Grape Jelly Tutorial

Wanna learn how to make the greatest grape jelly? We thought so! :)

Welcome to a helpful step-by-step tutorial. When we're finished we'll have gone from a few jugs of grape juice to delicious homemade grape jelly that tastes so good you'll never want to eat store-bought again. :D

So, to get started...

Ingredients That You Will Need: 

• Grape Juice (we use Welch's 100% grape juice)
• Pectin (We use sure-jell low-sugar pectin... it's the pink box.) :) 
• Sugar (Yeah, this recipe uses sugar, but this is a low-sugar recipe, using half the normal amount of sugar!)
• Lemon Juice (about 1 Tablespoon)
• Butter (about a Tablespoon)

The tools you'll need are: 

• Canning Jars
• Water-Bath Canner and rack (A big black cauldron-like thing like granny used to use)
• Jar Lids~ only use new lids for canning
• Jar Rings
• Jar Lifter/grippers
• Long-handled stirring spoon
• Tablespoon measuring spoon
• Ladle
• (optional) Magnetic Wand (magnetic stick thing for pulling jar lids out of the water)
• Washcloth
• Towels
• Kitchen Timer
• Funnel

One batch of grape jelly takes...

• 5 1/2 cups of juice.
• 3 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1/2 Tablespoon (small pat) of butter.

This makes 7 cups of jelly, which fits into 7 jelly (half-pint) jars.

We usually make a triple batch (or more) since we go through grape jelly on whole wheat toast so fast in our house. :D

STEP ONE: PREP.

• WASH your jars in hot, soapy water (or you can use your dishwasher) so that they are all clean, checking for chips around the rims. Uneven jar rims will interfere with a perfect seal.
• Set up a sugar station! A bowl, sugar, a "1 cup" and a "1/2 cup" measuring cup, and a knife. This makes doing more than one batch much simpler. :)
• Measure ingredients exactly. Spoon sugar into dry measuring cups (plastic or metal). Scrape excess sugar from top of cup with a straight-edged knife. Use liquid (glass or plastic) measuring cups with a pour spout to measure juice. 
• To the left of the stove, I place a wooden cutting board to set the pot with the cooked jelly on when it is done. Next to it, I put a towel to set the hot jars on. I lay out the ladle and funnel here with a set of hot mitts, and also the seven jar rings. 
• Get out a large pot for the grape mixture to be cooked in (6-8 quarts).
• Get out a small pot to boil the jar lids. Put the lids in the pot and cover with water. Heat them on a small burner, this ensures that the rubber is soft for sealing and that the lids are sterilized. Once it boils, turn it down to simmer.
• The jars need to be sterilized - put them in the canner and fill it half full with water, making sure the jars are completely covered. Place the canner on the large (back) burner on your stove and turn on high. We'll be bringing the water up to a rolling boil. (It will take a while to get all that water up to temp.) 
• Set out a "Landing Station" for the finished jars of jam to sit on by laying out a clean towel on your countertop. The jelly will have to sit for 24 hours without being disturbed after it is canned. (but oh, it is worth the wait) ;) 

Now for the fun!

1. The water in the canner should be heating with the jars inside being sterilized. Lids should be warming in the small pan.
2. Measure exact amount of sugar (3 1/2 cups) into a separate bowl and set aside.
3. Measure exact amount of prepared juice (5 1/2 cups) into 6 or 8 quart pot.  
4. Stir in 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon butter to grape juice in the pot.
5. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar set aside into the grape juice (take it from the bowl, don't add any extra)
6. Put one package of pectin into the grape juice. 
7. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.

8. Stir in sugar quickly. Return to full rolling and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off any foam.
9. Remove jars from the canner, making sure all the water is out of them. Place them on the towel. 

10. Using the funnel, ladle grape jelly quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of the tops.
11. Wipe jar rims and threads with a warm washcloth. Use the magnetic wand to get the hot lids and place lids on filled jars.

12. Screw on the rings tightly. Place jars in the canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches; add boiling water if needed. 
13. Cover; bring to gentle boil. Process jelly 5 minutes. (Adjust processing time according to altitude chart.  See insert that comes with the pectin.)
14. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, later that day, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

We love the "*POP*" sound the jars make when they seal! :)

(We did a double batch of grape jelly, so we used pint jars... normally you would use half-pint (or 'jelly') jars.)

You did it! You made awesome homemade grape jelly.  If you have kids and they are anything like mine, you'll never go back to store bought jelly because they will love your homemade jelly so much!!

If you're interested in more information about canning, be sure to check out the Ball Website. :) 

If you are going to make more than one batch in that day, you can wash the large pot, ladle and funnel and set up the next batch while the jars are processing.  It is amazing how fast it will go if you do this. 

Let us know how your grape jelly turned out! :)








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