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Monday, September 1, 2014
Grape Juice
Our grape vines were loaded with grapes this year. So much so, that I think the grapes took all of the moisture and left little for the leaves. Either that, or there is something making the leaves turn brown and die off. I really don't know much at all about grapes. Last year we tried to process the ones we got, but that was a great fiasco. So this year, I wanted to try something different.
A while back, I found a strainer/colander like my mom and I used a long, long time ago. It is very simple and works great with little effort and easy cleanup. Much simpler than the seeder/strainer attachment on the KitchenAid we tried last year.
I picked about half of the grapes, leaving the others to ripen a little longer. I was surprised at how many there were. I rinsed them off outside first to get rid of the tiny little crawling critters and discourage the small cloud of gnats that accompanied them to the house. Then I picked off all of the usable grapes and rinsed them again.
The directions say to cover them with boiling water and simmer until soft. I think next time I will use less water. It seemed to really dilute the juice.
After they were soft, I used the colander strainer to remove the skins and seeds from the pulp and juice. Like I said, it was very easy, quick and a breeze to clean up.
Now, to leave the juice in the frig for 24 to 48 hours before straining with a cheese cloth. We now interrupt this process. It was during this time frame that my brother had his accident. I'm not actually sure how long the juice set. I think I got back to it before the 48 hours was up, but I'm not sure.
I tried filtering the juice through three layers of cheese cloth, as the book described, but it just wouldn't go through after a very short period of time. I kept having to rinse the cloth to get anymore through. So, by the end of the juice, I was down to one thickness of cheese cloth.
After the juice set for another day there was a little pulp residue in the bottom of the jar, but it tasted okay. Rather tart, but okay. I was initially thinking to leave all of the pulp in the juice, but the book indicated that it would give the juice an off flavor that was very unpleasant, so I didn't.
This morning we poured up a glass of juice and added a heaping teaspoon of sugar to cut the tartness. It was still pretty tart, but we plan to drink it over the next week or so instead of preserving it. I originally planned to pick the rest of the grapes and get them processed, then take all of the juice and can or freeze it to use over time. This was one of those times that things didn't go as planned. I haven't even checked on the remaining grapes out on the vine. I may get back to them, but I may not.
This has been an interesting spring and summer. It has been an abnormal year and now abnormal has become the normal for us. I am grateful that we have been led to prepare for hard times. We are still comfortable with the stores in our pantry, so I am not stressing over how much of the garden or grapes we are not getting preserved. There will be other harvests and other times. For now, we are taking things slowly as they come. Frank is healing nicely and is able to do more everyday. My brother is doing well, all things considered. We are blessed.
I had lots of grapes this year as well. In fact, I canned 91 quarts of grape juice. But my recipe is easy...1 cup of washed grapes to one quart jar, add 1/2 cup sugar, fill to within 1/2 inch of top of jar with boiling water. Put on cap, screwing the band firmly tight. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. I have added more grapes per jar and less sugar and it works fine. Guess I could use the juice to make grape jelly if I wanted to but drinking the juice is the way we usually use it. Pat B.
That's a lot of grape juice, Pat. Do your grapes have seeds? The way you do it sounds much easier and I like the idea of keeping the skins and pulp. Thank you for the recipe. We eat very little jam or preserves, so we stayed with juice as well.
Fern I use a similar method and it is so much easier. Save yourself some work and try it! I just wash my grapes add grapes and sugar to jar then top with boiling water. I then process for 10 minutes at 5 pounds pressure. When ready to serve just open strain out the grapes and add more sugar or water if it is too strong. Has worked for years.
On your grape situation we thin our grapes when they are thick like that so that the ones that remain are bigger. We take off any damaged or blemished fruit allowing only healthy and unblemished fruit to grow to a larger size. We side dress with rabbit manure every spring and mulch heavily. Also we will supplement water when they have a heavy crop hanging like that because they require it but we water from the bottom never wetting the leaves to avoid mildew diseases.
