE book on canning! My grandmother used this book when I was a child. It tells you in simple instructions how to can almost anything; complete with recipes for jelly, jellies, pickles, sauces, canning vegetables, meats, etc. If it can be canned, this book likely tells you how! Click on the link below for more information and / or to buy (no obligation to buy) Price $8.95 |
Summary - Typical Cost of Making Homemade Grape Jelly - makes 12 to 14 jars, 8 oz each** |
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| Item | Quantity | Cost in 2009 | Source | Subtotal |
| Grapes | 5 lbs | $1.25/lb | Pick your own | $6.25 |
| Canning jars (8 oz size), includes lids and rings | 12 jars | $7.00/dozen | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $7.00 |
| Sugar | 4 cups | $2.00 | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $2.00 |
| Pectin (low sugar, dry) | 1 and a third boxes * | $2.00 per box | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $2.70 |
| Total | $17.95 total or about $1.50 per jar |
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| * pectin use varies - blackberry
jelly needs very little, raspberry a little more, grape the most.
** - This assumes you already have the pots, pans, ladles, and reusable equipment. Note that you can reuse the jars and reduce the cost further; just buy new lids (the rings are reusable, but the flat lids are not)! |
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Answers to Common Questions
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NOTE: If unsterilized jars are used, the product should be processed
for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processing can result
in a poor set (runny jelly), it’s better to sterilize the jars.
Check the directions with the pectin; typically, it is 7 cups of sugar to
5 or 6 cups of grape juice and one box of pectin; but I add about another
1/2 box of pectin to get a firmer set. The precise measurements are found in
each and every box of pectin sold. Mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup
of sugar and Keep this separate from the rest of the sugar. If you are not using sugar, you'll just have to stir more vigorously to prevent the pectin from clumping.
Step
3 - Add the pectin to the hot strained juice and bring to a full boil
pectin (just open another pack and
add a little) or else the jelly is runnier than I like. With a little practice,
you'll find out exactly how much pectin to get the thickness you like.
When the grape-pectin mix has reached a full boil, add the rest of the sugar (for
regular p[ectin; about
6 and 3/4 cups of sugar per 6 cup batch of grape juice; or 4 cups of sugar if you
are using the low or no-sugar pectin) and then bring it back to
a boil and boil hard for 1 minute.
Step
6 - Testing for
"jell" (thickness)
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled jelly off the
top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into
the boiling water canner!
Keep the jars covered with at least 2 inches of water. Keep the water
boiling. In general, boil them for 5 minutes, which is what SureJell (the
makers of the pectin) recommend. I say "in general" because you have
to process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea level, or if you
use larger jars, or if you did not sterilize the jars and lids right before
using them. The directions inside every box of pectin will tell you
exactly - and see the Table below for altitude differences. The directions on the pectin tend to be
pretty conservative.
Note: Some people don't even boil the jars; they just ladle it hot into hot jars, put the lids and rings on and invert them, but putting the jars in the boiling water bath REALLY helps to reduce spoilage! To me, it makes little sense to put all the working into making the
jelly and then not to process the jars to be sure they don't spoil!
