Nothing says fall like making homemade concord grape jelly. Intoxicating aroma, jewel-like color and sweet-tart taste appeal to all your senses.
Mother Nature dictated my priorities this past week-end.
I willingly obliged.
Now I have about twenty jars of Homemade Concord Grape Jelly.
It snowed hailed in Montreal this week-end, and we also got our first frost warning of the year. Since I had no intention of making ice wine, I psyched myself up to harvest the remainder of the grapes in my backyard while I still could… and I used those grapes to make this wonderful jelly.
A couple of years ago, my husband built a pergola for the three different varieties of grapes he planted. Needless to say, we had a lot of grapes this year. I’ve been sharing with friends, family and neighbors over the past couple of months, and I still had so many leftovers.
As the warmer weather continued well into October, the grapes on the vine just became sweeter and sweeter. But alas, the inevitable is well on its way and so I picked those leftover grapes at last and made my favorite jelly this weekend!
This grape jelly recipe with pectin is really not a difficult process -you’ll just need to set aside a couple of hours, especially if you are lucky enough to be harvesting your own concord grapes.
As a side note, you might be wondering what I’m going to do with these twenty jars of concord grape jelly I made!
Well, I find that they are appreciated as hostess and holiday gifts. Autumn is the best time to prepare these food gifts… homemade strawberry jam, apple butter, vanilla pear butter, applesauce, sun-dried tomatoes, traditional basil pesto …the list just continues to grow.
Nutrition Tip: This Homemade Concord Grape Jelly is made with the extracted grape juice of Concord grapes, sugar and pectin. It provides you with an excellent alternative to a fat-free spread. Studies have shown that Concord grapes when eaten in their fruit form, provide us with powerful antioxidants called polyphenols.
How to make grape jelly
You won’t believe how easy this is!
Step 1: The preparation
Making your own Homemade Concord Grape Jelly requires a few preparatory steps:
- Canning jars need to be washed and sterilized (place in 225 ° F oven for at least 10 minutes). I leave them in the oven until I am ready to fill them up.
- Lids also need to be sterilized; just 10 minutes in simmering water is all it takes. Leave them in the water until you need them.
- Grapes need to be properly rinsed, stemmed and crushed. I have often found spiders, spider webs and all sorts of creepy crawlers in the middle of mine… that’s what happens when no pesticides are used! I think it’s a fair trade-off. As I stem each grape, I also give it a gentle squeeze in order to separate the “meat” from the skin. I do this over the bowl in order to collect any juices that may be given off. Then, with the help of a potato masher, I crush the grapes. In total, we need about 3 pounds of grapes that have been removed from their stems.
Step 2: Extracting the grape juice
Once your grapes have been crushed, place them in a large saucepan along with ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to allow the grapes to simmer for approximately 10 minutes, covered. Stir occasionally.
In the meanwhile, set your cheesecloth in a strainer (or use your jelly cloth if you have one) over a heatproof bowl. Pour prepared fruit and liquid in the strainer and allow to drip for a couple of hours. You need four cups of this strained liquid. The aroma of this concentrate is absolutely intoxicating!
Step 3: Combining the ingredients
It’s extremely important to measure the right amounts of grape juice and sugar– otherwise, your jelly may turn out too thick or too thin.
That being said, combine 4 cups of extracted grape juice with 7 cups of granulated sugar in a large heavy-bottomed pot.
Bring your mixture to a boil, add in the CERTO pectin (liquid) and stir for exactly one minute. Do not get burned here!
Once that is done, remove the pot from the heat and skim the foam for approximately 5 minutes. I find this to be a two-person job, though it can be done alone. I usually enlist the help of my daughter… she stirs while I skim.
Step 4: Canning
Ladle the jelly immediately into your sterilized hot jars. Remember to leave about ¼ inch of headspace. Place a sterilized lid and screw on the top.
The final part is processing the jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
When you hear the seals of the jar lids popping, you’ll know you’ve done a good job!
How to use it
This Homemade Concord Grape Jelly is great on toasted bread, bagels, homemade scones, buttermilk biscuits, rolls or pancakes. Not to mention savory-sweet dishes like this recipe for these Super Easy Baked Chicken Thighs.
Recipe inspiration
This summary is based on the recipe which I found years ago on the CERTO website. The original recipe did not require any butter, and so I do not use any (interesting enough, Martha Stewart also uses Certo to make her grape jelly… I guess that means I’m doing it right!)
