Christopher & Paige were oh so kind to give us some grapes. (If I ever see another laundry basket full of grapes it will be too soon!) So, I made grape jelly. I have a niece & nephew who have won great ribbons making grape jelly for 4-H so I thought I must have some of the same genetic talent!
I decided to photograph and blog about the good, the bad and the broken rules...
Wash grapes and remove them from the clusters.
Ready to cook before juicing.
I boiled them in a little bit of water until the skins broke open.
I then put them in cheese cloth and squeezed out the juice. I dislike this step as I usually end up burning my hands. I juiced another day and used a Sauce Master as shown here: 
I did not cook the grapes first with this. The only trouble I found with this method was that I got pulp. So I just ran the "juice" from this through the cheesecloth (over a large bowl) to strain out the pulp. I used a product SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin to gel it up.
Cook the juice and SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin on the stove top. Later adding sugar and cooking some more. I just follow the recipe in the SURE-JELL package. Then pour the hot liquid into jars and seal with canning lids and rings.
Here is the breaking rules part.... I cheated and just turned the jars upside down. It is now 12 hours later and they all sealed. However, USDA states they should have had a boiling water bath as that is a more safe perservation method.
We have sampled some and it is quite tasty. We will likely share some as Christmas gifts and much of it we will enjoy ourselves!
Oh this looks yummy. I make grape jelly and I never water bath and have never had a problem. My Grandma never did and she lived a nice long life. Thanks for sharing the process. B
ReplyDeleteI figure if it seals that is all that matters! I used to do it this way, then we had to follow 4-H rules when our boys were old enough (about 15 years ago). I was in a hurry so went back to the old way.
DeleteThe old ways are tried and true. You did well. :)
ReplyDeletethank you
DeleteYou naughty girl!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI usually do the upside down jar thingy with jams and jellies too. Such a beautiful dark purple color on your jelly! YUM!!
Thank you. It is fun to see that I am not the only one breaking the "new" guidelines!
Delete