Homemade grape jam is a delicious way to use a large number of grapes before the end of the season. This recipe uses Concord grape. Its intense ruby color and delicate strawberry flavor make this jam the perfect edible gift to serve in the morning with bread and butter or to bake into crostata.
Before you start, sterilize the jars. You can place them in the dishwasher at high heat or boil them in water.
Mashing the grapes
Remove the grape from their pedicel
8 lb concord grape
Rinse them with fresh water a couple of times
Pass the grapes through an electrical vegetable strainer
The vegetable strainer will separate the skins and the seeds from the pulp. Although, you will have to clean and unblock the cone from the seeds regularly.
Boiling the jam
The strainer process is messy, but it is much easier than removing the seeds from the grapes manually.
Once done, pour the juices into a pan
Add the sugar
3.5 lb sugar
Stir to dissolve the sugar
Simmer for almost 2 hours uncovered
Regularly removing the foam forming on the surface with a colander strainer spoon
Checking if the jam is ready
Pour some jam on a plate
Tilt it to check if the jam has reached the right consistency
Canning the jam
Once the jam is ready, remove it from the heat
Pour the jam into the sterilized jars
Close them tightly, you now need to pasteurize them
Pasteurizing the jars
Place the jars into a large pan wrapped in kitchen cloths to prevent the jars from breaking while boiling.
The water level in the canner/pan should be 1 to 2 inches - 2.5 to 5 cm above the tops of the filled jars. The water should boil vigorously for 10 minutes.
Let the jars in the water overnight, so they cool down completely. Remove once cold
You can either store the jars for the winter or eat them with bread and butter or to bake cakes