I like the method you describe, CQ. Next year I will try canning the grapes. I plan to prune this vine back some this year. It has really grown quite prolifically since we have it the stock panel arbor and cut down some of the competition it had. Thank you for the advice.
I make grape juice every year. I use a steamer juicer....It is a wonderful piece of equipment and easy to use. I do 50 to 60 quarts of juice in no time. Go to this link to check them out. I have a very inexpensive one and it has lasted for years. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=steamer+juicer&_sop=15...So easy to use. Happy canning.
I have put up grape juice with a steam juicer, and also as Anonymous posted above, which is how my dad did it. Adding sugar is optional. I prefer to bottle the grapes in plain water, since more of the natural grape sugars come into the juice as the liquids inside & outside the grapes try to equalize. I can always add sweetener just before serving, if needed. The spent grapes can be fed to the chicken - - they love them!
I put up over 6 dozen quarts with the grapes in jar method this year. The vine is not yet empty, so I am picking, washing, stemming & freezing the grapes, tol dehydrate them later into raisins, in a month or two when the heat from the dehydrator will make the house more comfortable, instead of less comfy.
I'm glad I posted this very small grape juice experiment. It is great to read what other folks are doing and have done for years. I had never thought of canning the grapes in water to make grape juice.
I have planted some seedless grapes that will hopefully produce in a a year or so, for raisins. We like raisins and they are easy to store. But then again, I haven't heard of freezing the grapes and making them into raisins later on. Again, another great idea. Thank you for sharing these techniques.
If you want to, you can blanch the grapes instead of freezing them, but then they have to go into the dehydrator immediately. Since we are still having temps in the 90's, I prefer to freeze, since it will hold them until the heat from the dehydrator is welcome. Canning the grapes in boiling water produces a juice that is not as "strong" as what you get using a steam juicer, but we like it better. I do the same thing with cranberries, when on sale & in season, & often mix the two juices, as they are good that way. The spent cranberries go into muffins, etc.
2 years ago, I picked 101 grape clusters from a 6 year old grapevine. Last year I built an arbor out of rescued wood, & trained it up over that, & picked 142 clusters. This year, I dumped an entire bag of "grounds for gardeners" from Starbucks (the grounds are free) along the 2 sections of fence where the grapevine & arbor are, because we had some ants moving in under said fence from the neighbor's yard. The grapevine seems to like the grounds ( a 2-3-6 fertilizer), because this year I have picked 355 clusters so far, & there are still more on the vine. The leaves are big & green, & I have been picking only from 6:45 am when it is light enough to see, and 7:30 am, when the yellow jackets & wasps arrive. There is a small flock of birds on the vines each evening as well, so who knows how much I could have picked, had I been able to pick it ALL.
The vine I picked these grapes from is about 30 years old, planted by the folks that built this house. We have had a lot more rain this year, which I think helped the crop. Until last year this vine had been untended for a long time and kind of grew up in a bush and a scrubby tree. Maybe it really liked the stock panel arbor, I don't know. We would prefer to have some seedless grapes, though. Thank you again for sharing.
Hi Fern! I wanted to mention that a couple of years ago, we got a bumper crop from our relatively young grape vines and then they promptly died. We asked the local nursery what happened, an older man owns it and is free with his advice. He told us that when the grapes produce so heavily they must have a great deal of water to recoup. We live in GA and the heat and dryness at the end of summer did them in. We have replanted but were extremely sad to see the other grapes die, they were an anniversary gift to Kevin and we had waited about 3 years to get that wonderful yield. I thought being in OK you might have the same situation as us and perhaps need to get some extra moisture to those vines.:) Thanks for all you and Frank do! Have a blessed day!, Kim
Thank you for the advice, Kim. We have had a lot more rain this year than usual, so the lack of water may or may not be the problem. I plan to cut the vine back quite a bit this year. Some of the garden books recommend cutting the vines back every year, but we never have. We'll see how it does. Thank you again, this is good information to know.