Have fun making your grape jelly.
THANKS SO MUCH for following and being part of the She Loves Biscotti community where you will find Simple & Tasty Family-Friendly Recipes with an Italian Twist.
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Ciao for now,
Maria
★★★★★ If you have made this Grape Jelly recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!
Recipe
Homemade Concord Grape Jelly
Ingredients
Extracting the juice:
- 3 pounds grapes removed from their stems and washed
- ½ cup water
Making the jelly:
- 4 cups extracted grape juice
- 7 cups sugar granulated
- 1 pouch Certo fruit pectin liquid
Instructions
Extracting the juice:
- Place grapes in a heavy-bottomed pot.
- Add water.
- Crush the grapes with a potato masher. This will help speed up the extraction process.
- Bring the grapes to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.
- Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir occasionally.
- In the meanwhile, sterilize jars and caps (for details refer to post section on THE PREPARATION).
- Pour the cooked grapes, in a jelly bag or cheesecloth-lined strainer. Allow to drip for a couple of hours.
Making the jelly:
- Combine the extracted grape juice and sugar in a large heavy-bottomed pot.
- Over high heat, stir together until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Add the pouch of Certo and continue to stir the boiling mixture for 1 minute.
- Remove the pot from the heat.
- Stir and skim the foam for approximately 5 minutes.
- Ladle the jelly immediately into the hot sterilized jars. Leave ¼ inch of headspace. Place a sterilized lid and screw on the top.
- The final part is processing the jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
- When you hear the seals of the jar lids popping, you'll know you've done a good job!
Michael Ray Browning
My wife and I inherited her grandfathers homeplace a couple years ago way back in the hills of West Virginia. Not only does it have a brook {creek} running through it, place for a garden,apple trees and a couple cherry trees,it has a good size Concord grape vine! Last year, family and friends and a couple old neighbors down the road picked some but there was still so many that went to waste. Not this year though….came across this recipe and just finished up my first ever batch of homemade jelly! Actually in the last 1/2 hour,I have heard 4 jars pop already! Recipe was easy to follow,even for a 57 year old retired car salesman! Now I almost made a little boo- boo at the part when I was bringing my juice and sugar up to boil. It started boiling and I quit stirring and went to get the packet of pectin. Scissors wasn’t in the right place {thanks son} and in that short 15 seconds of getting the package opened,my juice came very,very close to boiling over. Other than that,all went well and I cannot wait until I pass out some jars to my in- laws and show them I got a lil country skills also!
Maria
Your homeplace sounds so lovely Michael! How wonderful that you were able to make some grape jelly this year.
Yes, the mixture does bubble over very quickly… thank goodness you got it under control. Everyone is in for a nice treat, how very thoughtful of you.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share Michael, appreciate it!
Regina
My dad & I made Concord grape jelly yesterday. It looks like juice. I didn’t have my mom to guide me. She’s past this summer.
What can I do? I wasn’t at my dad’s last nite To heat if they popped. I heard one pop before I left.
Can you help me? I doctor want to disappoint my dad.
Maria
I am sorry to hear about your loss Regina.
Let me see if I can help. Let’s start at the beginning. Did you make any substitutions to the recipe? I will wait for your response and see if we can find out what happened and how we can fix it.
Erika
Hello! First time making grape jelly here. Do I combine the grape skins along with the grape “meat” after squeezing them out? Or discard? Thanks!
Maria
Hi Erika, yes combine the grape skins with the grape “meat”, boil and then simmer together. The smell will be intoxicating! Enjoy 🙂
Elise
Made this jelly recipe last night and it still seems quite liquidy. If I just let it sit longer, should it firm up or should I put it in the fridge? I’ve made grape jelly a few times before and will usually freeze it once it’s been put in the fridge for a day.
Maria
Hi Elise, it should firm up in the fridge. I am curious to know if you made any substitutions as it usually firms up quickly.
Once I took a chance and made this grape jelly with a pectin that had expired. That batch never did firm up. I still used it as a fruit sauce and swirled into yogurt. Appreciate your feedback, thanks.
Elise
I used powder pectin, not realizing that there was a liquid one. We only have powder available at the stores here so that may be the cause. It seems to have firmed up a bit, as it all moves as one mass in the jar so I think it may be just about time to open the small jar that I have to try it out. It’s also a different brand pectin so maybe that’s it?
