Grape harvest 2006
I harvested 9 lbs of grapes (I believe muscadine) from our arbor today. It probably would have been a bigger harvest had I picked a little earlier. I’m making grape juice. To do this, I added a cup of water to 7 lbs. of grapes in a stainless steel pot, put it on low heat until the whole mess was hot to the touch. Then I used a bean masher to mash the grapes and simmered for another 15 minutes or so. Next, I used a wire mesh strainer to strain out the skins and seeds. I took the remaining juice and strained it through 2 layers of cheesecloth laid in the strainer. The instructions I had said to let it sit for another 24-48 hours and then filter through cheesecloth again to remove sediment which apparently can turn bitter. Optionally, you can simmer and dissolve sweetener in it. Since I’m watching my caloric intake, I may foresake the sweetener. I got more then 2 quarts out of it and it’s grapeilicious!
so — have you used stevia? it could work really well in the grape juice…
we’re using it all the time. we make “lemonade” with it and lemon juice. ruby even likes it!
Comment by michelle — July 31, 2006 @ 3:12 pm
I’ll have to try that, do you get the white powdered extract? How expensive is it? How long does it last?
Comment by snort — August 1, 2006 @ 5:47 am
we get the white powder, heh heh heh.
it was 10 bucks. but it will last for YEARS. seriously. you can’t even tell we’ve used any and it’s a year old.
the site for the brand we got is cvc4health.com
we bought it at trader joes.
there are officially 1,120 servings in thed 1 oz. container.
it does have a specific taste, but i really like it. sugar is just so tooth-coating, so this is really good!
Comment by michelleschweg — August 1, 2006 @ 2:34 pm