Fern, Those grapes look very Unripe, which would be why they are sour. Most grapes harvest later in the season than this. What variety are they? Farmer Girl
Your guess is as good as mine. This grape vine is over 30 years old and we have lived here for six years. At first I thought it was a concord, but it doesn't ripen up like some of the other concord vines in this area, so I just don't know. After this stage of ripening, the grapes start to shrivel and dry up. Fresh, they have a sweet, tart flavor that is pretty good. It is a good question, thanks for asking.
Fern, The problem could be a fungus causing the shriveling. Do you pull the leaves off near the grape clusters so they get better airflow and sunlight? Grapes are tricky creatures... Farmer Girl
The fungus might be "Noble Rot". Here is some of the Wiki Information for it. Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, is a mold that causes grapes to lose nearly all of their water content. Wines made from botrytis-affected grapes are generally very sweet.
I haven't pulled off the leaves for airflow, Farmer Girl. And, Fiona, I don't know anything about Noble Rot, or much at all about growing grapes for that matter. This old vine was here, so I thought I would give it something to climb on and see what happened. Then with Frank's surgery and my brother's accident, I have paid them very, very little attention this year. I guess I am even amazed I got some of them picked. You know what we gardeners say, there is always next year. Thank you both for the information.
I don't think you need to pull off leaves, since the grapevine is up on a stock panel arbor. That should produce plenty of airflow. On the other hand, you mention you have never cut back the vine. It may well have set more than it can ripen, fruit-wise. Since at our house, we use the wasps & yellow-jackets as "indicator species", I harvest cluster when they either have a red/purple color, or when the cluster begins to have wasp damage They suck the insides out of the grapes, & they don't bother ones that aren't ripe yet. I have been harvesting grapes for 2 weeks now, because every morning before the wasps are out, I pick the ones with color, or damage.
If you bottle homemade grape juice that involves crushing, then straining the grapes, you will get a whitish sediment on the bottom of the jar, This is tartar, as in cream of tartar, & if you want to make grape jelly with your juice, you will need to siphon off the juice so that you do NOT get any of the sediment in it, or the jelly will not set properly - and the tartar has a bitter taste, too.
I was surprised at how many grapes were on the vine this year, Marivene. This is it's second year up on the arbor. That is very interesting about picking by the sign of the wasps. That is something I could learn to do.
I am fascinated that grapes make cream of tarter. I didn't know that. There is probably some in the bottom of the last bottle we are drinking now. So how do you get to it? Set it out and let it evaporate? Very interesting.
I don't remember, Fiona. (-: I know I looked around on the internet for a while before I found what I wanted. Frank looked today and found them from $34 to $97, so shop around before you get one.
Amazon has one here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002N5ZQ/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00M7YE91I&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1P0244ENPMDFHA4RA72P
I really like it, so I think I might need an extra in my storage. Just in case.
Thanks for sharing your post at the HomeAcre Hop. My father had grape vines, and they canned it as was mentioned above (first comment)-they just strained before they used it. Always was very tasty :)
After they were soft, I used the colander strainer to remove the skins and seeds from the pulp and juice. Like I said, it was very easy, quick and a breeze to clean up.
I had lots of grapes this year as well. In fact, I canned 91 quarts of grape juice. But my recipe is easy...1 cup of washed grapes to one quart jar, add 1/2 cup sugar, fill to within 1/2 inch of top of jar with boiling water. Put on cap, screwing the band firmly tight. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. I have added more grapes per jar and less sugar and it works fine. Guess I could use the juice to make grape jelly if I wanted to but drinking the juice is the way we usually use it. Pat B.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of grape juice, Pat. Do your grapes have seeds? The way you do it sounds much easier and I like the idea of keeping the skins and pulp. Thank you for the recipe. We eat very little jam or preserves, so we stayed with juice as well.
DeleteFern
Fern I use a similar method and it is so much easier. Save yourself some work and try it! I just wash my grapes add grapes and sugar to jar then top with boiling water. I then process for 10 minutes at 5 pounds pressure. When ready to serve just open strain out the grapes and add more sugar or water if it is too strong. Has worked for years.
