Is there some trick to this? I'd like to make grape jam (with pulp and skins pureed included) but can't figure out how to remove the seeds except one by one. Any suggestions?

-- gita (gschmitz@directcon.net), October 10, 2001

Answers

This is the way I do it, wash the grapes, rinse thru collander, put in stock pot, add just enough water to cover, heat to boiling, after boiing for a few minutes, I take a masher of some sort and mash the grapes, let simmer, come back and mash some more, do this over and over for about 30 minutes, let cool some, pour thru a collander with bowl underneath, after juice has drained, come by with a spatula or spoon and mash, mash, mash, let drip, do this over and over till you think you got all the goody out. make jam with whats in the bowl, this won't give you the skins, but if you really want them you may put whats leftover in a bowl of water and maybe the skins would float to the top then you could pick them out and puree them in your blender or something, then add them to the juice and pulp. I don't add the skins but have wonderfully strong jam. Good Luck.

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), October 10, 2001.

as a kid (last month) we use to shoot the seeds at eash other,, kinda pinch and squeese,, when we ran out of seeds,, just throw the rest of the grape at her :)

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), October 10, 2001.

When I made some jam last month, I used my Victorio Strainer. I put a load of grapes in a large pot, add only a cup or two of water, and mash the grapes while heating. Once the grapes start to barely simmer and are heated through, I force them through the strainer. I get plenty of pulp, but the seeds and the majority of the skins are expelled. The skins release plenty of purple color, though. I use Pomona's Pectin to make the jam, allowing me to control the firmness of the finished product. My family prefers a jam that's easy to spread, not one that rolls off the bread when you try to apply it. Also, the Pomona's allows me to reduce the amount of sugar, thereby letting more fresh grape flavor thru.

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), October 10, 2001.

I do like Carol in TX but I use a food mill and plunger. See: http://www.lehmans.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay? cgmenbr=12426&cgrfnbr=12924&FROM_CAT_REF=12831

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 10, 2001.

I do like Carol in TX but I use a food mill and plunger. See: http://www.lehmans.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay? cgmenbr=12426&cgrfnbr=12924&FROM_CAT_REF=12831

Oh--also I forgot to mention that often I let it strain over night and make the jam the next day so there is a lot less elbow grease to use.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 10, 2001.

I vote for Victorio Strainer, too.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), October 10, 2001.

One other trick we use for a more flavorful jam is to mash the grapes before cooking, and let stand on the counter until fermentation starts...usually a day or two. Then process as you normally would. The seeds we process out with a Foley Food Mill.

We discovered the fermentation trick by "accident" :-), and it really makes a difference!!

Kevin

-- Kevin R (kreffitt@dark-star.com), October 11, 2001.