Real Concord Grape Juice

Do you know about the health benefits of concord grapes? I know they are supposed to be good for your heart health, but I need to learn more, I suppose. I just know they are really good for you...

Well, this year, I had the "opportunity" to get some concord grapes through our fruit stand. They were pricey, but I didn't have anyone else to buy them, so I took an afternoon and made grape juice. It would have been fine if I didn't have to go through each bunch looking for moldy ones. (Note - I got to them as fast as I could - three days was just too long.)

I ended up doing (and sorting) 50 pounds worth of grapes. Boy, did they smell good - and look good, mostly.


After sorting and washing them, I threw them into my trusty juicer/steamer. The house radiated the smell of sweet grape juice.


And into the bottles for a quick water bath of 10 minutes. I ended up with about 12 quarts of actual juice.


Lessons learned: If you get grapes, do them the day you get them. Concord Grapes make amazing juice. Free grapes are best. Buying Concord grapes make really expensive juice.
Buying real 100% grape juice from the store seems way more worth it - no matter the cost. But I will hoard and enjoy every last drop of the juice that I made.