Lucky you.....want to share? I have been looking for concord grapes to make jelly!
I just wash the grapes and put some (??/) into a kettle with just the water clinging to them stems and all. simmer until all are soft and the juice has all been released.....about 20 minutes after they start to simmer.....stir often.
Then have a jelly bag ready....I made my own out of muslin....but an old pillow case works ( Old because you will never get thes tains out). Put the pillow case into a very large bowl, open the top and dump the contents of the cooking pot into the bag. suspend the bag with a broomstick and a couple of chairs over the bowl and let it drip all night. I cheat and squeeze a little, makes the jelly cloudy but I get more.
Toss the stems skins and seeds and measure the juice. Put the juice and an equal quantity of sugar back into the washed cooking pot and boil until it reaches the jell stage. I keep a heavy plate in the freezer and put a drop on it to see if it's jelly ....or I can judge by how thick it is when I lift up the spoon and drip some off.
Then I pour into sterile jars and top with parraffin....or you can process in a HWB for 10 minutes.
Welches will never taste right to you again!!
Linda C

Kate:
You could make some Wine ???

Just crush the grapes, add about 4 lbs. of Muscatel Grapes.

It has to age a time. Would take long to explain it here

Google wine making using Concord and Muscatel grapes.
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Or you could use a Food Mill, to run the Grapes thru.
I just found mine and make whatever.

It has a Metal Paddle that turns across the bottom and forces every thing thru,
except the the seeds and skins.

We used it for fresh tomatoes

Maybe you could borrow one ?

Fantes or Phila. sells them.
LOU

Kate, I got half a bushel of concords and some muscat grapes, I made grape juice and grape jelly. The muscats made a beautiful pink juice, the concords are blue, of course.

Like LindaC, I stem the grapes and simmer on the stove with about a cup of water, but I crush mine up with a potato masher. Pour the hot mixture into a pillowcase that I tie to the back of a kitchen chair and let it drip into a big Tupperware cake saver overnight. I also cheat and squeeze, I get more juice but it isn't as clear. (shrug)

The juice is so "concentrated" that I add water and sugar to taste when I can it, and the easiest jelly recipe is in the package of Sure Jell. I make mine with just the juice and sugar and cook to jell stage, as LindaC described but I hate paraffin so I use 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Where's Becky (booberry)? She makes grape jam that is amazing. sol has a recipe for grape sorbet that's very yummy and I know someone here made grape pie. Are yours the seedless? If they are, just whiz them to a puree in the food processor and make jam!

Annie

I don't have a recipe to share, because mine didn't really gel, but you don't have to peel them by hand. I added water, cooked them until soft, hit them with an immersion blender, and strained out the seeds and skins. That way, you get the nice purple color too. It's much easier to strain a watery liquid than a thick one, and you can cook it down afterward.

I'm so glad to read these suggestions! I came to this forum (like I always do when I need help cooking), intending to ask a questions similar to yours, Kate. I didn't grow my grapes, but went a little crazy at the farmers' market and bought a lot of concords.

Carolyn

Kate:
I meant the Food Mill to be used for making Jam,
not Wine.

When I reread your Post, I saw you didn't have one.

LOU

I've had grape vines for over 35 years.

For Jelly, it's always best to use a tested recipe, so I go with the one in the Sure-Jel package--it's excellant and has never failed me yet.

When making the juice, there's NO NEEED to stem the grapes. Just wash them well, discarding any that aren't good, and toss them in your pot, stems and all, with just enough water to prevent scorching. Cook down, and strain.

Of course, once your juice is made, you want to let it sit overnight in the fridge (it will form tartrate crystals) and then restrain the next day through a coffee filter or paper towel in a strainer to remove those crystals before proceding with your jelly.

Now, another thing you might want to give a try if you have an abundance of grapes and if you enjoy baking--is making your own wild yeast starter. The instructions are a bit involved. I'd recommend getting your hands on a copy of Nancy Silverton's book, "Bread from the La Brea Bakery". Explains the process very well, and the recipes in the book are great. I made my starter many years ago, and am still using it. Because it is a bit of a lengthy process (and can only be done once a year), I'd recommend drying or freezing an emergency quantity of the starter, just in case yours would die. The directions for drying are also in the book I recommended.

