PickYourOwn

1 All images and text Copyright Benivia, LLC2005, 2006, 2007 All rights you can find a pick-your-own farm near you!Click on the printer icon that looks like this:(at the top left, to the right of save a copy ) to print! many other canning directions and recipesHow to Make Homemade Muscadine orScuppernong Jelly-Easily!Making and canning your own muscadine orscuppernong jellyis also quite easy. Here's howto do it, in 12 easy stepsand completelyillustrated. These directions work equally wellfor other types of fruit jelly: grape, raspberry,blackberry, boysenberry, dewberry,gooseberry, loganberry, tayberry, marionberry,youngberry, etc.; by themselves or mixed berryjelly. Any variations will be spelled out in thedirections inside the directions: apple jelly grape jelly jam applesauce apple images and text Copyright Benivia, LLC2005, 2006, 2007 All rights and Equipment Muscadineor Scuppernong Grapes-5lbs of fresh muscadines orscuppernongs, preferably fresh, but ifyou want to start with grape juice (5cups bottled or reconstituted fromfrozen, without sugar), you can skip tostep 7.

2 Pectin(it's a natural product, madefromapples and available at grocerystores (season-spring through latesummer) and in Wal-mart, grocerystores, etc. It usually goes for about$ to $ per here formore information about how to choosethe type of pectin to use. Large spoons and ladles Jar funnel($2 at WalMart, Target,and sometimes at grocery stores) ororder it as part of the kit with the jargrabber. Sugar-About cups of dry,granulated (table) sugar. Fortheno-sugar recipe, click here Jar grabber(to pick up the hot jars)-WalMart carries itsometimes-ororder it here. It's a tremendouslyuseful to put cars in the canner andtake the hot jars out (without scaldingyourself!). The kit sold below haseverything you need, and at a prettygood price: At least 1 large pot; Iprefer 16 to 20 quartTeflon lined pots for easycleanup.)

3 Jelly strainer-see step 6-or a colander andcheesecloth. 1 Canner(a huge pot tosterilize the jars afterfilling (about $30 to $35 atmall kitchen stores,sometimes at WalMart(seasonal item). Note:wesell canners and supplieshere, too-at excellentprices-and it helps supportthis web site! Ball jars(Publix, WalMartcarry then-about $7 perdozen 8 ounce jars includingthe lids and rings) Lids-thin, flat, round metallids with a gum binder thatseals them against the topof the jar. They may only beused once. Rings-metal bands thatsecure the lids to the may be reused stuff: images and text Copyright Benivia, LLC2005, 2006, 2007 All rights Foley Food Mill($25)-notnecessary; useful to mushup the fruit or if you wantto remove seeds (forexample, from blackberries)ormake applesauce.))

4 Lid lifter(has a magnet topick the lids out of theboiling water where yousterilize them. ($2 atWalMart or it comes in thekit at left)Muscadine or Scuppernong Jelly-making DirectionsThis example shows you how to make either muscadine or scuppernong jelly. (Whatis a muscadine?It's a large type of grape, withlarge seeds and a 're more common in the deep South), You can use this recipe to makealmost any type of jelly from the fruit juice; where there is a difference, I willpoint it out! The yield from this recipe is about 12 eight-ouncejars (which is thesame as 6 pints).Step 1-Pick the muscadines! (or buy them already picked)It's fun to go pick your own and you can obviously getbetter quality ones!I prefer to grow my own; which is really easy-butthat does take some space andtime.)

5 Select grapesthat are in the just ripe mentioned in the Ingredients section; you may useeither 4 lbs of fresh muscadines or 5 cups of grapejuice (either bottled or reconstituted from frozen concentrate) without grapejuice is especially useful if you want to make some grape images and text Copyright Benivia, LLC2005, 2006, 2007 All rights December to give away at Christmas! Above and below are muscadines that Ipicked at a pick-your-own farm. If you want to pick your own, here is a list andlinks to thepick your own 2-How much fruit?Muscadine or Scuppernong jelly can ONLY be made in rather small batches-about6 cups at a time-like the directions on the pectin say, DO NOT increase therecipes or the grape jelly won't "set" (jell, thicken). It takes about 5 lbs of raw,unprepared grapes per 3-Wash the jars and lidsNow's a good time to get the jars ready, so youwon't be rushed later.

