No Sugar Muscadine Jelly Food

MUSCADINE GRAPE JAM

Steps:

• Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona's pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
• Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
• Wash the grapes. Then score the end of each grape with a paring knife and pop the flesh out of the skin and into a sauce pan. Place the skins in a bowl and set aside.
• Bring the skinless grapes to a boil and simmer until soft, about 10 minutes. Put the simmered grapes into a Foley mill or a fine sieve and push the pulp and juice through into a bowl, leaving behind the seeds. Discard the seeds.
• Place the skins in a sauce pan with just enough water to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until soft and tender (10 to 15 minutes). Puree the skins in a blender or food processor.
• Add processed skins to the bowl of pulp and juice and stir together well. Measure 4 cups of this mixture into a sauce pan.
• Add calcium water, and mix well.
• Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
• Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
• Fill hot jars to ¼" of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.

MUSCADINE JELLY

Steps:

• Wash muscadines and place in a stockpot. Just barely cover with water and bring to a boil for about 25 minutes. Stirring every few minutes.
• Once the Muscadines have finished boiling, strain to get your juice.
• Add juice and pectin to a pot and bring to a rolling boil, one that can not be stirred down. After it comes to a boil add sugar and butter (this keeps it from foaming up as much.) Allow to come back up to a boil and boil for 1 minute.
• To make sure your jelly will be the right consistency, keep a spoon in ice water while preparing the jelly. When you are ready to test just shake the water off of the spoon and dip out about half a spoon full of jelly. Allow to cool for a few minutes. If it sets up on the spoon you should be good to go.
• Can/ Preserve using desired method or refrigerate for immediate use.
• The yield for 1/2 gallon should be around 9 cups.

HOW TO MAKE SOUTHERN MUSCADINE JELLY

Steps:

• Step 1: Fill your water bath canner up with water and place it on the stove. Turn the burner to high heat and begin to heat the water up. Next, before you begin any canning job or recipe wash the jars. Even if they are brand new out of the package, I like to wash them first along with the rings and lids.
• Step 2: Place the jars into the water bath canner. Make sure you have the wire rack in the canner. You can raise the wire rack to set the jars on it, then lower it down into the water. This step is to sterilize the jars.
• Step 3: Grab a small stock pot or saucepan and fill halfway up with water. Place the lids and rings into the pot and put them on the stove. I usually put this on low heat. This is to sterilize the lids and rings, but also it helps the lids seal once you go to use them. I leave this on the heat the whole time while canning until I am ready to use them.
• Step 1: Wash and sort the muscadine grapes, taking out any bad ones.
• Step 2: Grab a large stock pot and put the muscadine grapes in the pot. Fill with water up to the grapes. You will need just enough water to cover the grapes.
• Step 3: Cook the grapes on medium-low heat. Some recipes call to cook for only 15 minutes, but I like to cook mine longer. I will cook for thirty to forty-five minutes.
• I like to cook a little longer as it brings out more color from the skins of the grape making a very beautiful-looking jelly. While the grapes are cooking, use a potato masher to smash the grapes.
• Step 4: After the grapes have cooked, the next thing to do is to strain them to remove the juice from the skin and remove the seeds. I use a food strainer that has a pestle with it. You can work the pestle around and it squeezes the juice and pulp out. If you do not have this, you can use a wire colander, a food strainer, or even a cheesecloth. You will just have to press and squeeze the grapes to get the juice out.
• Step 1: Measure out five cups of juice and add it to a large stock pot. Bring to a full rolling boil. It should be boiling so much that it does not stop when it is stirred with a spoon.
• Step 2: Add in the full box of pectin and stir until dissolved. Then add in the butter.
• Step 3: Bring the mixture back up to a rolling boil for one minute then slowly stir in the six cups of sugar. Stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved.
• Step 4: At this point, you can test the mixture to see if it is ready to pour into the jars by dipping the back of a spoon into the mixture. The mixture should "sheet" from the spoon and not drip. If not, you will need to add in more pectin.
• Step 5: Remove your hot jars from the hot water bath and set them on a dry towel or sheet pan. Fill each jar up with hot jelly mixture using the funnel from the 3-piece canning set.
• Next, you will set the headspace with the headspace tool. You want to leave ¼ inch of headspace.
• Step 6: Using a damp cloth, wipe rims of the hot jars down carefully. Next using the lid tool from the 3-piece canning set, dip the magnet end of the tool into the water where you have the metal lids. Remove a lid and a screw ring. Place the lid on each jar and put a screw ring on it. You will just hand tighten it.
• Step 7: Use the Jar lifter to place each jar back into the water bath canner. Make sure you have at least one inch of water above the jars once they are left down into the water. Bring the water up to a rolling boil.
• You will run the Muscadine Jelly in the water bath canner for 10 minutes after it has come up to a rolling boil. If you live in a high elevation area the time will change. Make sure to check the Ball canning guide or the Sure Jell instructions for the correct time.
• Step 8: After the time is up, remove the jars from the water bath canner and place jars on a cooling rack or a tea towel to cool off. This is when you will hear the most glorious sound your ears have ever heard, canning jar lids popping!