Enjoy your grapes! I did plant some at the new house about a year ago--hope once they're established they'll be as generous to me as those at the other house have been. I did experiment this time with some of the seedless Concords.

Thank you so much everyone for all your wonderful responses. I'm still not sure what I am going to do but you've given me some great ideas. MUCH appreciated.

Kate

When I was a kid, my Grandparents had some Concord grape vines in their backyard. When they were ready (late summer-ish), sibs, cousins, or whoever was around got the chore of pulling bunches off vines... usually contending with nasty yellow jackets along the way.

Would load up sink to give grapes a bath and then pull off into BIG pot. A few stems didn't matter at this point. WAS a little grossed out after being told that they all didn't have to be perfect... a few sad grapes wouldn't matter.

Slow simmer till very soft, then thru one of those food mills... I still have one from Nana's house. Then thru a few layers of chees cloth to end up with just juice. At this point VERY sour, but a little sugar and ice in a glass... YUM!

I don't remember my Grandmother ever using pectin?? Guess she really didn't make jelly... more like jam!?! Do remember LOTS of sugar and LONG SLOW simmer till it cooked down till it was "done"... thick & coated spoon. Then into jars (thickened more when cool) and melted paraffin wax on top.

Seem to remember her dumping all the skins, seeds, and other stuff that was filter out around plants in her yard cuz it was "good for them"??

I had wild grapes this year. Just mashed them in a large pot with a potato masher and poured off the thick juice. I only had about 2 1/2 quarts of juice. Over two weeks I mixed it glass by glass with vodka... very sour but oh so good. It was sort of chunky style but I'm certain I didn't miss out on any of the vitamins & stuff to be had from raw natural food. Sort of sad now that it is gone... I should be hunting more grapes right now.

: )
lyra

If you have any grapes left after jelly making, you might want to try this grape pie. It is a bit labor intensive, but it is a favorite at our house. It is a once-a-year treat during grape season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Concord Grape Pie

I remember watching the Top Chef Season 6 finale in the napa Valley and the final 4 had to use grapes from Michael Chiarello's vineyard (on a train no less) to create a dish for the quickfire - this one won and stuck in my head, even though I hate brussel sprouts (cannot abide by food that smells the same goin' in as goin' out) but if you don't check this one out--->

Enjoy!

Top Chef, Season 6, Episode 13, Quickfire Challenge

Ingredients
Ruby Quinoa
1/4 cup ruby quinoa rinsed well
1 cup stock, preferably vegetable can use poultry
1/2 ea medium onion, minced
1 tablespoon Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
Brussels Sprouts
1/2 cup Brussels sprouts split in half and cleaned
2 tablespoons butter
2 ea sprigs thyme, leaves cleaned
1/4 cup lardon double smoked bacon, rendered
Salt and Pepper to taste
Concord Grape Reduction
1/4 cup concord grape skins, reserve flesh
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 ea thyme sprig
1/2 cup butter
Roasted Hen
2 ea game hens
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 ea clove garlic smashed
2 ea sprigs thyme
Directions
For Ruby Quinoa

Sweat the onion in butter until translucent, add the quinoa and lightly toast. Add the stock, bring to a simmer, cook the quinoa at a simmer until it just starts to "burst" the quinoa should become tender

For Brussels Sprouts

Blanch the brussels sprouts in salted boiling water until the color is set, shock in ice water. Render the bacon until crisp add the brussels sprouts and start to caramelize in the bacon fat. Finish cooking the Brussels sprouts with the bacon until tender, season with salt and pepper, add the thyme leaves and hold until plating

For Concord Grape Reduction

Reduce the stock with the grape skins, add the thyme spring. When the ?reduction is au-sec, whisk in the butter to create a butter fondue style sauce with the concord grape. Strain the skins and thyme from the sauce. Reserve warm.

