Grape Jam from Seedless Grapes
Grape Jam from Seedless Grapes is a low-sugar or low-honey cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin using the juice, pulp, and skin of seedless grapes. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 3 lbs grapes to make 4 1/4 cups processed grapes
- 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ¼ cup lemon juice bottled
- ½ cup up to 1 cup honey or ¾ cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 3 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin 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.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
- Prepare the grapes: Put the washed and stemmed grapes through a food processor to chop up the skins so they cook nicely into the jam.
- Measure 4 1/4 cups processed grapes into sauce pan. Bring grapes to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes to soften the skins. Turn heat off.
- Add calcium water and lemon juice, 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.
- Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more). Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
- Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit for 5 minutes. Then, remove jars from canner. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
I noticed the recipes do not say what size jars to use. Can pint size be used for the jam and jelly recipes? How many jars is the recipe to yield? Can we double the recipe and have not problem with the jam setting up?
Hello Julie,
This recipe says that is makes about 5 cups. We suggest using 4oz or 8oz jars…or pint jars…whichever your household can use up with in 1-3 weeks. You can successfully multiply any of our recipes.
Hello, can I use juice instead of sugar and if so, what kind please?
Our directions for making jam/jelly with juice concentrate can be found HERE on page one of our instruction sheet. Happy jamming!
Hi! Could you add fresh jalepenos to this recipe and cook down with grapes for a little kick? I plan to use honey to sweeten
We would recommend using our Peach Jalapeno Jam recipe, HERE and substituting the peaches with mashed grapes.
Hi. A while back I cooked up some red grapes and froze the juice after I strained them. Can I use this jam recipe to make jelly? And, can I make this recipe without using any sweetener? The grapes are very sweet. Thank you for your help
Hello Lindy,
For your grape you you will want to follow our directions from our instruction sheet. You will follow the Grape Jelly recipe on page 2 under “Jelly” AND you will want to follow the directions for unsweetened jelly on page 1 in the top right pink/red section.
https://pomonapectin.com/instruction-sheet/
My grapes are seedless and a bit more tart. They had to be picked early because of the birds. Will 2 cups of sugar be enough for sweetening? Other fruit jam recipes with pectin call for almost double the amount of sugar to fruit ratio in this recipe the ratio is opposite — double fruit vs. 1/2 sugar. I love the less sugar as hoping I can taste more fruit but do want a sweet jam. ☺️
Thanks!!
Hello Jenilee,
2 cups of sugar should be just fine! Though if you find that you still desire some more, you are welcome to add a bit more AFTER the initial pectin/sugar is dissolved in our batch.
Hello Folks
Can I use seedless green grape for this ?
You sure can!
This can be made with seeded grapes, right? Backyard concords?
It can, we do recommend removing the seeds. If you choose to keep the seeds, you will want to decrease the pectin by 1/2-1 teaspoon.
What does the calcium do and is it necessary?
Pomona’s Pectin is activated by calcium, so calcium has to be present in the mixture either naturally or added by you. Since most people don’t know the calcium content of their fruit, we recommend a calcium water amount in every recipe to be sure there is calcium in the mixture. If your fruit has calcium in it naturally, you don’t need to add the calcium water.
The calcium water (1/2 teaspoon calcium powder mixed into 1/2 cup water) can be stored in the fridge for several months, and will just need to be tossed if it has any floating bits or smell or color. It can also be stored in the freezer where it will keep indefinitely, but will need to be thawed before use. We also highly recommend labeling your jar of calcium water, as it seems to be the first item tossed when cleaning the fridge/freezer . 😊
Is it safe to add extra sugar in these recipes? Also, I had 2lbs 12oz of grapes. Is it safe to sub the last 4oz with blueberries?
Hello Katy,
You can certainly add additional sugar to any of our recipes, it just needs to be added AFTER the initial sweetener/pectin mixture has been dissolved into the jam/jelly.
Yes, you may add the last 4oz of blueberries to this recipe.
Happy jamming!
Hi! What size jars am I supposed to use with this recipe? Thank you!
We recommend using 4-8oz jars.