Grapes, Grapes and more Grapes

Grapes, Grapes and more Grapes! My grape vines are producing very well this year, and now I am busy processing my grapes in different ways. Every time my husband goes outside he is snacking on a handful of grapes. We have an old dog coop outside by our old garage and we do not have any dogs, so we decided to use the chain linked fence for our grapes vines to grow on. Our grape vines were very small when we planted them, but three years later we have a nice batch of grapes that we pick each year. Now what to do with all the grapes we get since we can’t eat all of them fast enough. So today I will show you some of the things I use my grapes for.

Grape Juice

1.       Cut your grapes off by the stems with scissors to avoid losing so many of them when picking.

2.       Pull the grapes off the stems and place them into a colander and rinse them off very well.

3.       Place the clean grapes into a large kettle and start cooking them.

4.       As the grapes start cooking smash them with a potato masher.

5.      

When they become soft and the skins break you are ready to make your juice.

6.       Using a food processor or an old fashion food mill start smashing your grapes.

7.      

If you like to separate the pulp from the juice. The pulp is good for other things as I will show you later.

8.     

  Now you have the grape juice to drink right away, or to can or freeze for later.

9.       Add as much sugar to taste. Depending on how thick or thin you like your juice add water. I usually water mine down ¾ water to ¼ juice.

Grape Jam or Jelly

1.       Take your grapes from the vine and pull them off. Place them into a colander and rinse well.

2.       Place into a large kettle and start cooking them, with a potato smasher start smashing your grapes as they cook.

3.      

Again, using a food processor or an old fashion food mill smash your grape.

4.       Using a box of Sure-Jell, follow the directions to make grape jelly or jam.

Grape Fruit Roll-Ups

1.      

Taking your grapes from the vines, pull them off and wash them in a colander under water.

2.       Place your grapes in a large kettle and start cooking them. With a potato, smasher smash your grapes as they cook.

3.      

Place in a food processor or old-time food mill and start smashing your grapes.

4.      

Separate the grape pulp from your juice. The pulp works the best for fruit roll-ups.

5.       Take your fruit roll-up trays and spray with non-stick spray.

6.       Add sugar to taste into your grape pulp.

7.     

  Pour the grape pulp onto your fruit roll-up trays.

8.       Check your dehydrator for temperature directions and time. My grape fruit roll-ups took almost a day to dehydrate.

9.       Cut little pieces and roll them in wax paper. Yummy, Yummy

These are the three things I do with my grapes I get each year. The jams and jellies last me a full year. The juice depending on if you freeze or can it can last up to a year also. The fruit roll-ups never make it much past a couple of weeks, because everybody loves them.

Earlier I mentioned using a food processor or an old time food mill. Food processors can get very pricey and take a long time to set up and then wash up later. I use my grandmother’s old food mill with great success, besides a little arm work never hurt anyone. The food mill is easier to clean up afterward also.

I hope you enjoyed my homegrown grape ideas from Suzie homemaker.