Homemade Grape Juice

1. Stage

Pick the grapes: Get a large basket, wear long sleeves and a hat, bring clippers, and fill up the basket with grape bunches. Keep in mind that 1 pound of grapes will yield a little less than 1 cup of juice.

2. Stage

Rinse and stem the grapes: Put the grapes in a basin filled with water. Then rinse the individual grapes, picking them away from the stem, collecting the grapes in a large bowl, and discarding any green, unripe, or shriveled grapes.

3. Stage

Mash the grapes: With a potato masher, mash away at the grapes so the juice begins to flow. If you have picked a lot of grapes, you may need to work in batches. We have found it easiest to mash about 4 pounds of grapes at a time.

4. Stage

Cook the grapes: Put the mashed grapes into a large stockpot. Slowly heat the grapes and juice to a simmer on medium heat and then simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally so that the grapes don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Halfway through cooking mash some more, breaking up as many of the remaining grapes as possible.

5. Stage

Prepare a sieve or cheesecloth: Get another large pot, place a large fine mesh sieve over it. Alternatively you can cover it with two layers of cheesecloth, secured with a rubber band. Make sure pot is sitting on a plate to catch any juice that may run over.

6. Stage

Strain the cooked grapes: Ladle the grape mixture over the fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth to strain. Let sit for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator to strain completely.

7. Stage

Finishing: Remove sieve or cheesecloth. Note that sediment will have formed on the bottom of the container. Rinse out the sieve or cheesecloth and strain the juice again, to filter out some of the sediment. Pour or ladle juice into containers. Enjoy your juice! After about 1 week in the fridge I find that the juice starts to ferment, not in a bad way, it just adds some natural carbonation. If you let it sit around too long it could eventually turn to vinegar. This is why we try to make just as much as we would use up in 1 week. When we have made more than that we have frozen it, but the defrosted juice isn't nearly as good as the fresh juice.  Did you enjoy this recipe? Let us know with a rating and review!