Concord Grape Juice

Grape Jelly. I’m finding it hard to not scream the words “Grape Jelly” at the top of my lungs like a mad woman in labor. It just so happens that I have a very recent memory of what labor is like and my experience of making “Grape Jelly” is creeping up closer to that extreme level of agony. And there are no epidurals in grape jelly land, my friends.

Ahem. I’m sorry, where was I?

I’ve been making jam all summer long with the bounty of fresh fruit I’ve had. I’ve used some recipes exactly the way they were written, and I’ve done my own thing here and there to my linking.

I was feeling quite confident in my jam-making skills and thus decided to embark on a slightly more difficult kind of jelly: Grape.

Ahh, isn’t it the best kind? I mean yes, we all like strawberry too, but there is something very sacred about concord grape jelly.

Something unachievable, perhaps?

So I went looking for the perfect grape jelly recipe. Almost all of them called for 5 cups of grape juice and 7 cups of sugar. Let me repeat: 5 cups juice to 7 cups sugar.
5:7!

Hmm…..this couldn’t be right. Yes, the pectin comes in and requires just the right amount of sugar, but 7 cups??? No, these recipes are not for me.

So I set out to make my own, and I failed. Miserably…..twice. I did manage to accidentally make grape jell-o in the midst of it all. But grape jelly? No. No. No.

So instead of bringing you a grape jelly recipe, I’ll bring you a grape juice recipe. Yes this is concord grape juice from scratch, and yes you could go out and buy some for like $2, but why would you?

You can use this recipe as a base for something like say…grape jelly, or wine. I can’t think of anything else that contains concord grapes. Sorry!

Sorry for the poor lighting, I was merely documenting for my sake and not necessarily for the blog. Some are blurry, and almost all of them offend the color palate. Please try to find it in your heart to forgive me.

Concord Grape Juice
Start with a big bunch of concord grapes. Rinse them, and take them off the stems. Discard any questionable grapes.

Place in large stock pot and cover with water. Bring water to a boil, and then simmer for 30 minutes. You have to watch this closely as the sugary grape water will quickly boil over.

(Trust me, I know….and it isn’t fun to clean up. Did I mention that I struggled with this recipe?)

After 30 minutes, remove juice from heat and let cool for 30-45 minutes. While its cooling, prepare a colander lined with cheesecloth over a very large bowl.

I know people really freak out when you suggest working with cheesecloth. But its not scary- just think of it as a very fine mesh sieve. I used about 8 layers of cheesecloth.

Next, pour the entire contents of the stock pot into the colander and watch the magic unfold!

It will take several minutes for the majority of the juices to drain. When they have, use a spoon or spatula to gently press more juice out.

When you have removed most of the liquid, next comes the fun part! Don gloves unless you want grape-stained hands. This stuff is potent, check out my wooden spoon:

Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Okay, gather the sides of the cheesecloth. You can secure it with a rubber band if you’d like. Hold it over the juice, then just squeeze the be-Jesus out of it!

When you are finished, the size of the solids should reduce by almost half. You should be left with a thick solid-feeling mass inside the cheesecloth.

ready for the worst picture yet?

And now you have it, pure untouched grape juice. You could put this back on the stove to reduce down for grape concentrate. It may be already concentrated. Or just use it the way it is. Depending on how sweet you like it, you may want to add some sugar (a simple syrup maybe?)

AND, if you have the guts, try making grape jelly! Let me know how it goes, and IF it goes well, will you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me a jar? I ruined 12 jars worth, twelve!

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