Last week was very busy. I went out the day before I was to leave for camp to visit Mary to find all of my grapes ripe so I spent the little time I had left canning grapes. I then spent the rest of the week at Lutheran Hills with Mary so I am finally getting back to blogging.
One thing I decided to make with my grapes was grape juice. I searched the internet but only found recipes for what I call grape flavored sugar water. I wanted to make some without added sugar since my grapes were already so naturally sweet. Here is the process I used after some research.
Step 1: I sorted, cleaned and pulled the grapes off the stems.
Step 2: I put them in a pan, added enough water to cover and boiled them until the skins split open.
Step 3: I let them sit in cheesecloth lined strainer over bowl to catch the juice. I put them in the frig to drain overnight or about 24 hours.
Step 4: I removed the skins, strained the juice from the bowl back through the cheesecloth into a pan. I heated the juice to boiling.
Step 5: While still hot, I ladeled juice into jars leaving a 1/4 inch head space.
Step 6: I water bathed the pint jars for 15 minutes (quart jars are for the same amount of time)
You can add sugar to taste if needed. My juice was so sweet there was not a need for added sugar. The leftover skins are now in a jar making wine vinegar. I will let you know how that goes later as this is my first attempt at making homemade flavored vinegar.
One thing I decided to make with my grapes was grape juice. I searched the internet but only found recipes for what I call grape flavored sugar water. I wanted to make some without added sugar since my grapes were already so naturally sweet. Here is the process I used after some research.
Step 1: I sorted, cleaned and pulled the grapes off the stems.
Step 2: I put them in a pan, added enough water to cover and boiled them until the skins split open.
Step 3: I let them sit in cheesecloth lined strainer over bowl to catch the juice. I put them in the frig to drain overnight or about 24 hours.
Step 4: I removed the skins, strained the juice from the bowl back through the cheesecloth into a pan. I heated the juice to boiling.
Step 5: While still hot, I ladeled juice into jars leaving a 1/4 inch head space.
Step 6: I water bathed the pint jars for 15 minutes (quart jars are for the same amount of time)
You can add sugar to taste if needed. My juice was so sweet there was not a need for added sugar. The leftover skins are now in a jar making wine vinegar. I will let you know how that goes later as this is my first attempt at making homemade flavored vinegar.
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I use a steamer juicer for my grapes. If they need to be sweeter, I add Stevie when we drink it. I love grape pop cycles.
ReplyDeleteNancy