Canning and Preserving Grapes and Plums

Autumn is my favorite time of year, and as we are winding down our harvests, it is a great time to open the kitchen window to let in the crisp Fall breeze and set to work storing goods for the coming Winter. I received a comment the other day from my lovely Sister-in-Law, asking what to do with the plums and grapes that she has in her yard, and since I was planning on making some food specific canning and preserve blogs, I figured this was a great place to start.


Grape Juice:

Start with any sweet grape, keep in mind 1 pound of grapes will only make about 1/2 cup of juice, so you will need a lot of them to make it worth your while.

1. Place your grapes bunches in a large stock pot or the kitchen sink filled with cool water. Separate each grape from the bunch and discard unripe or shriveled grapes.
   
2. Once you have finished this, divide your grapes into batches easy for you to handle, some recipe suggest this is about 4 pounds, and set about mashing them, you can use a potato masher, food processor, a food strainer, (I use the Victorio, but Kitchen Aid also makes good attachments) or you can use your bare or gloved hands.
   
3. Once you have all the grapes mashed, slowly bring them to a low boil, then simmer them over medium heat for 10 minutes.
4. Pour the cooked grape mixture onto a fine mesh sieve, or a double layer of cheesecloth placed over a large bowl and let the juice drain, once it has done so, gather up the cheesecloth and wring out any remaining juice into the bowl, or lightly compress the mash in the sieve. You may want to run it through one more time to make sure and keep out any impurities.
5. you can put the juice in the refrigerator and serve as is, or can or freeze it for future use.

Grape Jelly

1. Take 5 cups of finished juice from the above recipe, mix in 1 box of sure-jell and bring to a boil.
2. Stir in 7 cups of sugar and bring to a roiling boil. Let it boil for 1 minute then remove from heat.
3. Remove the froth from the top with a metal spoon, the ladle or pour into sterilized canning jars.
   
4. Using the boiled water canning method described in a earlier post, boil the filled jars for 10 minutes, then remove from water bath and set on heat resistant surface.
5. Tighten the ring 1 more time then wait for the satisfying POP that lets your know the jars are sealed.
6. Let sit for a few days to thicken and cool and then enjoy!
   

Asian Plum Sauce:

In a large pot mix the following:

• 4 crushed garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons grater fresh ginger
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 cups water (use filtered or purified if you have hard or mineral rich water as this can spoil the canning process)
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 lbs plums pitted, peeled, and chopped
• the juice of 1 lemon

2. Run this mix through a food processor or on the puree setting of a blender then return to the large pot.

3. Bring the mix to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes

4. Mix together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water mix out all lumps, then add to the heated sauce.

5. Continue cooking the sauce until it thickens, then pour into your sterilized jars and using the hot water bath method, cook the filled, sealed jars for 10 minutes.


Plum Preserves:

1. In a large pan combine5 cups pitted diced plums, 1 cup water, and 4 cups sugar.
2. Bring this mixture to a boil then reduce heat a bit and continue cooking
3. The preserves will begin to thicken and once desired thickness is reached, pour or ladle into sterilized jars.
4. Using the hot water bath method, heat the filled and sealed jars for 15 minutes.