Fresh Squeezed Grape Juice?

[hathor]

It's too late for me for this year....but I want to be ready next year when my grapes need harvesting. We have what is called 'uva americana' or American grape, and it has to be a close relative of the Concord.

I figured that after slipping the skins, I could just squeeze the little beggars, but they laughed and merrily rolled around the food mill and the food processor, and even after freezing, they still held their round roly poly shape, and juice.

I'm sure the answer lies in a press of some sort, but what happens when you don't have enough grapes to warrant getting a press? Anyone have a good technique?

Grazie mille!!

[Chris Amirault]

Would a potato ricer work?

[Darienne]

I can't recall precisely what kind of grapes they were, but they were getting beyond eating in the fridge. I put them through the Champion grinder/juicer/? and got the most lovely grape juice ever.

They could well have been seeded grapes, but I don't think they would have been a Concord type...DH dislikes Concord grapes.

The Champion was an expensive purchase for a then quite poverty-stricken family, but so worth the money. We are on only our second one over I think about 40 years.

[Lisa Shock]

My Delonghi stand mixer has a juicer attachment which works well. It's the sort that you'd use to make carrot juice, with a rotating screen inside.

[Jenni]

I've got a cheapish juicer and it makes lovely grape juice.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I recently tried this with Niagara grapes (a white slippery skin grape with seeds) in the fruit and vegetable strainer attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer, and it worked pretty well.

[Peter the eater]

You could go old school and stomp them with your bare feet.

Edited October 17, 2009 by Peter the eater (log)

[hathor]

I tried the ricer... and it also made slime. The body squishes but the juice stays within the fruit membrane wall. I seriously considered the bare feet method and may revisit that next year.

Need to google up the fruit & vegetable strainer on the Kitchen Aid, that sounds interesting.

Perhaps its the grape varietal, but all I really ever got was grapey green slime.

All food for thought for next year. Grazie!

[David A. Goldfarb]

The Kitchen Aid gizmo has a long screw and conical metal strainer that fit the grinder attachment. It squeezes out the juice, while the skins, seeds and other things that don't fit through the strainer are extruded from the front, and there is a cover for the strainer portion with a pouring lip to direct all the juice or fruit puree into a bowl. This is what it looks like in action, making pureed pears--

Edited October 19, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[deensiebat]

I think the missing helpful step is a short cooking. When I make grape juice (from Concords), I simmer the grapes for about ten minutes. They start to split and give up their juice as they cook (I help the process along with a potato masher). You can then easily run the split grapes through a food mill, and strain through cheesecloth (which takes foooooorever).

[Florida]

Juicer, the centrifugal type. Though I will say, in my experience, there is a good bit of waste.

[Kerry Beal]

I've got a recipe somewhere, where you just put the concord grapes, some sugar and water in a jar, then process in a water bath. When you are ready to drink it - you strain at that point.

I'm sure if I look hard enough, there is a box of those jars somewhere in this house of mine.

[hathor]

The Kitchen Aid gizmo looks pretty cool. David, are you saying screw, as in a corkscrew or worm? That would make sense from a wine/grape pressing perspective.

Deensiebat: I have a feeling that you may be right about the heat. I just came across a recipe for concord grape ice cream that instructs you to roast the grapes for a few minutes.

Kerry: I tried the water bath trick and it didn't work. I was able to strain and jar some of the unpressed juice, but that was about it.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Yes, it's a long worm screw that presses the fruit through the strainer cone.

[EllenC]

I actually steam my grapes. I have a three part steamer. The bottom holds water on the stove the top is a strainer that holds the grapes and the middle collects the juice. I canned about 100 quarts this year over the course of three weeks. (After work and on weekends of course.) The juice from the red grapes is thick and syrupy and the juice from the green grapes is golden slightly tart. Both are good in different ways. I also used the juice for grape jam. Yummy.

Ellen

[violetfox]

I've actually got the Jack Lalanne juicer and love it. I have made juice with grapes and other fruit, and as I recall, it worked fine. It's worth the price for apple/carrot/ginger juice - my favorite.