Posted: 9/11/2009 12:04:45 PM EDT
It's just an ugly day here today: wet and cold. I'm on my second set of raingear at Noon.
Had some outside plans for the day, but it's just too miserable. Instead, we decided today should be "grape jelly day." 
The grapes have been yelling at us for a week now...."harvest us, harvest us." We'll get it done today. I'll try to post as we go along. Have about 25 feet of grapes that we inherited. They were on the ground when we moved into this place.....had to rebuild the trellis. Pruned them last fall and they bore pretty well this year, I think. (I don't know much about grapes, I have to confess.) There are two varieties: Concord and Niagara maybe? Not entirely sure. So we'll see how it goes today...... 
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Not that many grapes after rinsing them and de-stemming. We decided we'd try the Jack LaLanne Juicer that some helpful relative gave us after she found that she didn't care for cleaning it just to get a glass of orange juice every now and then. I don't know who Jack LaLanne is, but the machine seems well made so we'll try it for the first time.
Hey, the Jack LaLanne Juicer actually works! 
But it doesn't like the seeds and spits them out everywhere! Mrs. Feral improvises a funnel out of one of the kid's placemats and this fixes the problem for the most part. 
We get about 4 quarts of juice..... 
.....and now will strain it a bit. 
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Quoted: he was a fitness guru before the was such a title, i think he is 95-96 now and still going strong . that is the last heard Yes, I remember him on tv when I was little bitty. I can't believe he's still around. He looked very strange in his tight little exercise outfit then.  He was one of the first fitness gurus I would say. Lots of housewives, ala June Cleaver, used to exercise with him during the daytimes between the soap operas from what I understand. |
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Internet's acting funky on us tonight so I'll skip the travelogue. Twenty five feet or so of grape vines got us 32 half-pints of grape jelly. The canning cats are turning out because it's unseasonably cold here and they like the heat. Not bad at all. Looks good. |
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It seemed like a lot of grapes when you pictured them in the cooler.
You've probably checked out how to prune grapes. Is it possible to root the vines that are trimmed off without much work? I think you can trim several sticks to about a foot long (2-3 nodes) and put them in a plastic bag in a refrigerator over the winter and they'll root easily next spring by just sticking them in the ground. Much cheaper than the $5 per plant that you'd have to pay to order some more and you are going to be clipping off your plants anyway. As a plus, you know that the variety you have will grow in your location. I question the use of 1/2 pint jars for something as tasty as grape jelly. That would be about a one-meal serving on the table at my house! Next year when you have a TON of grapes and realize you can't make that much jelly, plan to make some grape juice. I think the recipe is in the canning book. I think you put grapes and sugar in the jar and pour scalding water over them to fill the jar, then process. It'll break you from store bought. I'd like to see a picture of your vines and trellis later this year after you trim them back and the leaves are off. |
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Quoted:
It seemed like a lot of grapes when you pictured them in the cooler. You've probably checked out how to prune grapes. Is it possible to root the vines that are trimmed off without much work? I think you can trim several sticks to about a foot long (2-3 nodes) and put them in a plastic bag in a refrigerator over the winter and they'll root easily next spring by just sticking them in the ground. Much cheaper than the $5 per plant that you'd have to pay to order some more and you are going to be clipping off your plants anyway. As a plus, you know that the variety you have will grow in your location. I question the use of 1/2 pint jars for something as tasty as grape jelly. That would be about a one-meal serving on the table at my house! Next year when you have a TON of grapes and realize you can't make that much jelly, plan to make some grape juice. I think the recipe is in the canning book. I think you put grapes and sugar in the jar and pour scalding water over them to fill the jar, then process. It'll break you from store bought. I'd like to see a picture of your vines and trellis later this year after you trim them back and the leaves are off. I wouldn't mind extending our trellis......will definitely look into the trimming/rooting idea you mentioned. A lot of these jellies will go as gifts.....and, in any case, we've got plenty of raspberry jam and apple butter to fill in if we run out of grape jelly. 
I'll try to remember to post some "after pruning" shots for you. The vines really do get cut back dramatically. |
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Grape cuttings root really easily if you take them at the correct time of year and get the new, young wood. If anybody needs a reference on this, I will look it up for you. all the grapes I have ever grown were from cuttings purchased for a dollar apiece from a local vineyard owner. Easy peezy. Feral how did the jelly turn out as far as taste? Would you do something different next time? When you tasted the grapes were they sweet straight off the vine? kitties |
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Feral how did the jelly turn out as far as taste? Would you do something different next time? Reminds me I think I saw some packages of pectin in one of your pics. I thought I remembered that grapes didn't need it and wondered if your jelly was going to be a bit "tough"..... AAR? |
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We use pectin in our grape jelly, turns out great. My neighbor has about 20ft of vines he lets me have and I have 2 huge vines covering a shed in the backyard. None have ever been pruned––they are more for concealment than fruit production. Each year they simply grow and produce ridiculous amounts of grapes. A bit less this year due to the funky weather here, but still have so much I don't know what to do with. My neighbors won't take more jam––they still have too much from last year. Just a few dozen more jars to the SHTF pile I guess.