For Rosted Hen

Remove the legs and thigh together, debone the thigh bone keeping intact the drumstick and the thigh meat. Leave the breast on the bone. Over high heat warm a large saute pan with canola oil. Sear the breast and thigh on all sides with skin exposed to create a crisp finished skin. Place into a 350 degree oven until the internal temperature of the hen reaches 145F, remove from the oven add whole butter and baste with thyme, garlic, shallot until the hen is finished and the skin is crisp. Serve the hen off the bone with the garnish and sauce

� 2011 Bryan Voltaggio

Here are two recipes from my favorite canning cookbook, "Summer in a Jar" by Andrea Chessman. The recipes in there are usually fab. I've always wanted to try these but am too obsessed with the last of the tomatoes this time of year.

Apple Grape Jam

8 cups peeled apples, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
12 cups fresh Concord grape juice
4 cups honey
4 tsp. cinnamon (optional) Can make half batch with cinn and half without.

Combine apples, water and lemon juice in large non-reactive kettle. Cook until apples are soft, about 10 min. Add the honey, grape juice and cinn. Bring to a biol, and boil rapidly, stirring frequently, until the mixture becomes quite thick. The jam is ready when it begins to hold its shape when dopped onto a cold plate. (I'm assuming you know how to do the cold plate test for jam, but if not I'll post it. I find that method the most reliable, my thermometer always seems to let me down!)

Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Ladle into hot, sterilized half pin jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal and process in a boiling water bath for 5 min. Makes about 10 half pints. (Or so she says, I always end up with less in her recipes.)

Baked Grape Butter

4 quarts Concord grapes (no stems, about 4 pounds)
1/4 cup water
3/4 - 1 cup honey or sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

Combine the grapes and water in a large kettle. Cover and steam until the grapes are very soft, 10-15 min. Stir occasionally.

Strain the grapes through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins. You will be left with 9-10 cups grape juice. Pour the thick grape juice into a roasting pan. Set the pan in the oven and bake at 200 degrees F until the butter is quite thick, 5-8 hours. Stir occasionally, at least once an hour, to prevent skin from forming.

She said you can begin baking at night, turn the oven off before going to bed and resume in the morning. The baking time will depend on the size of the pan and how thick you want the butter to be. She uses a spoon test, and considers it done when it holds the trace of a spoon stirring the mixture.

When the butter is thick, remove it from the oven. You will have 3-4 cups of concentrated, tart grape butter. Sweeten to tase with honey or sugar. Add cinn to taste. Return the butter to the top of the stove to reheat. Ladle the hot butter into hot, sterilized half pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Seal. Process in a BWB for 5 min.

Does anyone make Wine with the grapes ?

My GGF had a Farm and Vineyard in Atco, NJ.

He grew mostly Zinfindel and Muscat.
Sold them to a Cousin in Phila.( Spatola Wines ).

When we made Wine, it was always 9 boxes of Zinfindel and
2 boxes of Muscat grapes to a Barrel.

" Those were the days my friend,
we thought they'd never end "

" Sing and Dance forever and a day "

Whooopaaaa !!!

Found out too late, they do end !!!

LOU

Well you are all amazing. Thank you for sharing all of these great ideas and recipes. This has really helped me feel empowered to use up not only some of this years grapes but what I now hope is future grape harvests.

Okay so confession time. Last night my husband and I tried a friends jam recipe. We followed the directions to the letter and ended up with six pints of beautiful grape syrup:) Not sure why it didn't set. It is really yummy though. Back to the drawing board:) The grape butter sounds like fun and I may take the plunge and do a little batch of wine.

Thanks again.

Kate

I've made wine from concords. NOT my favorite. They make far better juice with the added sugar.
There are a lot of tannins in the concord skins and that strong flavor comes through.
I am more of a sweet red wine person and although we sweetened our wine, it's still pretty dry and tannin-y (word?) for me.
YMMV

Deanna

On the heels of my harvest flavored post I have to share this. Yesterday a neighbor and I went to local community event where apples (and pears) were being pressed and turned into juice. What fun! First time for me and we really enjoyed ourselves. I went down there with half a bag of really ripe pears and a ton of very imperfect apples and came away with three large bottles of just amazing juice. We had to marvel at the beautiful simplicity of it all. Now all I need is a good apple jelly recipe and I'll be all set:)

Kate