Concord Grape Butter is a low-sugar or low-honey cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. This recipe can be used for Muscadine grape butter also. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Notes
3 pounds Concord grapes (wash, remove stems, and mash)
½ cup water Bring above ingredients to a boil then simmer covered on low for 10 minutes. Strain out seeds and skins with a Foley mill.
½ cup water Bring above ingredients to a boil then simmer covered on low for 10 minutes. Strain out seeds and skins with a Foley mill.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups thick pulpy juice see note
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ½ cup up to ¾ cup honey or 1 cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 3 teaspoons Pomona’s pectin powder mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
- Measure fruit and spices into sauce pan.
- Add calcium water and mix well.
- Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Marilena
I notice that this recipe does not call for lemon juice. The grapes I am using are home grown, but I am not certain of the variety. I think they might be Valiant, a relative of Concord bred for cold hardiness (I live in Zone 3). Do you think this recipe will work as-is without lemon juice?
Shelby Collings
Hello Marilena,
We cannot say for sure, so we go with the good ol’ stand by of “when in doubt… add the lemon juice” 😊 1/4 cup for every 4 cups of fruit/juice.
Amelia
Up to what jar size is the processing time good for? I would assume it’s at least good for half-pints, but I’m curious to hear if pints also can be done safely.
Shelby Collings
Pint jars and held-pint jars will be the same processing time. Happy jamming!
Tammy Ranus
I have a lot of scuppernong muscadines. I wanted to make jelly with them.
I was going to follow the sweet grape recipe, and I think Im understanding it to say add 1/2c water to mashed fruit and boil? This is my first attempt at scuppernong jelly.
Thankyou
Tammy R.
Michele Snook
My mother used to make grape butter and grape juice from the same batch of grapes but I don’t know how she did it and she is no longer with us to teach me
Sharon
This is a silly question – please forgive the newbie : ) For butter, you don’t get the crystals as you do with jelly? Is that correct? Thanks!
Shelby Collings
Hello Sharon,
Not a silly question at all! You are correct, because the Concord Grape Butter calls for the pulpy juice, you do not have to worry about it crystallizing.
Great question!
Kindly,
Shelby
Sharon
We have a Muscadine vine that finally started to produce this year in a really big way. I’m not a big fan of grape jelly or jam but the grape butter sounds tasty. Now I just have to crawl up in the attic to find my chinois.
Mary Lou Sumberg
Hi Sharon,
Nice to hear from you. Hope you are enjoying your Giveaway gifts.
Would love to hear how your Muscadine Grape Butter turns out.
Good luck in finding your chinois.
Joy
Hello, fellow real food home cooks! I did it! I made my first-ever batch of homegrown, truly organic concord grape jam! With Mary Lou’s encouragement, I plunged into doubling the Concord Grape Butter – left out the spices; cause I wanted Concord Grape Jam; and Voila! I made 7 1/2 pints and 1 full pint jar of the BEST EVER concord grape jam! I gifted the pint jar & 3 1/2 pints to the friend who gifted me with her concord grapes,and kept the rest!
Everything went well. I used 3 cups of sugar for 6 pounds of grapes; and if I do it again, I will reduce the sugar by a cup…the grapes were that sweet! The jam is so good, it’s disappearing F.A.S.T. ! I’ve been invited to strip all the rest of this seasons Concords off the vines, if I want to make more jam…I’m still deciding, but only because I’m in school & I have to budget my time to have time to “JAM”…Hahahah!
Thanks, Mary Lou, for a wonderful, preservative free product that even a newbie jammer like me can use & have success with! I’m inspired to continue!
Mary Lou Sumberg
Great to hear from you, Joy, and very happy you were so successful with the jam and the final product tastes so good. Success is a great motivator — look forward to hearing what you take on next!
Joy
This is my first, ever, attempt to make jam or jelly. I’ve been given 8+ pounds of homegrown, all organic concord grapes! Researching the web yielded only “Martha Stewart” type grape jelly recipes = 7+ cups of sugar!! Yikes! I found YOU because I was horrified at the ingredients in the liquid pectin packets recommended by other “jammers” (your wonderful word, jamming – turned into my self-description 😉 ) I found Pomona Pectin at Jimbo’s in Carlsbad, CA and I’m soooo glad I did! Once I’m done with this cooking project, I’ll report back…Many, many thanks for your extensive & generous sharing of expertise!
Mary Lou Sumberg
Hi Joy,
Glad you found Pomona’s locally — we love to hear that. Looking forward to a report on your first ever jamming attempt!