Help! Making grape jelly for the 1st time!

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Hi all,

I am just a little confused on the "water-canning" part of making jelly. I have simmered down the grapes & they are straining now. The part I am not sure about is once it is canned, do I need to boil them again & for how long?? I am basically using the recipe on the pectin box. Your help & input would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks, Pam

-- Pamela Hood (pamandmatt@earthlink.net), September 05, 2001

Answers

I make the grape juice, strain over night then next day bring strained grape juice to a boil and either follow directions on the box after it thickens or go without pectin.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), September 05, 2001.

If I'm understanding your question correctly, Pam, you are asking if you need to "water bath can" your grape jelly after it's made and in the jars. Is that correct? If that is your question, I never water bath can my jellies. Once they're made and in the jars, wipe the rims good, put on the lids and rings and invert the jars for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn them back over and cover with a dish towel until they're cooled. If any didn't seal (you can tell by pressing down on the center of the lid; if it gives, it didn't seal) put the in the frig and use first. That's what I've always done with jams and jellies and I rarely have any that don't seal.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (aka Dianne in Mass) (Trevilians@mediaone.net), September 05, 2001.


I'm new to jams and jellies too but I did make a few batches this summer. Since the water bath processing time is low..usually 5 minutes, it's recommended to used sterilized jars rather than just washed and waiting in hot water jars. Boil the jars in your water bath canner for ten minutes then put in the jelly, clean the rim, close then boil again in the canner for 5 minutes. This is the "by the book" thing. I know a lot of people do the "open kettle" canning (put hot stuff in and let it seal without further boiling). Being a relative novice at it tho, I've chosen the book method myself.

-- Susan (smtroxel@socket.net), September 05, 2001.

I do what Dianne does, some do it this way some don't, I've never had any spoil.

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), September 05, 2001.

Pam, I am a "Master Food Preserver" a big title meaning little but here is what we recommend: We recommend water bath canning jams/jellies for 10 min. The Seals work better and the jars are sterilized. After the seals have set ( give this 24 hours) remove the bands. If I can be of any help please let me know.

-- Linda (wklkmorgan@ifriendly.com), September 05, 2001.


I wash my jars and lids then put the jars in the oven and the lids in a pot of hot water. Then when my jam or jelly is ready I use the jars hot out of the oven and the lids hot from the pot of water. No troubles so far.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), September 06, 2001.

Kerr and Ball companies, which make many of the canning jars most people use around here, have instructions for water bath canning. So do a lot of older cookbooks. If you have a county extension office, like we do here in Kansas, that gives information about farming, gardening, cooking, canning, and livestock questions, they will also have some pamphlets available. With jelly, especially if you're only expecting the batch to last a short time (a few months rather than 2 or 3 years), once you have the jars and lids sterilized, and you pour in the boiling jelly product, the water bath is more of a preventive than a requirement. Usually, you can just wipe down the rims of the jars, place the flats, screw down the lids, and invert them to coat the lid with the really hot jelly (to kill any remaining bacteria). At this point, my mother-in-law (who canned almost everything her family ate from their garden produce) would then put them on a tea towel right-side up and leave them on the counter-top until they cooled. Check the lids to make sure they sealed by pushing on the dimple in the middle of the lid. If there's any give to it - if there's any give, it will click when you push on it - you will need to either refrigerate it and use it immediately or put it in a water bath and re-process it according to canning directions. As with any product you use at home, whether it's store-bought or home-canned, when you open the jar, check for signs of spoilage and don't use it if it doesn't smell or look right.

-- Claudia Glass (glasss2001@prodigy.net), September 06, 2001.

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