Grape Juice

We have our own grapes growing beside the garden. Last year we made grape juice, which failed miserably, but this year we tried again with much more success!

We picked, strained, and canned juice over the course of three days. Overall, we picked about three laundry baskets full.

Using a juicer to make juice is so slick! We borrowed one from a friend and are so glad we did. For those of you who don't know how the process works, I'll explain. After picking the grapes, you wash them and pick off the nasty ones and the green ones. You can leave the other good grapes on the stem. The strainer has three parts to it. The bottom is for water, the middle is where the juice catches, and the top is similar to a colander and that's where you put the grapes.

After letting the grapes boil for a hour, the juice is ready. Fill clean, hot jars with 1/2 cup sugar and then use the handy dandy hose to fill the jar with juice. Let them sit on the counter to cool and most of the lids pop within 30 minutes. No water bath or anything!

Like I said, it's a pretty slick process. This year we canned 35 quarts of juice. To use, we add about another quart and a half to the concentrate and it tastes very similar to store juice. We'll be glad we spent the time this summer when we're enjoying fresh juice in the winter!