DeleteOn your grape situation we thin our grapes when they are thick like that so that the ones that remain are bigger. We take off any damaged or blemished fruit allowing only healthy and unblemished fruit to grow to a larger size. We side dress with rabbit manure every spring and mulch heavily. Also we will supplement water when they have a heavy crop hanging like that because they require it but we water from the bottom never wetting the leaves to avoid mildew diseases.
I like the method you describe, CQ. Next year I will try canning the grapes. I plan to prune this vine back some this year. It has really grown quite prolifically since we have it the stock panel arbor and cut down some of the competition it had. Thank you for the advice.
DeleteFern
I make grape juice every year. I use a steamer juicer....It is a wonderful piece of equipment and easy to use. I do 50 to 60 quarts of juice in no time. Go to this link to check them out. I have a very inexpensive one and it has lasted for years.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=steamer+juicer&_sop=15...So easy to use. Happy canning.
We have looked at these, but have never ventured into it yet. Thank you for sharing your technique and for the link.
DeleteFern
I have put up grape juice with a steam juicer, and also as Anonymous posted above, which is how my dad did it. Adding sugar is optional. I prefer to bottle the grapes in plain water, since more of the natural grape sugars come into the juice as the liquids inside & outside the grapes try to equalize. I can always add sweetener just before serving, if needed. The spent grapes can be fed to the chicken - - they love them!
ReplyDeleteI put up over 6 dozen quarts with the grapes in jar method this year. The vine is not yet empty, so I am picking, washing, stemming & freezing the grapes, tol dehydrate them later into raisins, in a month or two when the heat from the dehydrator will make the house more comfortable, instead of less comfy.
I'm glad I posted this very small grape juice experiment. It is great to read what other folks are doing and have done for years. I had never thought of canning the grapes in water to make grape juice.
DeleteI have planted some seedless grapes that will hopefully produce in a a year or so, for raisins. We like raisins and they are easy to store. But then again, I haven't heard of freezing the grapes and making them into raisins later on. Again, another great idea. Thank you for sharing these techniques.
Fern
If you want to, you can blanch the grapes instead of freezing them, but then they have to go into the dehydrator immediately. Since we are still having temps in the 90's, I prefer to freeze, since it will hold them until the heat from the dehydrator is welcome. Canning the grapes in boiling water produces a juice that is not as "strong" as what you get using a steam juicer, but we like it better. I do the same thing with cranberries, when on sale & in season, & often mix the two juices, as they are good that way. The spent cranberries go into muffins, etc.
Delete2 years ago, I picked 101 grape clusters from a 6 year old grapevine. Last year I built an arbor out of rescued wood, & trained it up over that, & picked 142 clusters. This year, I dumped an entire bag of "grounds for gardeners" from Starbucks (the grounds are free) along the 2 sections of fence where the grapevine & arbor are, because we had some ants moving in under said fence from the neighbor's yard. The grapevine seems to like the grounds ( a 2-3-6 fertilizer), because this year I have picked 355 clusters so far, & there are still more on the vine. The leaves are big & green, & I have been picking only from 6:45 am when it is light enough to see, and 7:30 am, when the yellow jackets & wasps arrive. There is a small flock of birds on the vines each evening as well, so who knows how much I could have picked, had I been able to pick it ALL.
The vine I picked these grapes from is about 30 years old, planted by the folks that built this house. We have had a lot more rain this year, which I think helped the crop. Until last year this vine had been untended for a long time and kind of grew up in a bush and a scrubby tree. Maybe it really liked the stock panel arbor, I don't know. We would prefer to have some seedless grapes, though. Thank you again for sharing.
