Homemade Wild Grape Jelly

5 from 3 votes

Classic jelly made from wild grapes has a rich, deep grape flavor and is one of the best things to make with your harvest. Makes 7 cups or half pint jars.

Prep Time45

Cook Time15

Total Time1

Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: recipe for wild grape jelly, recipe wild grape jelly

Servings: servings

Calories: 46kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

Equipment

Large, heavy bottomed pot (2 gallon capacity, at least 10 inches wide.) you can use a 1 gallon size pot for a half batch, the wider the better.
Candy thermometer
Strainer
Cheesecloth
Potato masher
Canning jars with lids

Ingredients

32 oz (4 cups) wild grape juice (you’ll need about 5 lbs of grapes)
1 cup water
4 teaspoons powdered apple pectin or use liquid pectin like Sure-jell
28 oz (4 cups) sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or from concentrate
½ tsp unsalted butter to reduce foam

Instructions

Harvest the grapes

Remove the grapes from the vine in whole clusters using a scissors.

Juice the Grapes

Put the grapes in a large pot and mash them.
Add the water so the grapes are nearly covered. If your grapes are larger than Vitis riparia, or you're using a steam juicer you may not need much water, if any. Bring the pot to a simmer cook on low heat for 30 minutes.
Strain the grape juice while still warm through cheesecloth, squeezing out the excess. Save scrap for making wild grape vinegar.

Make the Jelly

Put small metal pie plate or other thin surface over a bowl of ice for a set test.
Mix the pectin and sugar. Whisk the grape juice and sugar mixture, add the butter, bring to a rolling boil on high heat and until it starts to hover around 220F, skimming off any foam. Do not turn the heat down while cooking. If the jelly threatens to overflow your pot is too small.

Set Tests

Here’s where the intuition comes in. Spoon a ½ teaspoon of jelly into the chilled metal bowl to test the set, if it holds it’s shape around the edge and doesn't run like water anymore it’s ready, if not, continue cooking a bit. Drips off of the spoon should hesitate to fall, which is known as sheeting.
The sweet spot for me is usually right after the jelly hits about 220F, or a little past, around 222-223F. When the jelly holds it's shape dropped on a chilled plate, turn off the heat and beat in the lemon juice.

Storing

Pour the jelly into sterilized pint or half pint jars screw on the lids. Process the jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Sometimes I don't waterbath can them as they're high in acid and very safe.

Video

Notes

Jelly Didn't Set

Pour the jelly back into the pot, add an additional ½ cup water and 2 additional teaspoons of powdered pectin mixed with ½ cup water. Bring it back to a rolling boil, do set tests again and repeat the process.

Pectin

I use Cuisine Tech brand, but your favorite pectin should work, just don’t use pectin that contain sugar or dextrose, which has an off flavor.

Tartaric Acid

If you have time, allow the juice to settle overnight and pour it into a fresh jar, leaving any tartaric acid on the bottom. This is optional.

Nutrition