Seedless Grape Jam for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make seedless grape jam? You can start with a seedless variety, but if you don't have one, that's no problem either. Take grapes with seeds, sugar, water, and citric acid. You can use any thickener you like—agar-agar, pectin, or a gelling sugar.

2. Step 2:

   

   Wash the grapes well, pull them off their stems, and dry them. You can use overripe grapes here—the way this is made, we don't need the berries to stay whole.

3. Step 3:

   

   Put the grapes in a pot or jam basin—copper, traditionally, or enameled or glass in the modern version, which is very handy. Simmer the grapes over low heat until the berries are completely soft. It doesn't take long—about 10 to 15 minutes from the time it boils.

4. Step 4:

   

   You could make the jam with whole berries—but then you and your guests would have to keep picking out seeds as you eat it, which isn't very convenient. So here's the alternative I came up with for seedless grape jam: get rid of the seeds with an ordinary sieve.

5. Step 5:

   

   Press the grapes through a sieve. The seeds will stay behind on the sieve, and so will the fairly thick, tough skins.

6. Step 6:

   

   If you like, the leftover pulp can go toward a compote or wine, or to poultry if you keep any (people do this where grapes are shipped in; where grapes grow, the scraps just get tossed since there's so much to spare).

7. Step 7:

   

   Bring the grape juice and pulp you've ended up with to a boil and gradually stir in the sugar. You may want a little more or less—taste it, since the jam's sweetness depends on the grape variety. Once the sugar dissolves, add a pinch of citric acid—it brightens the color and adds a needed bit of tartness if the jam comes out flatly sweet from using sweet grapes.

8. Step 8:

   

   Cook the jam down to the thickness you want, or add thickeners following the package directions. Pour the finished seedless grape jam, still hot, into sterile jars and seal them tightly. You can tuck them under a blanket if you like, but it's not necessary here. This jam keeps at room temperature.