Thursday, June 24, 2010

How To Make Muscadine Juice

Musacdine grapes
Water
Large Stock pot
Strainer
Storage container(s)

Sort and thoroughly wash the grapes. Measure/weigh your grapes. Place grapes in stockpot. Using a pastry cutter (as my Grandmother would do) or other object crush the grapes to help release meat from skins. Or you can take the easy route and place them in your food processor and pulse lightly to break the skins up. Add enough water to just cover grapes. You don't want to over fill with water as that will dilute your juice flavor. Bring grapes to a boil.

Reduce heat & cover pot with lid. Allow to simmer until grape hulls are tender; about 15 minutes. Let cool. Drain juice into another container by running it through a Foley food mill. Using the food mill helps to extract more juice as well as separates the seeds, stems and skins that will clog the strainer. Take the resulting juice stock and strain it through a damp jelly cloth or several layers of cheese cloth.

Juice can now be used for your intended recipe(s).

You can also can your juice by following a few simple steps...
Reheat the juice to a simmer. Pour the juice into hot sterile pint or quart sized canning jars. Wipe jar edges clean and top with seals and bands. Place jars into a water bath canner and process for 10 minutes. Remember to start your timer after the water has come to a full rolling boil. Remove jars from canner and allow to cool. Listen for the "ping" sound that tells you the jars have sealed properly.

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