DeleteFern
Hi Fern! I wanted to mention that a couple of years ago, we got a bumper crop from our relatively young grape vines and then they promptly died. We asked the local nursery what happened, an older man owns it and is free with his advice. He told us that when the grapes produce so heavily they must have a great deal of water to recoup. We live in GA and the heat and dryness at the end of summer did them in. We have replanted but were extremely sad to see the other grapes die, they were an anniversary gift to Kevin and we had waited about 3 years to get that wonderful yield. I thought being in OK you might have the same situation as us and perhaps need to get some extra moisture to those vines.:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all you and Frank do! Have a blessed day!,
Kim
Thank you for the advice, Kim. We have had a lot more rain this year than usual, so the lack of water may or may not be the problem. I plan to cut the vine back quite a bit this year. Some of the garden books recommend cutting the vines back every year, but we never have. We'll see how it does. Thank you again, this is good information to know.
DeleteFern
Fern,
DeleteThose grapes look very Unripe, which would be why they are sour. Most grapes harvest later in the season than this. What variety are they?
Farmer Girl
Your guess is as good as mine. This grape vine is over 30 years old and we have lived here for six years. At first I thought it was a concord, but it doesn't ripen up like some of the other concord vines in this area, so I just don't know. After this stage of ripening, the grapes start to shrivel and dry up. Fresh, they have a sweet, tart flavor that is pretty good. It is a good question, thanks for asking.
DeleteFern
Fern,
DeleteThe problem could be a fungus causing the shriveling. Do you pull the leaves off near the grape clusters so they get better airflow and sunlight? Grapes are tricky creatures...
Farmer Girl
The fungus might be "Noble Rot".
DeleteHere is some of the Wiki Information for it.
Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, is a mold that causes grapes to lose nearly all of their water content. Wines made from botrytis-affected grapes are generally very sweet.
I haven't pulled off the leaves for airflow, Farmer Girl. And, Fiona, I don't know anything about Noble Rot, or much at all about growing grapes for that matter. This old vine was here, so I thought I would give it something to climb on and see what happened. Then with Frank's surgery and my brother's accident, I have paid them very, very little attention this year. I guess I am even amazed I got some of them picked. You know what we gardeners say, there is always next year. Thank you both for the information.
DeleteFern
I don't think you need to pull off leaves, since the grapevine is up on a stock panel arbor. That should produce plenty of airflow. On the other hand, you mention you have never cut back the vine. It may well have set more than it can ripen, fruit-wise. Since at our house, we use the wasps & yellow-jackets as "indicator species", I harvest cluster when they either have a red/purple color, or when the cluster begins to have wasp damage They suck the insides out of the grapes, & they don't bother ones that aren't ripe yet. I have been harvesting grapes for 2 weeks now, because every morning before the wasps are out, I pick the ones with color, or damage.
ReplyDeleteIf you bottle homemade grape juice that involves crushing, then straining the grapes, you will get a whitish sediment on the bottom of the jar, This is tartar, as in cream of tartar, & if you want to make grape jelly with your juice, you will need to siphon off the juice so that you do NOT get any of the sediment in it, or the jelly will not set properly - and the tartar has a bitter taste, too.
I was surprised at how many grapes were on the vine this year, Marivene. This is it's second year up on the arbor. That is very interesting about picking by the sign of the wasps. That is something I could learn to do.
DeleteI am fascinated that grapes make cream of tarter. I didn't know that. There is probably some in the bottom of the last bottle we are drinking now. So how do you get to it? Set it out and let it evaporate? Very interesting.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Fern
Where did you find the wonderful strainer? It is just what I have been looking for to help make tomato paste and ketchup.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember, Fiona. (-: I know I looked around on the internet for a while before I found what I wanted. Frank looked today and found them from $34 to $97, so shop around before you get one.
DeleteAmazon has one here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002N5ZQ/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00M7YE91I&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1P0244ENPMDFHA4RA72P
I really like it, so I think I might need an extra in my storage. Just in case.
Fern
Thanks for sharing your post at the HomeAcre Hop.
ReplyDeleteMy father had grape vines, and they canned it as was mentioned above (first comment)-they just strained before they used it.
Always was very tasty :)
It sounds like I really need to try this technique next year. Thank you for sharing, Sandra.
DeleteFern