Rosy Grape Jelly Recipes

GRAPE JELLY

Steps:

• First make the grape juice using clean washed grapes.
• To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes add 1 1/2 cups water.
• Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.
• Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with a jelly cloth, or whatever means you have.
• In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice.
• Add the fruit pectin to the juice.
• Mix well.
• On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
• Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat, skim off foam and pour into hot jars.
• If using paraffin, pour hot paraffin in on top of jelly.
• Or seal with canning lids.

GRAPE JELLY

Steps:

• Tip the grapes into a large saucepan set over a low heat, then cover and leave to gently cook for 5 mins until the juices start to run. Take a potato masher or fork and mash up the grapes. Leave to cook for about 10 mins more, mashing every now and again until the grapes are falling apart. Place a clean tea towel or kitchen cloth in a sieve set over a bowl, then pour the grape mixture into this. Let the mixture drip through for at least 1 hr or preferably overnight.
• Measure out the juice (you should have about 600ml) and pour it into a pan along with the sugar and lemon juice. Set the pan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Skimming any scum as it boils, let the mixture bubble until the temperature reaches 105C on a sugar thermometer. If you don't have one, put a small plate in the freezer for 5 mins, then pour a little of the juice onto the cold saucer. After 1 min, run your finger through; if the jam wrinkles slightly, it's ready. Pour the hot jam into a sterilised jar. Will keep unopened for up to 3 months.

ROSY GRAPE JELLY

Steps:

• Pour the cranberry and grape juices into a heavy pot. Add the pectin and stir until dissolved. Bring the juice mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat. Stir in the sugar, and return to a full boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and skim off any foam. Pour jelly into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headroom. Adjust lids. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

SURE.JELL® CONCORD GRAPE JELLY

Steps:

• Bring boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
• Stem and crush grapes thoroughly, 1 layer at a time. Place in large saucepan; add water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 min., stirring occasionally. Place 3 layers of damp cheesecloth or jelly bag in large bowl. Pour prepared fruit into cheesecloth. Tie cheesecloth closed; hang and let drip into bowl until dripping stops. Press gently. Measure exactly 1-1/4 qt. (5 cups) prepared juice into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot.
• Stir pectin into juice in saucepot. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.
• Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 5 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

HOW TO MAKE GRAPE JELLY

Steps:

• Start with around 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of grapes. The better quality grapes you choose, the better quality jelly you'll have once you finish cooking them. While red or Concord grapes are the most common when making jelly, there's no right grape to choose. Pick a grape that you like the taste of and that you can get a lot of. You can use either seeded or seedless grapes, as well as grapes that are green, white, or red. This will affect the look and taste of your finished jelly, but it will be delicious nonetheless. If you don't have easy access to fresh grapes or don't want to cook them into juice yourself, you can use grape juice instead and skip to Part 2. Make sure the grape juice you choose is made fresh and doesn't have any added sugar.
• Take the grapes off their stems and wash them. Go through and methodically pick the grapes off the stems before throwing the grapes into a large bowl or colander. Once all the grapes have been removed from the stems, use cold water to give them a good wash and to rinse away any dirt or anything else you don't want in your jelly. If you're particularly worried about your grapes being clean, or if you notice any bugs on them as you de-stem them, give the grapes a slight squeeze over your cooking bowl to split the fruit from its skin. This will let you see if anything is wrong with the inside of the grape and easily remove the skin.
• Transfer the grapes to a large pot and add 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) of water. Place a big, heavy-bottomed pan over an element on your stovetop and pour in your grapes. Add around 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) of water to the pot. This should be just enough to stop your grapes from scorching without watering down your juice too much. Depending on the size of your pot, you may need to add more water to stop the grapes from burning. This is absolutely fine. It's much better to have a very slightly weaker grape jelly than it is to have jelly that tastes burnt.
• Crush the grapes up slightly. This will help release some of the grape juice and speed up the cooking process overall. Use a potato masher or a large wooden spoon to press the grapes down into the bottom of the pan, squishing them slightly. Repeat until all of the grapes are slightly crushed. If you don't want to crush your grapes and cook them to remove the juice, you can run them through a juicer instead. This may take a little longer but will give you a perfectly pure grape juice to turn into jelly.
• Bring the grapes to a boil and then simmer. Turn the element on your stove to a medium-high heat and bring your grapes to a boil, stirring occasionally to prevent them from sticking or burning. Once they have reached a boil, reduce the heat to low so that your grapes can begin simmering. Bringing your grapes to a boil for the first time might take a while. Have patience and let them cook to bring out the most juice.
• Simmer the grapes for around 10 minutes. Once the grapes have lowered to a simmer, cover the pot and leave it to cook for approximately 10 minutes. Every few minutes, take the lid off the pot and give the grapes a stir with a large wooden spoon to move them around and agitate them a little. Simmering your grapes is what will extract all of the juice and give you something to work with when making jelly. Keep the temperature low and let them cook.
• Strain the grapes to collect at least 4 cups of juice. After the grapes have been given time to simmer and are sitting in a lot of liquid, you need to strain them. Place a cheesecloth in a strainer over a large bowl, or use a jelly bag or strainer to separate the juice from the pulp. Slowly and carefully pour the juice through your strainer, being careful not to spill any. If you don't want to strain your juice, you could also process the juice and the pulp in a blender or food processor until it makes a smooth puree. This will change the texture of your jelly slightly, but will also be much easier than using a sieve. It may take a while for the juice to strain through the fabric strainers. You can use something to squeeze the grapes and speed up the process, or just leave it overnight to strain by itself. This is a good point to begin preparing any jars that you'll be using to store your jelly.