Grape jelly

[Engineer]

I looked up as I was driving along my driveway a few days ago, and realized that I have an unbelieveable amount of wild grapes hanging over the driveway from the trees.  When I was a little kid my mother made some grape jelly, I'd like to pick those grapes but don't have a clue what to do for jelly.  Any help?

[Tom]

Yeah, If they are ripe, don't wait for a recipe before you pick them or they'll be gone.   You best get what you can before the squirrels and coons find them.  :D

Here's an entertaining article and preparation link.

[thecfarm]

And the birds too Tom.My wife uses a Foley food mill to smash up the grapes.She said to go buy a Blueball book.Any good size grocery,healthfood or any store will have one in the canning section,about $5.

[WDH]

I never had any jelly from those Vitus vines, but I fondly remember as a child climbing up one big pine covered in wild grape vines every fall.  We would crush the grapes in our mouths to get the juice and spit out the pulp.  They are not at all like a tame grape, but tasty nonetheless .

Let us know how the jelly turns out.  Better yet, bring some to the pig roast and maybe Roxie will make us some biscuits ;D.  (Where is the hope smiley when you need it?)

[DanG]

My low-speed connection won't let me read Tom's link, so I'll just tell ya how we always did it.  This ain't an exact recipe, 'cause I can't remember that, but it should give you an idea.

Dump the grapes into a big ol' pot.  Add water up to the level the grapes were without the water.(You can't "cover" them, 'cause they float.)  Boil them for a while, and let them cool.  Pour them through a sieve(we always used a potato ricer because that's what we had) with a clean cloth in it to strain out the pulp.  Mash it down good with an appropriate instrument to squeeze all the juice you can out of the pulp.  Put the juice back in the pot with a whole bunch of sugar and a pack or two of Sure-Jell, and boil it until it starts to thicken.  Then pour it into the jars and seal it up.  You can get the proportions from the back of the Sure-Jell box.  While in this final cooking stage, there will be lots of foam on top of the juice.  You'll need to skim this off with a big spoon and put it into a little bowl.  We always called this "the impurities", and it was the immediate reward for all that work. ;D  A big ol' cathead biscuit, a chunk of cow salve butter and a spoonful of impurities will make ya wanta slap yer Mama! 8) 8) 8)

BTW, if ya have extra, send it to Jeff.  He loves the stuff! ;D

[sawguy21]

You had to bring this up. : :D :D :D Grape jelly is one of my favourites. We had a berry called Oregon grape that was practically inedible raw. My sister made jelly from it that was to slay for, I finally had to give her credit for something. 8)

[estiers]

BTW, if ya have extra, send it to Jeff.  He loves the stuff! ;D

My thought exactly...  Ask the boss, I am sure he knows!!! ;D

[Roxie]

I use Concord grapes for jelly and I boil them gently in as little water as possible.  When all the grapes are cooked down to just skin and a little pulp, I use cheese cloth to strain everything out of the juice.  The juice then goes into the refrigerator for 24 hours so any white crystals will come to the top of the jar and you can scoop them out.  Next day, you put the juice in a pan with a bit of lemon juice and sugar to taste, and let it simmer until it reduces and thickens (I don't use Sure Jell for my jelly).  When you put a teaspoon of the thicken juice on a cold plate (I keep a ceramic bread plate in the freezer) and it starts to look like jelly...that's it.  You can refrigerate what you want to eat within the next three weeks, or you can use a water bath canner for ten minutes to can the jelly.  (1/4 inch headspace). 

[Jeff]

BTW, if ya have extra, send it to Jeff.  He loves the stuff! ;D

My thought exactly...  Ask the boss, I am sure he knows!!! ;D

Yer all funny. ;)

No grape for me thank you!

[Jeff]

"Jelly from anything"

Set jar lids and rings in shallow dish ahead of time. This recipe makes give or take enough jelly to fill 72-80 oz of jars, so plan accordingly. About 10 8oz jars or 6-7 12oz jars.

5 cups juice plus 1/4 cup lemon juice
7 cups sugar
1 teaspoon margarine
1 package of "Jell-Ease" (thats the sav-a-lot brand of pectin)

tea kettle or pan of boiling water.

Heat selected juice and lemon juice Jell-Ease and margarine (margarine is the anti foaming agent) until it just comes to a boil.   

Stir in sugar (dont just dump it all in at once, but add continuously as you stir it in)

Continue to heat jelly to a "boil you cannot stir down".  Then continue to heat for 3 minutes, keeping the jelly stirred at all times.

With your third hand, when you are at that point where you have the three minutes to go, poor boiling water over the lids and rings.

Dip the jar mouths in the boiling water and set aside for filling.

Using a jar funnel, fill a jar, then place on the lid and secure the ring, and invert the filled jars on a towel. (dont invert wide mouth jars, only your typical narrow mouth jelly jars) Continue quickly until all jars are filled.   when 5 minutes have elapsed, turn the jars right side up and let cool.

Your Done!

Inverting the jars allows the 300+ degree jelly to finish sterilizing anything that is not already.

[Engineer]

I found a source of pectin that doesn't require sugar to gel (or you could use alternative sweeteners such as honey, splenda or fruit juices) it's called Pomona Pectin and I found the reference in Fine Cooking's online forum.  I can imagine grape jelly with a local honey sweetener on a PB&J... 

[olyman]

engineer---at what www for the cooking forum?? thanks