We have updated this recipe due to a typo in step 2. The amount of juice should be 4 cups, not 4 quarts.
Awesome and easy recipe...Directions are great...I got exactly 4 cups of juice from the 3 1/2 lbs of grapes and 8 half pints from each recipe. The only thing I did different is instead of letting the juice sit overnight, I cooled it at room temperature for a couple of hours, and then put it in the fridge for a couple of hours so I cuold finish my jelly the same day that I started it.
This is how i make grape jelly all the time, but i do not add water and i use wild grapes... the flavour of the grape is better if no water is added. You do have to use more grapes to get the cups needed to make the jelly.
The amounts on this recipe are way way off. Three and a half pounds of concord grapes don't even come close to providing 4 quarts of juice. It provides about 1/3 to a 1/2 of that amount. Once you've got your juice you get to guess the amount of sugar and pectin to put in leaving you with a runny mess. Unless you know what you're doing don't bother with this recipe!
Lovely jelly, with a beautiful, deep purple colour and silky texture. Sweet, but you still have a good grape flavour coming through. Crushing, juicing & straining the grapes may seem like a pain, but the end product is worth it.
Don't try to make a double batch because 1. when the mixture boils hard for 1 minute, it really foams up high. It would have boiled over my big jam pot if I increased the recipe, and 2. large batches (i.e. more than 4 c. grape juice) of grape jelly don't seem to set up well.
I've never hot water bathed jam or jelly and should have listened to my gut. The 1/2 jar you always have left over jelled perfectly but all the full jars that I water bathed are grape syrup. Great on pancakes and ice cream so no real loss.
The jelly turned out great. I used the grapes out of my garden (not sure if they are concord). I didn't get exactly 4 cups of juice from my 3 1/2lbs of grapes I probably only got about 3 3/4cups of juice and I only used 6 cups of sugar. I had some of the jelly this morning on toast with peanut butter and it was great. I will be making more tonight.
This is a very good recipe, although i personally would cut back on the sugar by a half cup to a cup, it seems extreamly sweet.
Good Recipe! I didn't have enough grapes to end up with 4 cups of juice so I cheated and added store bought grape juice (100% juice) to increase it to the right amount. It turned out perfectly jelled but I do think it's a little sweeter than I like.
