Stretching the buck --- Homemade Organic Jelly

Yesterday while at the store I got some grape juice with the intent on finishing home made jello part 2, with Agar. While I'm still planning on doing that, I got side tracked this morning and decided to use some of the juice to make home made jelly.

In my grocery store, organic grape jelly can cost anywhere from 2.99 a jar, up to 4.99 a jar. By making it yourself, you can stretch your buck, and have home made organic grape jelly for less then a dollar a jar. First, bottle of grape juice shown in the picture above was 4.79. Ouch right? The box of pectin next to it usually goes for around two to three bucks a box, and organic sugar, can also be expensive. I've searched around, and found that Costco, now and then sells a 10 lb. bag of sugar for 12 bucks. Good deal compared to the four bucks for a two pound bag at the grocery store.

So here's the directions:

First clean your jars thoroughly.

Boil them in water to sterilize them for at least 10 minutes.

In a cold stock pot, pour 3 cups of grape juice, and 3/4ths cup of water.

Add the box of pectin to the mix.

Now, turn on the heat on high, mixing in the pectin thoroughly.

When that reaches a boil, add 5 cups of sugar.

When it boils to the point where stirring it doesn't stop, allow it to boil for one minute while stirring constantly.

Now it's time for the freezer test. On a cold plate, put a glob of the hot grape jelly. Stick it in the freezer for about two minutes. Continue stirring the boiling pot. If the glob in the freezer is the right texture after about two minutes, your jelly is ready to be ladled into a can. If not, try again.

Once your jelly passes the freezer test, ladle the jelly into the jars. Seal the jars carefully and process them in boiling water again for 10 or more minutes depending on your altitude.



This one batch made 7 half pint jars for me this morning. The amount yielded will depend on how long you have to boil. It only used 3 cups of juice from a 64 oz bottle( 8 cups, FYI). Meaning I could easily make 7 more half pint jars tomorrow, and still have enough to make my kids their jello. Consider the buck stretched.

If you have questions on canning, I will happily answer.