Budget-Friendly DIY Food – Grape Jelly Recipe

One of the best things about making a food item at home is that you can ensure its freshness and deliciousness. The same is true when making grape jelly or grape jam at home. Moreover, it is easy to make and easy to store.

However, to make grape jelly, you need access to many grapes or grapevines. But, if you do not have a grapevine, you can buy grapes from a farmer’s market, wholesale food suppliers, or groceries. Making jam is one of the best uses of grapes.

In this article, you will learn how to make grape jelly and get some tips about the recipe. Apart from that, this article will also provide the benefits of making this recipe at home. Hence, read along to find more.

Grape Jelly Recipe: Why Should You Make It Yourself?

Here are the top reasons why you should make your grape jelly by yourself at home:

1. Better Taste And No Additives

If you make the jelly from scratch at home, it will taste much better than the one you buy from a store. Furthermore, there is no corn syrup or additives in your grape jelly strain.

2. Less And Simple Ingredients

When making homemade grape jelly, you do not need several household ingredients in your arsenal. You only need three simple ingredients – grapes, sugar, and liquid pectin. These three items are enough to make your jelly at home. 

3. You Can Make It Fast

To make the jelly is just a matter of minutes. However, while the extraction happens, you must wait for some time. Apart from that, making grape jelly is actually fast.

4. Easy to Store

Once you prepare grape jelly, it will have a long storage life. If you are careful, you can store the jelly for up to a year. Hence, you do not need to worry about consuming all the grape jelly within a limited time.

5. Edible Gift

Grape jelly is also a good gift option if you want to present it to someone on holiday. On the other hand, it can also be a really good hostess gift option. On the other hand, you can even consider starting an organic food delivery business.

6. Great To Have With Other Items

You can add grape jelly to sandwiches, pancakes, toast, and your favorite recipes as add-ons. This will enhance the taste of the item.

Material And Ingredients You Need To Make Grape Jelly

Now I will reveal the three ingredients you need to make grape jelly. Here they are:

• Grapes: There are two categories of grapes – wine grapes and table grapes. If you want to make jellies and jams, then table grapes are the best option. Among table grapes, the Concord grape is the most popular. However, you can also make jellies with other red or purple grape varieties for your homemade jelly.
• Sugar: To add the sweet taste to your grape jelly, you must have plain and granulated white sugar. Make sure you use this sugar variety and no other sweeteners to make jelly.
• Liquid Pectin: To make grape jelly, you need to have liquid pectin, as it acts as a thickener. While some recipes require powdered pectin, this one doesn’t. This is because you cannot interchange using liquid pectin and powdered pectin.

How To Make Grape Jelly? – Steps To Follow

The following are the steps you need to follow if you want to make grape jelly at your home:

Initial Stage

• Wash the grapes first. After washing, you need to stem the grapes to loosen them. Afterward, combine those grapes in a deep and large saucepan.
• In the saucepan (containing grapes), add two cups of water and bring it to a boil. Also, ensure that the intensity of the heat is medium.
• After boiling for some time, lower the heat from medium to low. Then, use a potato masher to crush the grapes. Meanwhile, ensure you are cooking continuously. Do this for a couple of minutes.

Straining The Mixture

• Take a deep bowl and line a strainer/sieve on top of it. Again, use a cheesecloth over the strainer/sieve.
• Pour the grape mixture into the cheesecloth. It will go through the strainer. Keep the strainer like this and let the mixture strain for two hours. This will allow you to extract the strained juice into the deep bowl. (Make sure you do not press or squeeze the mixture. Let it strain on its own for as long as it takes.)
• Strain the grape juice into four cups of clear juice.

Preparing The Juice

• Add the grape juice to a large and deep saucepan and add sugar per your taste requirement.
• Bring the saucepan to a boil to heat the grape juice. Make sure that the heat is high. Furthermore, do not forget to stir the juice continuously. This way, you can ensure the juice does not stick to the pan.
• While stirring continuously, add the liquid pectin. Then, mix the total items. After mixing both items, boil the mixture for one minute on high heat.
• After a minute, remove the saucepan from the heat. Also, if there is any foam on the top of the juice mixture, skim it off.

Final Steps

• Prepare jelly jars and ladle the jelly mixture into them. Close the jars with lids and secure them with bands.
• Place your jars in a boiling water canner for ten minutes. This will help in sealing the jars tightly. Then, remove the jars and allow them to cool. Make sure that the jars are tightly sealed. After that, you can store the jars in a cool place like the refrigerator.

Here Are A Few Tips To Make Grape Jelly

The following are some useful tips you must stick to if you want your jelly to be at its absolute best:

A. Use New Pectin

While buying pectins, check whether it has crossed its expiry date or not. This is because if your pectin is expired, there is a high chance of your jelly not setting.

B. Do Not Try Anything New To The Recipe

In most recipes, you can add your spin, or you can add anything new. However, you cannot do this on jams and jellies. To get the right taste, you must be exactly as the recipe requires.

C. Do Not Squeeze Or Press

When extracting the juice from the fruit, never squeeze or press the mixture. Here, it would help if you had patience. Otherwise, you will end up with cloudy jelly. To get a clear juice, do not squeeze or press the fruit or the mixture.

D. Prepare Everything Beforehand

Prepare all the jars, saucepans, and bowls before you begin making the jelly. Also, open the pectin pouch beforehand to add to the juice while stirring.

E. Be Exact With Time

It would help if you were exact about the processing and boiling time when you are making the jelly. You can use a timer while heating and removing the juice from one place to another.

F. Use The Right Jars And Lids

Since you are using jars to store your grape jelly, make sure they do not have cracks and chips. Apart from that, do not use old lids. Also, make sure the lids do not have chips and cracks.

G. Do Not Spill

When filling the jar with jelly, make sure you use a funnel. This will ensure you do not spill, and also make sure you keep the jar clean. Apart from that, always use a damp paper towel to wipe the rims of the jar before you close them with lids. Afterward, you can use the seal to close the jar. Furthermore, please remember to leave some headspace while filling the jar.

Making Grape Jelly At Home: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some common questions about making grape jelly at home:

1. Is Pectin Necessary To Make Grape Jelly?

Liquid Pectin is one of the most important ingredients in making grape jelly. This item helps to make the grape jelly thicker. Without liquid pectin, it will just be juice.

2. Do You Need A Waterbath To Make Grape Jelly?

Waterbath will help you process the grape jelly once you add them to the jars. However, make sure that the water bath covers the jars by 1 to 2 inches.

3. Is It Okay To Freeze Grape Jelly?

Yes, you can freeze grape jelly after you add it to the jar and put it for storage. However, do not freeze the jelly before that.

Final Topping

Hence, making grape jelly does not require a lot of effort. You can make it with only three ingredients. However, make sure you are exact with the amount of the ingredients. Apart from that, it would help if you also were exact with time. This way, you can ensure you have made the perfect grape jelly that you can use for months.

Do you have more tips on how to make grape jelly? Please share your suggestions in the comments section below.

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