Canning grape jam - some questions (water, wild, good, temperature)

[hiero2]

Last year we had a lot of ripe Concord grapes growing wild in my area of Massachusetts. They don't get eaten fresh by my family, so I canned a jam for the 1st time in about 40 years. Not my 1st time ever - I did some jelly/jam canning when I was a teenager. But 1st time since then.

Did my research on the internet. Tested for pectin level of fruit product. Came out very low. Added pectin based on pectin container recipe. End result turned out ok. Sent out pints to friend and relatives for xmas - everybody oohed and awwed over it! Lots of good response.

Fast forward to this summer. Last year we had a great grape harvest. I hadn't seen it so good in previous 5 years living here. This year we have twice as many grapes. Whoa. WOW.

So, last year I picked 4-5 gallons. This year I easily picked 10 gallons. AND, learning from last year, I picked earlier. Late grapes have less pectin, and more worminess.

There is the background - and sorry for taking so long. But this has defo been a fun adventure along the way!

I cook up my 1st batch, and I like LOW sugar, as I don't like the super-sweetness like commercial. Natural flavor is pretty tart. But anyway, I test for pectin. Using the alcohol test, I think I'm getting a very good result. I find this batch has a LOT of pectin - almost enough to can without added pectin.

So, here is the 1st of two questions. How do I figure out how much pectin to add now? I don't want the full recipe - or I'll end up with a brick of grape flavor, not a jam.

Next question is, how do you tell when a batch of jam is ready for canning? This part merits a continuation of the story. Last year, I put all the grapes in a food processor and whacked them up briefly. Cooked, ran through a food mill. Then cooked for canning. Used a frozen plate to test for gelling power. This year, I decided to give the skinning method a 2nd try, since last year running the food mill was a LOT of work. So, grapes skinned. Innards simmered for 10+ minutes, then run thru a food mill to remove seeds. Skins cooked 20 min and run thru food processor to chop super fine. 4 quarts fruit, added 2 c sugar, 5 T low-sugar pectin. Juice of 1/2 lemon.

Set the mix to boil. Takes forever to get up to 212'. But finally it does. Meanwhile the fruit mix is getting more and more dangerous. A little spit here, a spat there - on your skin and a little burn. Internet instructions say to get the mix to atr least 216', best if 220'. But my mix does not get over 212. I put the lid on. Come back a few minutes later and stir. Again.

Eventually (maybe 20 min to 3/4 hour?), the fruit mix begins to POP instead of boil. When I stir, the mix boils up like lava, and it seems just as hot when it spits on my skin. But it isn't boiling so much as bursting now! Talk about dangerous! I AM getting burnt by spitting fruit. Thermo STILL says 212. It is supposed to get to 220 as the point for canning. But the situation gets to be enough I say "No more, too dangerous". So I put the fruit mix in jars and do the 10 minute boiling water bath. I set the jars on a rack to cool overnight.

Last year and this year - this jam has LOTS of stuff in it - from the peels. Last year, I tested for "doneness" by using the frozen plate method. It seemed inaccurate to me then.

But, this year, the temp method, with the first batch did not seem to work. The jam turned out ok, substance-wise. I think if I mailed this batch, it would be all over the inside of the jar. But it is firm enough to spoon out.

I think it should have cooked a little longer. But how can you do that, when it is blowing chunks at you when you stir? Little chunks of lava!

Or did I miss things at the first question? Did I not add enough pectin, maybe?

For the next batch, I'm going to add a little more pectin. We will see. Meanwhile, if you have any experience that might be helpful, I would love to hear what you have to say! I asked Mom - and she always followed the pectin package recipes, so she doesn't know what to do here.

So I'm asking you guys!

And, just to repeat, because I know I write long - the questions are:
1. How can you tell how much pectin to add when you are testing for pectin content, and not just following a recipe?
2. Other than temperature, or using the frozen plate method, how can you tell when the fruit mixture is cooked properly for gelling?

[Nor'Eastah]

Of course you are not going to get your fruit mixture to exceed 212 degrees (boiling point) unless it is under pressure. No matter how long you cook it, it will never exceed 212. You can certainly over-cook it, and may well get spattered by "lava". I never heard of anyone who persisted in doing this.

1) Jams and jellies are canned using a water-bath canner, not a pressure canner. Do not expect to exceed 212 degrees, as it is not possible unless under pressure.
2) Pectin is something that experience helps to judge. Here, you state that you don't wish it to turn into a "brick", and this year's fruit seems to have more pectin. So, add accordingly.
3) There is never anything wrong with following the recipes to the letter. They usually work.
4) Always be sure to follow the guidelines in the Ball Blue Book, and you should be OK.