I'm planting a couple raspberry bushes next year because I need something different. Solid work. NH |
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Quoted:
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Feral how did the jelly turn out as far as taste? Would you do something different next time? Reminds me I think I saw some packages of pectin in one of your pics. I thought I remembered that grapes didn't need it and wondered if your jelly was going to be a bit "tough"..... AAR? OK, here's the AAR. 
You can see a fair amount of suspended pulpy matter in the jelly. That's a result of me getting hasty with the straining. It has no texture or "mouthfeel" to it, but it's a defect that would prevent winning any ribbons at the county fair. The other thing that's interesting with this jelly is the color. I would not include the white grapes next time as combinng the Concords with the pale grapes made the jelly somewhat orange. I didn't expect that.....had thought the Concord's purple would dominate, particularly since we had about two-thirds Concords. Next year, we'll stick with the purple grapes only. 
The consistency is fine....pretty much what you want in a jelly. The second pic shows the spoon nearly vertical and the jelly is about to sheet off. It's not tough. The added pectin is a crutch, but since I'm not an expert jelly-maker by any stretch it does provide some extra insurance that that the jelly actually gels. I seem to be incapable of making a standard size batch of anything (this was a quadruple batch), so it would've really sucked to have the stuff fail to gel up. 
The taste is good......the grapes do come through the sweetness. My palate prefers salt over sweet though......and I do find this jelly overly sweet. I prefer the raspberry jam over this grape jelly as it isn't as sweet. It would probably be just right for someone with a sweet tooth. 
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Feral it is also possible that you have a purple grape variety which does not necessarily yield dark juice. A lot of white wine is actually made from dark grapes, believe it or not. The color of the skin does not necessarily indicate the color of the flesh, or the juice. BUT you crushed enough of them, you probably know already if the dark grapes have dark flesh and if you crush it, if the juice comes out purple. YOu could do a batch of each next year. (You know, since you have SO much free time and sit about eating bon bons every day with nothing to do. ) That would be interesting. White grape jelly, or red grape jelly would probably have a comletely different taste from the darker grapes.kitties |
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YOu could do a batch of each next year. Or branch out into "designer" jellies, like a mix of raspberry and the white grapes. You probably can't find it at the store, making your gift jars even more special. It wouldn't take much extra work. I have no idea how THAT would taste, but you'd offset the "too sweet" grape with the "not quite sweet" raspberry. Who knows what color would dominate? I know that I've seen a LOT of jellies made from combined juices, apple being one that come to mind. Of course, the apple might be there as a pectin substitute. |
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Quoted:
Feral it is also possible that you have a purple grape variety which does not necessarily yield dark juice. A lot of white wine is actually made from dark grapes, believe it or not. The color of the skin does not necessarily indicate the color of the flesh, or the juice. BUT you crushed enough of them, you probably know already if the dark grapes have dark flesh and if you crush it, if the juice comes out purple. YOu could do a batch of each next year. (You know, since you have SO much free time and sit about eating bon bons every day with nothing to do. ) That would be interesting. White grape jelly, or red grape jelly would probably have a comletely different taste from the darker grapes.
The purple grapes pressed out pretty purple. Didn't stay that way though. I'll try to split the batches next year. This year was a bit harried.....really needed to just deal with the grapes so other projects could move forward. Quoted:
Or branch out into "designer" jellies, like a mix of raspberry and the white grapes. You probably can't find it at the store, making your gift jars even more special. It wouldn't take much extra work. I have no idea how THAT would taste, but you'd offset the "too sweet" grape with the "not quite sweet" raspberry. Who knows what color would dominate? I know that I've seen a LOT of jellies made from combined juices, apple being one that come to mind. Of course, the apple might be there as a pectin substitute. I wouldn't mind doing a combination with the raspberries.....we've certainly got plenty of them.
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Feral, did y'all get a new cooktop? I thought I remembered a slide-in stove...gas range????  You remember correctly.......it's just we haven't lived in that house for coming up on two years.
I REALLY miss that gas range. REALLY MISS. Did you know that these glass cooktops are supposed to be "smart"?
They apparently have sensors that monitor the heat output and temperature of the pan. They SUCK for canning as the "sensors" turn off the juice to the burner intermittently and it's hard to keep a good, robust boil going. 
I'm all in favor of technology, but when I turn a burner to "High" it's because......wait for it......I WANT THE #$%^^%$ BURNER TO BE ON HIGH. 
OK, I feel better now.
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Quoted:
I REALLY miss that gas range. REALLY MISS. Did you know that these glass cooktops are supposed to be "smart"?
They apparently have sensors that monitor the heat output and temperature of the pan. They SUCK for canning as the "sensors" turn off the juice to the burner intermittently and it's hard to keep a good, robust boil going.
I'm all in favor of technology, but when I turn a burner to "High" it's because......wait for it......I WANT THE #$%^^%$ BURNER TO BE ON HIGH.
