Harvested 2 pounds of wine grapes Monday, November 17, 2014
This year the grapes ripened much faster due to the humidity. This is the last of my grapes until next year. As you can see in the photo below, many of the grapes are starting to fall of the wine and some are looking more like raisins.
Modified original recipe by adding basil and red table wine.
| Just off the Vine  | 1 Pound of Grapes  | Adding Basil  |
| Sterilizing the Jars  | Bathing Process  | Freshly Canned Jam  |
Was the canning successful?
24 Hours After Canning the Jam—Successful Seal. To know whether the canning process worked, there are a few tests. First, tape on the lid with a spoon. If dull, it did not seal. Second, push on the lid with your fingers. If the lid pops back up, the jam did not seal. Third, if the lid is bulging, it did not properly seal. Although the canning process was a success, the jam did not set as well as it did with the first batch? What happened? After further research I discovered that even things like outside temperature, humidity, age of the pectin, use of a cup of wine instead of water, or amount of juice from the fruit can alter the amount of ingredients used in the recipes. Although I did use the spoon test to check whether the jam was properly set and realized it was not, my impatience got the better of me (that and optimism that the jam would set while in the jar). As I researched ways to save runny jam, I discovered I could just relabel it "rustic syrup" or "old fashion preserves" and use the jam for pancakes or on yogurt. This is exactly what I did. An alternative would have been to return the jam to the pot and start the setting and canning process all over again. As a pancake lover, I preferred the former.
RSS Feed