Grape jelly is one of the simplest things to make. Sounds like last year's batch could have used a bit more pectin.

[hotzcatz]

I usually look to see if it is dripping or "sheeting" off the back of the spoon. If you dip a big spoon in it and then watch the drips off the spoon you can tell when it's ready to can. If it falls off in drips, it's not ready yet. If it falls off in sheets - big wide drips - then it's ready.

We have what's called a "ricer". It's a perforated cone on a stand with a big wooden masher that rolls around the inside edges. I'll put whatever fruit is being made into jam (around here it's frequently guavas) and maybe just a hint of water, just enough so it doesn't stick. Cook them on medium so they don't scorch and until they are soft. Mash them as they soften up, a potato masher works pretty good for this if you happen to have one of them. When they are soft, run them through the ricer to get rid of skins and seeds. Then cook down the puree until it sheets off the spoon and put it in jars in a water bath for the set amount of time.

[hiero2]

Originally Posted by Nor'Eastah

Of course you are not going to get your fruit mixture to exceed 212 degrees (boiling point) unless it is under pressure. No matter how long you cook it, it will never exceed 212. You can certainly over-cook it, and may well get spattered by "lava". I never heard of anyone who persisted in doing this.

1) Jams and jellies are canned using a water-bath canner, not a pressure canner. Do not expect to exceed 212 degrees, as it is not possible unless under pressure.
2) Pectin is something that experience helps to judge. Here, you state that you don't wish it to turn into a "brick", and this year's fruit seems to have more pectin. So, add accordingly.
3) There is never anything wrong with following the recipes to the letter. They usually work.
4) Always be sure to follow the guidelines in the Ball Blue Book, and you should be OK.

Grape jelly is one of the simplest things to make. Sounds like last year's batch could have used a bit more pectin.

Two quibbles: several recipe sources specified getting the jam temp up to 220' - just like you do when you make candy, if I recall. Yes, it does exceed the boiling point. I've given up on that methodology though - didn't work for me, and my jam is great without it. I will hazard a guess that the temperature method is boiling the fruit mash down the old-fashioned way - back in the PC, or Pre-Certa era, if you will!

A couple of links to pages that discuss using the temperature method:
Tartilicious Concord Grape Jam |
Easy Concord Grape Jam Recipe
Concord Grapes Jam Recipe | Easy homemade No Pectin No Water Jam | Chef In You

However, what worked best for testing the "doneness" of my jam was the freezer plate method. I had too many solids for the spoon test to work well enough. I might be able to use the spoon test with more experience with this jam - but it didn't help this year. No need, though, once I "found" the freezer plate test again, and re-found good instructions on it, I was all set. And so is my jam!

2nd - you can use a pressure cooker to can jams and jellies. Or you can use the pressure cooker pot, unsealed, as a water-bath canner. You can accomplish the same objectives either way - sanitation and driving the air out of the container.

Thanks for taking the time to comment on my questions, tho!

[hiero2]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

I usually look to see if it is dripping or "sheeting" off the back of the spoon. If you dip a big spoon in it and then watch the drips off the spoon you can tell when it's ready to can. If it falls off in drips, it's not ready yet. If it falls off in sheets - big wide drips - then it's ready.

We have what's called a "ricer". It's a perforated cone on a stand with a big wooden masher that rolls around the inside edges. I'll put whatever fruit is being made into jam (around here it's frequently guavas) and maybe just a hint of water, just enough so it doesn't stick. Cook them on medium so they don't scorch and until they are soft. Mash them as they soften up, a potato masher works pretty good for this if you happen to have one of them. When they are soft, run them through the ricer to get rid of skins and seeds. Then cook down the puree until it sheets off the spoon and put it in jars in a water bath for the set amount of time.

While I haven't tried it, a neighbor of mine told me she likes to use pantyhose to separate the seeds. She cooks up the grapes enough to make a mash. Then she pours the mash into a leg of the pantyhose and hangs it over a pot. After a few hours, she says all the mash drips through and leaves the seeds.

I agree with you that the potato masher comes in handy in this process. I used it this year, worked a charm.

I wanted the skin pulp in the jam though. I used a food processor to chop them all up. I have another neighbor who put some grapes up, and she didn't chop her skins at all - just cooked them a bit longer to soften them more. I might try that next year - it could make a very interesting texture! I started out this year dicing the cooked skins, but gave that up as too much work. I had 10 gallons of raw fruit to start. That worked down to a bit more than one quart of mash per gallon for putting up.