Muscadine Grape Jam is a low-sugar or low-honey cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Notes
Muscadine Grape Butter (pulp and juice, no skins) — use this recipe for Concord Grape Butter.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups prepared muscadine grapes see Steps 3 through 6 below
- 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ½ cup up to 1 cup honey or ¾ cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 2 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.
- Wash the grapes. Then score the end of each grape with a paring knife and pop the flesh out of the skin and into a sauce pan. Place the skins in a bowl and set aside.
- Bring the skinless grapes to a boil and simmer until soft, about 10 minutes. Put the simmered grapes into a Foley mill or a fine sieve and push the pulp and juice through into a bowl, leaving behind the seeds. Discard the seeds.
- Place the skins in a sauce pan with just enough water to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until soft and tender (10 to 15 minutes). Puree the skins in a blender or food processor.
- Add processed skins to the bowl of pulp and juice and stir together well. Measure 4 cups of this mixture into a 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.
- 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.
Nancy Jones
The insert for Pomona pectin calls for lemon juice to be added if it is a sweet grape. I was thinking that muscadines were sweet grapes, however I don’t like adding lemon juice because it changes the flavor profile of the jam. Do the skins off-set the sweetness so no lemon juice is necessary?
Audrey L.
The muscadine recipe does not call for lemon juice because they are considered acidic with a pH level ranging from 3.1-3.8.
Tammy
I just steam juiced grapes. Can I just use the juice with this recipe.
Shelby Collings
You sure can! You will want to increase the pectin and calcium water by 1 teaspoon, if you like a more firm set.
Dolly
When I’ve made full sugar jam in the past I’ve boiled the skins but never puréed. Do they really need to be puréed or just boiled down? Looking forward to using this recipe next week.
Shelby Collings
Hello Dolly,
We recommend following the recipe for best results, but if you like another process for cooking the grapes, feel free to try that! Happy jamming 😊
Elmo
Two questions:
1. I make juice by boiling the muscadines whole and straining through a filter bag.
Is there something I am missing in the final jelly by not using the skins?
2. I use 4 tsp pectin to 5 cups juice for texture I prefer. I also use muscadine juice to make pepper jelly. I add about 1-1/2 to 2 cups of seeded, cleaned and chopped hot peppers. Should I add another tsp of pectin?
Kristyn E.
Hello,
I just made some mustang grape jelly using Pomona’s. My jelly did not set because I used too much sugar and did not see the information about adding extra sugar later after pectin has dissolved. I found the instructions on your site for how to add more pectin using the boiling water method but I am not sure how much more pectin I should add. My initial recipe was 5 cups of grape juice, 5 tsp calcium water, 5 tsp pectin, and 6 cups of sugar. The jelly isn’t completely runny. If you turn the jar sideways it take a few seconds and then it starts moving. Not sure if I would need to add half the pectin amount as before or more/less. Thanks for your help!!!
Shelby Collings
Hello Kristyn,
You’ve done a great job with your research! Well done 😊
It sounds like you will need about 3/4 of the of the original amount of pectin used in your recipe.
Theresa Brown
Can I make this with no added sweetener and still water bath can or will I have to pressure can it?
Shelby Collings
You sure can! No sweetener is necessary. You will need to make a liquid pectin by either blending the pectin with 3/4 cup boiling water or boiling juice in order to ensure that it does not form clumps in your delicious jelly.
Happy jamming!
Dale
If I’ve finished and don’t like the texture, can I redo by removing and using immersion blender to more finely chop skins? If so, what do I do about the pectin/sugar in a redo? I love being able to do jam so quickly without having to wait to reach a high temp like I did with my fig preserves before I discovered Pomona!
Shelby Collings
Hello Dale,
You sure can! You can empty your jars, make your adjustments to the texture and then place the jam back into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then fill into clean, hot jars. You will then reprocess your jars in water-bath canner.
Happy jamming!
Diana
My muscadine are small so scoring and popping off skins isn’t feasible…… any instructions for just the sieved pulp ?
Shelby Collings
You will just need to decrease the pectin amount by 1/2 teaspoon. Happy jamming!
Jennifer Stephens
You can boil the muscadines whole.. The skins will crack and some may even fall away from the meat.. Becareful not to break the meat to release the seeds. Once pot of cooked grapes are cooled down,, separate the skins and place in processor..
Lee Teague
How many muscadines will you need to yield 4 cups of prepared mixture?
Shelby Collings
Hello Lee,
We are not certain, as there are so many variables! We guessing that it will be between 3-5 pounds.