Muscadine Jelly

A friend of ours brought me some muscadine Grapes which I happily turned into juice using my steam juicer.  Tonight I decided to turn some of that beautiful pink juice into jelly.

 

Here's a little information about the coveted muscadine grape before we get started.

Common Names: Muscadine, Bullace, Scuppernong, Southern Fox Grape.

Origin: The muscadine grape is native to the southeastern United States, found in the wild from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico and westward to Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Many older varieties were selections from the wild, but the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture have introduced a number of improved varieties that have become standard cultivars. The earliest named variety was Scuppernong, found growing wild in northeastern North Carolina in 1810 by Dr. Calvin Jones. Scuppernong has become another name for all muscadine grapes. Commercial production of muscadine grapes is essentially limited to the U.S. Southeast.

Now let's make some jelly.  You will need the following items.  Yields 7 half pint jars.

Water Bath Canner
Jar lifter
Magnet for lifting lids
Jars, Lids and Rings
Towels and other misc canning supplies
4 1/2 cups of grape juice
5 cups of sugar
7 tbsp. of Ball Classic Pectin or 1 box and 1 tbsp. of Sure Jel
2 tbsp. of bottled lemon juice
1 pat of butter (This is optional, it will reduce foaming)

Fill your canner about 1/2 full with water or enough to cover jars by 1 to 2 inches.  Put your jars in the canner and turn on the heat to let them sterilize while you are making the jelly.  Put your lids and rings in a pot and bring them to a hot simmer.  Turn off the heat and let them set in the hot water until you are ready for them.  (Note:  New lids can be washed in hot soapy water and set aside until ready to use)

Measure your sugar and set it aside.

Mix your pectin with about 1/4 cups of the sugar that you have pre measured. This helps it not to clump when you add it to the juice.

Put Juice, Butter, Lemon Juice and Pectin in a medium/large stainless steel pot.  Stir together and bring to a rolling boil that can't be stirred down. 

Add your sugar all at once.  Bring back to a full rolling boil and boil for exactly one minute.

Remove from heat and skim off any foam that has formed. 

Immediately fill your hot jars with jelly leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Wipe rims well with a paper towel dipped in white vinegar or hot water.  Put on lids and rings and tighten down finger tight.

Place filled jars in canner, ensuring jars are covered by 1 to 2 inches of water. Place lid on canner. Bring water to gentle, steady boil.

Process jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat, remove lid and let jars stand in canner for 5 more minutes.

 Remove jars from canner and place on counter to cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed. Clean and store jars in a cool, dark place.

Marinated Peppers

Bell, Hungarian, Banana, or Jalapeno

• 4 lbs firm peppers*
• 1 cup bottled lemon juice
• 2 cups white vinegar (5 percent)
• 1 tbsp oregano leaves
• 1 cup olive or salad oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 2 cloves garlic, quartered (optional)
• 2 tbsp prepared horseradish (optional)

Yield: About 9 half-pints.

* Note: It is possible to adjust the intensity of pickled jalapeno peppers by using all hot jalapeno peppers (hot style), or blending with sweet and mild peppers (medium or mild style).

For hot style: Use 4 lbs jalapeno peppers.

For medium style: Use 2 lbs jalapeno peppers and 2 lbs sweet and mild peppers.

For mild style: Use 1 lb jalapeno peppers and 3 lbs sweet and mild peppers.

  Peppers may be left whole. Large peppers may be quartered. Wash, slash two to four slits in each pepper, and blanch in boiling water or blister in order to peel tough-skinned hot peppers.
Peppers may be blistered using one of the following methods: Oven or broiler method: Place peppers in a hot oven (400ºF) or broiler for 6-8 minutes or until skins blister. Range-top method: Cover hot burner, either gas or electric, with heavy wire mesh. Place peppers on burner for several minutes until skins blister.

Allow peppers to cool. Place in pan and cover with a damp cloth. This will make peeling the peppers easier. After several minutes of cooling, peel each pepper. Flatten whole peppers. Mix all remaining ingredients in a saucepan and heat to boiling. Place 1/4 garlic clove (optional) and 1/4 teaspoon salt in each half pint or 1/2 teaspoon per pint. Fill jars with peppers, add hot, well-mixed oil/pickling solution over peppers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in the table below

Table 1. Recommended process time for Marinated Peppers in a boiling-water canner.
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	0 - 1,000 ft	1,001 - 3,000 ft	3,001 - 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Raw	Half-pints and pints	15 min	20	20	25

This document was adapted from the "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA, revised 2009.

PawPaw Jam

A friend of mine has a PawPaw tree and suggested that I try making some jam.  This is a work in progress but I must say that I like the results.  This is a soft spread, not ment to be a firm jel.

Here's what I did.  Yields about 6 half pint jars or 3 pints.

Ingredients
4 cups of pureed pawpaw pulp
1/2 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup of Apple Juice
3 cups of white sugar
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp of ground cloves
1/2 tsp of ground all spice
1/4 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 pat of butter
1 3 oz package of liquid pectin

• Wash your pawpaws under cool running water.
• Slice in half and remove all seeds. 
• Take a spoon and scoop out the pulp.
• Mix Apple Juice and PawPaw pulp together and puree in a food processor.  If you don't have a food processor, just mash it as good as you can with a potato masher.
• Mix the pureed pawpaw, vinegar, sugars, spices and butter in a medium/large stainless steel pot. 
• Bring to a boil over medium/high heat stirring constantly to prevent sticking. 
• Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.   Stir often to prevent sticking.
• While jam is simmering put jars in canner and bring to a boil to sterilise.  Put lids and rings in simmering water.
• After about 20 minutes your jam should be getting thicker.  At this point you can add liquid pectin and bring back to a boil.  Boil for exactly one minute.  Your jam may be thick enough that you don't need the pectin.  Use you own judgement.
• Remove from heat and fill your hot, sterile jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
• Wipes rims of jars with a damp cloth or paper towel dipped in vinegar.
• Place lids and rings on jars and tighten down finger tight.
• Process in  boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
• Turn off heat, remove lid and wait 5 more minutes.
• Place jars on counter to cool for 24 hours.
• Label and Store in a cool, dark place.