Maria
Yes…I think that might be the reason. Hopefully it will firm up… fingers crossed. Thanks so much for sharing Elise, appreciate it.
Melanie Pocock
Hello! Can I use grape juice that I get out of my steam juicer instead of cooking the grapes as you said above? I would follow the recipe from the point of adding the sugar and certo, but want to start with a base of grape juice from my steam juicer instead since I’m already canning juice also. Would that work?
Maria
What a great question Melanie. I asked around in order to provide you with an accurate response and no one knew. I then checked a few resources and still came out with no information. My guess is that it would work but I’m not sure you would get the purple color. I would love to hear about your results if you do decide to try your steam juicer to extract the grape juice to make concord grape jelly.
If your results are good, I just might purchase one. My fingers were purple for three days… lol… I made 4 batches of grape jelly as we had a bumper crop this year. Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
Melanie Pocock
It worked beautifully! So delicious! I’ve never been a fan of grape jelly, but we had so many grapes this year I thought I’d give it a try because homemade is always best! It’s amazing! Thank you!
Maria
Fantastic Melanie! What a wonderful feeling it is when we make something that turns out great 🙂 I agree, nothing beats homemade. Thanks so much for sharing, truly appreciate it 🙂
Jessica
how long after they are sealed into the jars do they firm up and can be eaten?!
Maria
They usually firm up after 24 hours. Great question, thanks so much for asking 🙂
Nat
I used this recipe last year with my valiant grapes – turned out perfect! This year my harvest has doubled and I’m wondering if I can save some time by giving them a quick spin in the food processor rather than squishing them out of the skins and crushing them… what do you think?
Thanks in advance and thanks for sharing this recipe!
Maria
Great question Nat! I think you can use the food processor but it really needs to be just a few pulses… we do not want a puree… lol. The only other thing I can think of is that if the food processor is allowed to break down the different parts of the grapes (ie stems and seeds) the jelly might end up being a bit cloudy or grainy… so really just a few pulses.
I also have a bumper crop of Concord grapes this year… looks like we will be busy 🙂 If you do decide to try it, would love to hear about your results. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Carol Murphy
Hi, This recipe sounds amazing! We will be picking fresh concord grapes this morning. I have a question though. When you said to squeeze the grapes, do you remove the skin off all the way or just get it opened up?
Maria
Great question Carol. Just enough to get them opened… although you will find that during the process of squeezing, some will open up all the way. I still have not picked mine… maybe this weekend. Enjoy making the grape jelly Carol. Appreciate your comment 🙂
Elizabeth
I just poured everything in to the jars. How long does it take for them to start popping? Any way to force it otherwise? Maybe a boiling water bath? The syrup tasted amazing, so if anything we’ll just eat it quickly, and have our friends do the same!
Maria
As they cool down, it can take up to a few hours before you hear the popping sound. After that time, you can make sure you have a good seal by gently pressing on the center of the lids. If they do not “stay down” you can process in a water bath or consume them within ten days or so.
Great comment! Feel free to write back if you have any other concerns, Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
Sam
Hi Maria, i tried to do your recipe as i have a lit of concord grapes in my backyard. My husband planted them 4years ago and did not do anything with them until this year. It taste amazing and very easy to follow. And the ingredients is simple… grapes, sugar and pectin. Thanks so much for posting this. I can hear my jars popping now so i know i did a good job!!! Thanks again.
Maria
Congrats Sam! It’s such a wonderful feeling! And now you will be able to enjoy the grape jelly throughout the year. Thanks so much for sharing, appreciate it!
Elizabeth
Do you use powder or liquid pectin? I’ve never made jelly before and don’t know if it makes a difference.
Thanks!
Maria
Great question Elizabeth… I use liquid pectin for this recipe. I will update the recipe card. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Audrey M
I’m so excited to make this! Followed a much more complicated recipe last year. This is so easy! I’m curious what the skimming off the top does… what is it? I’m doing this solo and did the best I could! Thanks for step by step instructions.
Maria
My pleasure Audrey… you are going to love it! Great question! The foam is simply air bubbles that escape and rise to the surface. It is recommended to skim and remove because this creates additional head space (that’s the gap between the lid and the surface of the food). As a result, longer storage times might be compromised because of the increased risk of mold growing in this space. Plus, it doesn’t look nice 🙂 Thanks for asking Audrey. Appreciate you taking the time and sharing your question!