White Grape Jam

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White Grape Jam

In addition to his obsession with Bonsai trees, my dad has taken up gardening (fruits and vegetables) as a new hobby.  Apparently, my dad had an enormous yield of white grapes this year, and he brought 5-6 lbs. over to my house last weekend.  The grapes were delicious and sweet – but had some horrible seeds in the middle!  I’m not one to eat grapes with seeds – it’s just too annoying spitting out seeds.  What was I going to do with all these grapes???  Time to break out the jam making supplies!

My dad's grape garden

The hardest part in making this jam was removing the seeds from the grapes.  While watching TV, I stood over the kitchen counter (for about 3 hours) slicing each grape in half, removing the seed, and squeezing the grape “meat” into a bowl, discarding the skin in the process.  When I was done, my several pounds of grapes turned into about 4 cups of seedless, skinless “grape goo”.  I was too tired to do anything else, so I set aside the grape goo for the next day for jam making.  It would be much easier to make this jam using regular seedless grapes from the market – all you would have to do is just squish the grapes to separate the meat and juice from the skins (which would take minutes instead of hours).  This recipe will make enough jam for 5 half-pint jars.

White Grape Jam:

My dad's homegrown white grapes.

  • 4 c. pitted & peeled grapes
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 4 T. lemon juice
  • 4 T. low sugar pectin
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 c. sugar
Hardware:
  • 5 half pint jars, rings, & lids
  • large stock pot
  • wire rack that fits in the bottom of the pot
1.  Wash the grapes.  Pit and peel each grape by cutting in half, removing the seed with a sharp knife, and squeezing the grape goo out into a large measuring cup or bowl.  Discard the seeds and skins.  You will need several pounds of grapes to get 4 cups of grape goo.
2.  Sterilize the tongs, ladle, jars, and rings in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, boil the grapes, lemon zest, lemon juice, pectin, and salt in a large pan for 5 minutes.
3.  After the 5 minutes (stirring in between), add the sugar, and continue to boil for 1 minute until fully dissolved.  Your jam is now ready for water bath canning.  (Or you can refrigerate and use within a few weeks.)
4.  Ladle the hot jam into the sterilized jars.  Wipe off the rims.  Place the lids (always use new lids) in the boiling water for a minute or two to soften the adhesive.  Place the lids on the jars, and tighten the rings (finger tight only).
5.  Carefully place the sealed jars back into the water and return to boil.  Cover with the lid, and boil for 10 minutes (for altitudes less than 1,000 ft above sea level).  (For higher altitudes, you may need to add a few minutes of extra processing time.)  Make sure the water is at a full boil for the entire processing time – don’t be fooled by pockets of air escaping from the jars.  Also, make sure the water level completely covers the jars, at least 1 inch over the tops.
6.  Carefully remove the jars and set on top of a towel to cool overnight.  Do not move or disturb the jars until the next day.  Check that the lids are tightly sealed and do not move when depressing the top with your finger.

Comments

  1. Janice says:

    Hi, my daughter & I made this jam yesterday, however it didn’t set up, we didn’t peel the grapes we puréed them in my NutraBullet & picked out any large pieces. Otherwise followed the recipe. Any thoughts on why it didn’t? Just thought I’d ask. It tastes awesome by the way.
    Janice

    • Mika Mika says:

      I’m not sure. Maybe pureeing them liquefied the fruit too much. I leave the grape halves intact – that could be the difference.