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What a Grape Harvest!

Last Wednesday we picked the Concord grapes. Actually, my extended family picked the grapes. I scurried around getting out jars and sugar and lids and canners.

We carefully picked all the grapes off their stems, removing the spiders and ladybugs and less-than-desirable grapes at the same time. We did this outside, to minimize the mess in my kitchen. When a large bowl was finished, I let the extended family continue their sorting job, and I went inside. I washed the grapes.


I put about 1/3 cup of sugar in the bottom of each jar, and enough boiling water to dissolve it. I then filled the jar with grapes, and added enough water to come up to the "shoulder" of the jar. I leave some extra room when I can grape juice (and that's what this post is about--I guess I forgot to specify that). Otherwise I have purple mess outside of the jars. I added sterilized lids and rings.

I pressured canned them for eight minutes at five pounds of pressure. I rotated three canners so that I could finish before the year 2010. I let each canner "rest" 25 minutes before opening to depressurize and cool a bit.


67 jars. Not bad! SO glad I have help...


When we open them, we just dump the contents of the jar through a strainer that is the same size as our juice pitcher. Let the grapes drain for a few minutes, discard the contents of the strainer, and enjoy!
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Comments

  1. BrendaOctober 13, 2009 at 8:53 PM

    Wow! I'll bet they're delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AlwenOctober 14, 2009 at 9:17 AM

    Wow, that's easy! Mom cooks and seeds them with one of those tomato-seeder/fruit crusher things. (Okay, I have no idea what it's called: It has small holes and a blade you turn with a center crank.) Lots of work. But this looks as easy as canning blackberries. Now I wish I had gotten to the grapes before the frost, raccoons, and coyotes did.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousOctober 15, 2009 at 9:11 PM

    The grape juice and process sounds good. We raised grapes for years and the mess we had trying to make jel, I gave up on them.

    Ellyn Jackson

    ReplyDelete

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