Hey friends, juicy, ripe grapes are in season and so it's time to make homemade grape jam without pectin. It tastes so good and needs just three pantry ingredients.
I was very skeptical about making grape jam without pectin like other jams on the blog. Because grapes have a lot of liquid and natural sweetness, it is a more suitable fruit for jelly (made with either pectin or gelatin).
But I still wanted to give it a try. And I must say it tastes delicious though a little sweeter than my other jams like guava jam and apple jam.
I'd recommend not to go for a very thick jam and keep it semi-solid, like in the video, adding grapes pieces is a personal choice. If you like some texture adding grape pieces will also yield extra volume.
When I retested for pictorial, I had let the jam simmer more and it was perfectly thick like jam should be.
Ingredients
Grapes:
Grapes are the main ingredient that can change the color, texture, and taste of jam. I used red, black, green grape, and Concord grape in different ratios while testing. I recommend using more black and Concord grapes for the rich flavor and color of the jam.
At the same time, they have thick skin that doesn’t dissolve easily so you’ll have some texture in the jam. In contrast, green grape varieties have thinner skin and that gets blended easily.
Remember grapes are low in pectin so regardless of what variety you use grape jam has high water content and a no pectin grape jam will have a low yield with quite a sweet taste.
Sugar:
I used a sweet variety of grapes and found that 1 cup of sugar was still too sweet for my taste. You can add ¾ cup sugar for moderately sweet grape jam. Do a taste test when the jam starts to thicken by applying a little jam on a piece of bread then adding sugar if/as needed.
Lemon:
If using a sweet variety of grapes adding little lemon juice helps develop a sweet and sour taste.
How to make it?
Sterilization steps are optional if not canning.
Wash two jars (250 ml each) thoroughly with soapy water. Then sterilize jars in boiling water for 8 minutes. Also, boil the metal lids.
Alternately, you can place washed jars while they are still wet in the baking tray. And roast jars in a preheated oven (160-180 C) for 15 minutes. Dry on a clean towel. Let air dry naturally.
If you find prepping to be time-consuming. You can prep a night ahead by deseeding and blending grapes. Combine all ingredients in a pot and store them in the fridge. Then plan cooking the next day when you have some work in the kitchen to reduce active cooking time.
If you consider making a 2x or 3x batch of the recipe, the cooking time will increase. Set two plates in the freezer for the cold plate test. Let's begin!
- Try to use a seedless variety for easy hassle-free jam. If you are making grapes jam with seeds then deseed by cutting them in half and removing seeds with your thumb. I like doing it a night ahead while watching my favorite show.
- Transfer grapes to a food processor and blend until smooth. This might take a little longer as the skin won't break easily.
- Transfer jam to a wide shallow pot and add sugar, and lemon juice (also add half cup whole grape for chunky jam) See Variation above for low sugar jam.
- Cook jam for 30-45 minutes on medium-low heat until jam is thick and glossy. The jam will splutter a bit when closing the setting point. (One more thing to note is that I find cooking time for a jam about 1 hour on very low heat. Might be quicker if cooked on medium heat. But then stay closed and stir frequently.)
- Drawing a line on a spatula will give you an idea of the jam setting point.
- Do a cold plate test by dropping a teaspoon of jam on a cold plate. Draw a line. The line shouldn't meet. It will also give an idea of finish jam thickness.
- Transfer hot jam to clean dry jars seal the lids and turn the jars upside down if storing jam in a fridge or freezer. Let it set to room temperature for 12 hours then transfer to fridge or freezer.
- If canning, follow the canning procedure of removing air bubbles and process in a boiling water bath for 8 minutes. Let it sit in the bath for another 5 minutes after turning off the heat. Then remove to clean towels. Check seals after 12 hours and store any unsealed jars in the fridge.
Tips For Storing Jam
If you are making a small batch of jam you will store it in the fridge. And you intend to consume it within 6-8 weeks or freeze it. Then you can skip the sterilization steps. Using clean dry jars should be good enough.