6 The dishwasher is fine forthe jars, the water bath processing will sterilizethem as well as the contents! If you don't have adishwasher, you can wash the containers in hot,soapy water and rinse, then sterilize the jars byboiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hotwater until they are : Ifunsterilized jars are used, the productshould be processed for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processingcan result in a poor set (runny jelly), it s better tosterilized the the lids into a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes,and use the magnetic "lidlifter wand" to pull them the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with thehot images and text Copyright Benivia, LLC2005, 2006, 2007 All rights 4-Wash the muscadines!

7 I'm sure you can figure out how to wash themuscadines in plain cold out any stems and leaves that became mixed in!Step 5-Crush the muscadinesThen you just mushthem potatomasher is useful to helpcrush them. Even easieris to use a foodprocessor, with theslicing way, to make jelly, we'll need to crushthem well so we can extract the juice. You'll need about 6 cups of 6-Measure out the sugarCheck the directions with the pectin; typically, with regular pectin, it is 7 cups ofsugar to 5 cups of grape juice and one box of pectin. If you use the low-sugar orno sugar pectin, you can reduce or eliminate , I find that usingabout4 cups of sugar with the no-sugar pectin works best for flavor, caloriereduction and precisemeasurements are found in each and every box ofpectin sold.

8 Remove 1/4 cup of sugarfrom this andmix the dry pectin withit. Keep this separatefrom the rest of the images and text Copyright Benivia, LLC2005, 2006, 2007 All rights 7-Heat the crushed muscadines on the stoveWe just want to bring the muscadines to a boil tohelp release the juice and break down some of thefruit to help it pass through our jelly strainer. Putthe crushed muscadines in a big pot on the stove overmedium to high heat (stir often enough to preventburning) for until it starts to boil, then reduce theheat and simmer for 10 8-Sieve the cooked muscadinesYou can either put the soft cooked muscadines through ajelly strainer (about $ , see ordering at right) whichresults in the most clear jelly and is easiest to use, or pourthem through cheesecloth in a colander.

9 Or if you don'tmind chunky jelly, just let the juice stand for 20 minutes,and decant (pour off) the clear liquid touse and leave thesolids may also want to run the crushedcooked muscadines through a Foley foodmill(about $20-seethis page) BEFORE thejelly strainer-it helpsto extract morejuice and jet out the large skins that will clog the you need a stopping point and want to finish up the next day,this is a good place. Sometimes, jelly gets crystals, calledtartrate crystals, forming in the 'renot harmful anddon't affect the taste, but some people don't like so, pour the cool juice into glass containers and set inrefrigerator. The next day strain the juice through the cloth jelly bag. Do notsqueeze the 9-Add the pectin to the hot strained juice and bring to a full images and text Copyright Benivia, LLC2005, 2006, 2007 All rights the pectin into the grape juice and put the mixin a big pot on the stove overmedium to high heat (stir often enough to preventburning).

10 It should take about 5 to10 minutes to get it toa full boil(the kind that can not be stirredaway).Notes about pectin:I usually add about 20% morepectin (just open another pack and add a little) orelse the jelly is runnier than I like. With a littlepractice, you'll find out exactly how much pectintoget the thickness you tip: use the low sugar pectin. It cuts the amount ofsugar you need from 7 cups per batch to 4 cups! And it tasteseven better! On the other hand; I have never had success withthe No-sugar pectin. It always turnedout runny and bland. Youmight want to try using the low sugar recipe with a mixture ofsugar and Splenda; that could your jelly too runny? Pectin enables you to turn out perfectly set jelly everytime. Made from natural apples, there are also low-sugar pectins that allow you toreduce the sugar you add by almost half!