We have wild grapes growing in the trees along our fence lines, the folks around our area call them cut throat grapes. You have to wear plastic gloves when you pick them because they cause a really bad skin irritation if you don't protect your hands, and if you eat them without cooking them they will cause bad burning and irritation in your mouth and on your lips. I remember my mother making grape juice out of these grapes when we were kids. She would boil the grapes and strain the juice,and place in it paper carton( like little milk cartons) and then she would freeze it. When we wanted grape juice she would put it in a pitcher and add sugar and water. It was delicious!!! :-D I would like to make some juice from the grapes and I would also like to make jelly. The problem with making the jelly is I know nothing about making jelly!! My mom and grandmother are no longer here to ask how!! I was hoping someone here could help and share a recipe with me!!!PLEASE!!! I need to know everything pertaining to jelly making :-? even what to do to seal the jars after putting the jelly in them!! Any and all information is greatly appreciated!!!
I've made lots of jelly and I will look up the recipe and post it to you. I know the procedure, but not the measurements. I'll get back to you in a bit. Dooley
Recipe: Grape Jelly 5 cups prepared juice (unsweetened) 6 cups sugar l box fruit pectin (sure jell or other brand) Directions: Step one: Wash jars,in soapy water. Rinse and put in a large kettle. Fill with water, bring to boil. The directions say keep on simmer. (I just turn the burner off and let them stay in the water.) Put lids and rings in pan, bring to boil, turn off. (They will stay hot long enough to boil jelly) Step two: Carefully measure all ingredients. Gradually add fruit pectin into prepared juice. Bring mixture to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to full rolling boil and boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim foam if necessary. Step three: Take jars out of boiling water, one at a time, (I set them in a pie tin) ladle hot jelly in sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch space at top. Wipe rim and threads with damp cloth. Put heated lid on jar and screw band down evenly and firmly until resistance is met. Finger tight, not real tight. Here you use a boiling water bath. If you have a canning kettle with rack use it. If you just use a large kettle with lid, put a rack in bottom to set jars on. Put jars in hot water to cover about l to 2 inches. Process for 5 minutes. Use a steady gentle boil. Remove jars, set them upright on a towel to cool. Do not tighten bands. You will hear them seal if you listen. When cool, test to see if lid flexes. If they flex, they didn't seal and you should refrigerate them and use. Label and store for up to one year. Now, here is where I differ from the recipe. My mom said, "Things with a high acid content can be cold packed". So when I make grape jelly I follow the directions up to the boiling water bath. I fill my jars and put lids on and finger tighten them. Then, I turn them upside down on a towel. I leave them upside down for about half an hour. Then, I turn them right side up and let them set. You will hear them start to seal. They make a sucking noise. Poik! If any don't seal, refrigerate and use. I've never had a problem with any jelly that I've made. But, if you want to be sure, use the hot water bath. That's what the health department recommends. If you buy SureJell for pectin, the recipe is inside the box. I use the low sugar pectin and a sugar substitute now, but that's a recent change for me. I hope it will work out okay. Dooley
Julie, I make grape jelly from the wild grapes...aka Mustang Grapes....almost every year. They grow in abundance at my in-laws, they pick and freeze the whole grapes until I can get down there for them. If you don't have the time to keep up with the jelly making and the grapes are getting ahead of you, stuff them into ziplock bags and freeze them. They can stay frozen that way at least 3 months. I use Certo pectin and use the grape jelly recipe in the box. Definitely wear plastic gloves, buy a package at the pharmacy...the kind Drs. use. Or the rubbermaid kitchen gloves work too. You will need a pair of tongs for taking the jars out of the hot water. A large stock pot for the jars and a medium one for the jelly. Also a jelly bag if you can find one at an Elliots hardware store. In a large pot, put the cleaned jars and cover to about an inch above the top of the jars with water, cover and put on high heat. Start this before you start working on the grapes since that much water will take a while to boil. When it does,boil a few minutes, turn the heat off and leave the cover on. Also place the seals in a small pot of hot water and leave to simmer. To prepare the grapes, pick off the stems and leaves and cull out the small hard ones...but do leave some of the green and not quite ripe ones in because they add an additional flavor to the jelly. To make the juice put a couple of cups of grapes in a medium size "stock pot" or kettle, mash them with a potato masher, continue to add a few at a time and mash until you have done this to about 3 1/2 pounds of grapes. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes...stir occassionally. Spread several layers of cheesecloth over a large seive or use a jelly bag, set it over a large bowl. put the grapes in and let the juice drain into the bowl, this will take several minutes and you can use a spoon to push the grape pulp around to speed up the process and sqeeze (with gloves on) the bag if needed. At this point if you want to put off jelly making, freeze the juice in containers of 4 cups each and use when needed. Measure 4 cups of the juice into the large pot, adding a bit of water if necessary to reach the 4 cup mark. Add 7 cups of sugar, stir well and start cooking over medium heat, stirring occassionally. Watch carefully, when it starts bubbling around the edges it is time to stir constantly...not a fast stir just a lazy stir to keep the juice from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Bring to a full rolling boil....one that can not be stirred down....stirring constantly. The reason you need a medium stock pot for this is the rolling boil will cause the juice to get a head that will rise to near the top of the pot. It is at this point that I leave the path of the recipe a little bit. I stir and boil the juice for approximately 10 min, then add the Certo bring it back to a boil for 1 min and turn the heat off. Skim off the scum if necessary, usually jelly doesn't need it as badly as jam does. Take the jars out of the pot, place upside down on a cloth towel to drain. Have a damp paper towel on hand for cleaning spills off the top and threaded sides of the jars. Turn the jars over and while they are still hot pour in the juice to about 1/2" from the top. Use the paper towel to wipe spills off the rims. Take the seals out of the hot water and before placing on the jar, dry off the rubber ring. Put on the bands (the screw on ring) and screw on firmly but not really tight, you will tighten them up after they seal and cool. I move the jars out of the workarea, onto the kitchen table and wait to hear the Ping of the seal forming. I have never used the water bath method on any of my jelly. I was told long ago that it wasn't needed for jelly or jam. Label and date the jars when they are cool, store in the pantry. If you have leftover jelly after filling the jars, you can keep it in a plastic container and add it to the next batch or make yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when it sets up. If you ever have problems with the jelly setting up, let me know. I have a recipe for "Failure to Jell"
Thanks so much for the recipes Toni and Dooley!! Ya'll have been a great help!! Sorry it took so long to answer back, I could not get into the site last night!I'll be sure and let ya'll know how my first jelly making experience turns out!!LOL!