Although, I highly recommend following the steps as a precaution. If you want to can jam for storing it at room temperature for 6 months or more then follow the canning procedure mentioned here. Check more information on jams storage here and here.
Ideas To Use
As the grape season is short, this jam also works as a grape preserve and allows you to enjoy grapes later in the winter.
- Spread it on toast or on the biscuit.
- Make a grape sauce to drizzle on ice cream or desserts.
- If you use skip sugar in jam you can also add this to pie fillings.
Variation
I love to experiment and try new ways of making and that's what I encourage in my readers. Here's what else can be changed in this recipe.
No Sugar Jam
The grapes are high in sugar with less flesh. A large amount of water in fruit gets evaporated giving a sweet taste naturally. So as food52.com suggests you can make no sugar grapes jam too.
But as sugar is a preservative too, without any sugar the jam will have a short shelf life. You need to consume it soon and store it in the fridge.
Low Sugar Jam
For low sugar, jam uses ¾ cup of sugar. You can always start with less sugar and take it up after tasting.
Taste
- Use any grapes variety you like, concord or black grape have intense grape flavor and color.
- If you wish and add any berries like blackberry and blue to this jam.
Texture
I made two varieties of jam, the chunky one that you see below. and in pictorial. The chunky jam that you see on the toast below is how I made it in the video with whole grape added in the jam.
If you skip that you'll have the smooth consistency that kids like best. You can add an apple to this grape jam for extra volume and flavors.
FAQ
Yes! this is a freezer jam and you can divide the jam into smaller jars. Keep 1 jar in the fridge and freeze the rest. The freezer grape jam will last for a year while the refrigerator jam will last for 3 months.
If you plan to freeze the jam or if you are storing it in the fridge. You can skip the sterilization process. But make sure to fill hot jam in a clean dry jar. Turn the jar upside down after filling to avoid condensation and to create a vacuum seal.
You can thicken grape jam by simmering longer enough to burn excess water in the jam. The best practice is adding pectin as a thicker. Some people also add gelatin/jello or cornstarch to thicken the jam. Find detailed information here.
You can either cook grapes or strain them in a coarse strainer to separate seeds, but you'll also lose the skins. Or you can seed grapes by cutting them in half and then removing the seeds with your thumb. Lastly use a seedless variety of grapes.
Hungry for jams? Check these!
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📖 Recipe
Grape Jam
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lbs) grapes , any color with or without seeds see notes
- ¾ -1 cup sugar , or to taste
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup grapes, deseeded halves, optional for chunky jam
Instructions
Prep Steps
- Wash two jars (250 ml each) thoroughly with soapy water. Then sterilize jars in boiling water for 8 minutes. Also, boil the metal lids. Dry on a clean towel. Let air dry naturally. Alternately, you can place washed jars while they are still wet in the baking tray. And roast jars in a preheated oven (160-180 C) for 15 minutes. ( Skip sterilization if not canning jam.)
- If you are making grapes jam with seeds then deseed by cutting grapes in half and removing seeds with your thumb.
- Transfer grapes to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Make Jam
- Transfer grape juice to a wide shallow pot and add sugar, and lemon juice (also add half a cup whole grape for chunky jam, optional)
- Cook jam for 30-45 minutes on medium-low heat until jam is thick and glossy. Protip: The jam will splutter a bit when closing the setting point.
- Do a cold plate test by dropping a teaspoon of jam on a cold plate. Draw a line. The line shouldn't meet.
- Transfer hot jam to clean dry jars seal the lids and turn the jars upside down if storing jam in a fridge or freezer. Let it set to room temperature for 12 hours then transfer to fridge or freezer.
- If canning, follow the canning procedure of removing air bubbles and wiping the rims. Seal the jars and process in boiling water bath for 8 minutes. Let it sit in the bath for another 5 minutes after turning off the heat. Then remove to clean towels. Check seals after 12 hours and store any unsealed jars in the fridge.
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