OK, I feel better now. Hmm...that makes sense with the "smart" technology –– I was curious why our range in our new apartment 'turned off' and then 'turned on' even though I had it set on high. I'm sure it is some power saving feature or whatever, but really.....when I say I want something turned on, I want it ON...I should be in control, not the computer.
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I made grape jelly yesterday. I picked half a paper grocery sack full. and it only made 8 half pints. that is from one grape vine. this thing is up to the roof of my house though! gonna do some more pruning over winter; its never been taken care of, until i moved in.
i didnt do a complete pictoral write-up since i did that for my plum jelly, and feral has this one up. i did mine a little different though. i de-stemmed them, them put them in a pan with a little water, let them get a little heat going to them, then took a potato smasher and smashed hell out of them. let them simmer for about 10 minutes, them smashed them again. then i ran them through a collander and i had a cup towel under that. then i had perfect juice to use. added the pectin and followed the directions in the suregel package. i will take some pics of the finished product though. i do declare: it is mighty fine! it will also be entered into the fair next year. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Feral, did y'all get a new cooktop? I thought I remembered a slide-in stove...gas range???? You remember correctly.......it's just we haven't lived in that house for coming up on two years.
I REALLY miss that gas range. REALLY MISS. Did you know that these glass cooktops are supposed to be "smart"?
They apparently have sensors that monitor the heat output and temperature of the pan. They SUCK for canning as the "sensors" turn off the juice to the burner intermittently and it's hard to keep a good, robust boil going.
I'm all in favor of technology, but when I turn a burner to "High" it's because......wait for it......I WANT THE #$%^^%$ BURNER TO BE ON HIGH.
OK, I feel better now. I agree. It's the way I feel about brakes and driving my car too. Sometimes it's more dangerous to brake than it is to speed up. I want to make that call. Granted there are a lot of bad drivers, with a lot of poor reflexes, but I am not one of them, and I want to drive the car. I don't want the car making decisions for me. Same with my stove. Smart technology is great, but you should be able to tell it to shut the hell up and let you drive or cook when you want to be in charge. 
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Quoted:
I REALLY miss that gas range. REALLY MISS. Did you know that these glass cooktops are supposed to be "smart"?
They apparently have sensors that monitor the heat output and temperature of the pan. They SUCK for canning as the "sensors" turn off the juice to the burner intermittently and it's hard to keep a good, robust boil going.
I'm all in favor of technology, but when I turn a burner to "High" it's because......wait for it......I WANT THE #$%^^%$ BURNER TO BE ON HIGH.
OK, I feel better now. I was going to ask you about using your canning pot on the glass top range. We had the same problem with it turning off during a boil too. I hate it. I went out and bought a turkey fryer and finished my canning on that instead of the range. Question for you. We have grapes in our back yard that was from a previous owner and I've been wanting to make some jelly our of them for the past 5 years. But how do you KEEP THE DAMN BIRDS OUT OF THE VINES AND EATING THE GRAPES? I've tried hanging a mesh tarp and some camo mesh fabric over the vines, a wind chime type thing to make noise and some colored streamers to scare them and nothing seems to work. I want my grapes dammit. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Feral it is also possible that you have a purple grape variety which does not necessarily yield dark juice. A lot of white wine is actually made from dark grapes, believe it or not. The color of the skin does not necessarily indicate the color of the flesh, or the juice. BUT you crushed enough of them, you probably know already if the dark grapes have dark flesh and if you crush it, if the juice comes out purple. YOu could do a batch of each next year. (You know, since you have SO much free time and sit about eating bon bons every day with nothing to do. ) That would be interesting. White grape jelly, or red grape jelly would probably have a comletely different taste from the darker grapes.
The purple grapes pressed out pretty purple. Didn't stay that way though. I'll try to split the batches next year. This year was a bit harried.....really needed to just deal with the grapes so other projects could move forward. Quoted:
Or branch out into "designer" jellies, like a mix of raspberry and the white grapes. You probably can't find it at the store, making your gift jars even more special. It wouldn't take much extra work. I have no idea how THAT would taste, but you'd offset the "too sweet" grape with the "not quite sweet" raspberry. Who knows what color would dominate? I know that I've seen a LOT of jellies made from combined juices, apple being one that come to mind. Of course, the apple might be there as a pectin substitute. I wouldn't mind doing a combination with the raspberries.....we've certainly got plenty of them.
Quoted:
Feral, did y'all get a new cooktop? I thought I remembered a slide-in stove...gas range???? You remember correctly.......it's just we haven't lived in that house for coming up on two years.
I REALLY miss that gas range. REALLY MISS. Did you know that these glass cooktops are supposed to be "smart"?
They apparently have sensors that monitor the heat output and temperature of the pan. They SUCK for canning as the "sensors" turn off the juice to the burner intermittently and it's hard to keep a good, robust boil going.
I'm all in favor of technology, but when I turn a burner to "High" it's because......wait for it......I WANT THE #$%^^%$ BURNER TO BE ON HIGH.
OK, I feel better now. that is why i have a heavy cast iron 3 burner propane stove that i set up in the garage for canning. tried some stuff on the kitchen electric range, pissed me off, and have never looked back |