MUSCADINE JAM #1 (WITH SURE-JELL)

Steps:

• Prepare grapes by cutting partway through the skin and popping the pulp/seed capsule out of the hull. Put pulp into one pot and the hulls into another.
• Simmer the pulp, covered, on low-medium until soft enough to press through sieve or food mill ~ 10 minutes. Add just a little water if necessary to prevent sticking.
• Meanwhile, chop hulls very finely in the food processor and return to their pot. Add just enough water to make it possible to simmer without sticking. Cook slowly, covered, 15-20 minutes or until hulls are tender.
• Press pulp through a sieve or food mill to remove seeds. Stir sieved pulp into cooked hulls in a medium-large pot.
• Stir Sure-Jell into the fruit and bring to a full boil, stirring constantly.
• Add sugar all at once, stirring in well.
• Bring to a full, rolling boil, stirring constantly and boil for 1 minute.
• Remove from heat.
• Skim foam if necessary and pack into sterilized jelly jars.
• Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

SURE.JELL LESS OR NO SUGAR NEEDED COOKED JAM OR JELLY REMAKE DIRECTIONS

Steps:

• PREPARE JAR: Wash one half-pint jar and screw band in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over one flat lid in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
• PREPARE PECTIN MIXTURE: Gradually add pectin to water in small (1-qt.) saucepan, stirring constantly. Bring to boil on medium heat; boil 2 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
• PREPARE A TRIAL BATCH: Measure jam or jelly, sugar and 1 Tbsp. of the pectin mixture into small (1-qt.) saucepan. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Boil 30 sec.; stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon. Immediately pour into sterilized jar. Cover and let stand up to 24 hours to check set of jam or jelly. Meanwhile, store remaining pectin mixture in refrigerator. Store jar of jam or jelly from trial batch in refrigerator.
• PREPARE REMAINDER OF BATCH: If Trial Batch sets satisfactorily, prepare remainder of batch in 6- to 8-qt. stockpot, remaking no more than 8 cups of jam or jelly at one time and using same directions as for Trial Batch with the above-listed measures of sugar and pectin mixture for each 1 cup of jam or jelly. Ladle into sterilized jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly.
• PROCESS JARS: Bring boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 5 min. for jelly; 10 min. for jam. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lids with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.) Discard any leftover pectin mixture.

MUSCADINE JAM

Steps:

• Inspect four 8-ounce jars (or two 16-ounce jars) for cracks and rings for rust, discarding any defective ones. Immerse in simmering water until jam is ready. Wash new, unused lids and rings in warm soapy water. Place a couple of small plates in the freezer.
• Wash grapes and cut in half. Combine grapes and sugar in a large pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Maintain a medium to low boil, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking; make sure it does not get too hot.
• Check doneness by dropping a small spoonful of jam onto a frozen plate. Let sit for 1 to 2 minutes; if jam appears to gel, it is ready. Continue cooking if jam appears thin and runny.
• Transfer a portion of the jam mixture to a blender; puree until all hulls and seeds are ground. Set pureed jam in a pot to keep warm, and continue with remaining mixture.
• Pack pureed jam into hot, sterilized jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a clean knife or thin spatula around the insides of the jars to remove any air bubbles. Wipe rims with a moist paper towel to remove any residue. Top with lids and screw rings on tightly.
• Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil and lower jars 2 inches apart into the boiling water using a holder. Pour in more boiling water to cover jars by at least 1 inch. Bring to a rolling boil, cover, and process for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Remove from water and set aside until the entire canning jar cools and you hear the "pop" of the can sealing, at least 1 hour. Store and enjoy at your leisure!