How many pints of grape jelly can you make with 1.5 bushels of concord grapes?

I’ll fill you in on that in a second, but first I have to confess.

I can’t stand the thought of using artificial ingredients and sugar with wholesome, organically grown fruit. Big surprise, huh?

My grandparents grow grapes, and if there’s anyone more crazy about growing organic than me – it’s my Grandma! My grandparents are in their 80’s, and they are some of the most active and ambitious folks I know.  They maintain a garden, fruit orchard, and more – with freezers and shelves full of produce they put up each year.  Talk about inspiration.

So what do you say when Grandma calls and says she’s got more than enough grapes, and asks if you want any?  Um, yes!  Who could turn down 3 bushels of free organic grapes from Grandma?  But there was just one problem.

I didn’t want to use sugar or Sure-Jell to make homemade jelly.  So I made my own version (Jenni’s Jelly).

In this post you’ll find two recipes – Grape Fruit Leather and 3-Ingredient Grape Jelly (with gelatin) – no SureJell, sugar, or artificial anything – just straight up sweetness!

3 Ingredient Grape Jelly

(freezer-jelly, made with honey and real gelatin)

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 bushels concord grapes
• 3 pounds honey
• 20 Tablespoons grass-fed beef gelatin

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash grapes and remove from stems.
2. Pinch grapes to separate skins from pulp.
3. Heat pulp in a large pot on the stove until boiling. Reduce to simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Put pulp through a food mill to separate pulp from seeds.
5. Place skins a high-powered blender (e.g. VitaMix) and puree.
6. Add skin puree to pulp juice, and stir in honey. Bring to boil on the stove.
7. Mix half of grass fed beef gelatin (10 T) in 4 cups water and stir to dissolve gelatin powder. It will begin to gel.
8. Add gel to heated grape puree, and stir to dissolve.
9. Mix up the second batch of gelatin (10 T) in 4 cups water and stir to dissolve. Add to grape puree mixture.
10. Spoon the grape jelly into clean jars – leave 1/4-1/2 inch of head space at the top for expansion in the freezer. Place lids on jars and allow them to cool.
11. Once the jars are cool, store in freezer for up to 2 weeks, or transfer to freezer.

Makes 30+ pints

Grape Fruit Leather

INGREDIENTS

• Grape Jelly (recipe above)

DIRECTIONS

1. After grape jelly has cooled and set, spread it onto sheets lined with parchment paper (or use Excalibur Paraflexx sheets).
2. Dehydrate at 135 degrees for about 5-7 hours.
3. Remove from sheets and store in rolled parchment paper.

6 pint jars of jelly covered about 9 sheets/trays.