What to do with loads of small grapes?

Jeannine Anne · October 20, 2011

I inherited an overgrown grape on a new community plot this year, too late to prune it.

It has produced tons of bunches of green grapes but all are small grapes and still a little tart. They are getting sweeter every day though.

My problem is what to do with them.. I eat them but not my husband, I don't make wine and don't need any more jelly or jam.

I thought about dehydrating them and using them in muffins etc but they do have seeds. I have never dried them before and am concerned they may not get much sweeter as the weather is getting so cold here now.

It seems a shame to waste them and am stuck for ideas.

XX Jeannine

salix · October 20, 2011

Hi Jeannine - you could press, then sieve them and make juice which could be canned. If the seeds are not too big and crunchy, they go well baked into a pan of focaccia (a sweet version, as opposed to studding it with olives). Maybe just freeze a bunch, maybe you will get a brainstorm in the middle of January!

piegirl · October 21, 2011

Hold off if you can until they reach the right sweetness and then make juice - I made six and a half quarts of organic white grape juice earlier in the season. Our family juice recipe - wash, leave most on the stems or trim off any large stems sticking out, put in large pot and almost cover with water. Bring to a boil until they are falling apart. I let mine cool. Line a large colander with loosely woven old flour sack type cloth and press and squezze until remain s are almost dry. I put mine in jars and freeze. piegirl

delltraveller · October 22, 2011

Piegirl,

Don't the stems make the juice taste funny? Bitter and "greeny"?

Maybe white grapes are different. But if you leave the stems on purple or dark grapes, you get a nasty, unpleasant flavor.

lakelady · October 25, 2011

You can freeze them. Just put them whole on a baking sheet, then put into freezer bags until you can figure out what to do with them. Ha! That's what I did last summer as I didn't have time to make jam and a farmer gave me a crate full.

Jeannine Anne · October 25, 2011

Thanks for the ideas..I had to pick them yesterday and I have 2x 5 gallon buckets full so it seems I can do a bit of everything. I was hoping someone had tried using them as perhaps a pie filling as we would use other small fruit.

XX Jeannine

October 20, 2011	#1
Jeannine Anne Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 1,553	What to do with loads of small grapes? I inherited an overgrown grape on a new community plot this year, too late to prune it. It has produced tons of bunches of green grapes but all are small grapes and still a little tart. They are getting sweeter every day though. My problem is what to do with them.. I eat them but not my husband, I don't make wine and don't need any more jelly or jam. I thought about dehydrating them and using them in muffins etc but they do have seeds. I have never dried them before and am concerned they may not get much sweeter as the weather is getting so cold here now. It seems a shame to waste them and am stuck for ideas. XX Jeannine

October 25, 2011	#5
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	You can freeze them. Just put them whole on a baking sheet, then put into freezer bags until you can figure out what to do with them. Ha! That's what I did last summer as I didn't have time to make jam and a farmer gave me a crate full. __________________ Antoniette

October 20, 2011	#2
salix Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: north central B.C. Posts: 2,310	Hi Jeannine - you could press, then sieve them and make juice which could be canned. If the seeds are not too big and crunchy, they go well baked into a pan of focaccia (a sweet version, as opposed to studding it with olives). Maybe just freeze a bunch, maybe you will get a brainstorm in the middle of January!

October 21, 2011	#3
piegirl Tomatovillian™ Honoree Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 791	Hold off if you can until they reach the right sweetness and then make juice - I made six and a half quarts of organic white grape juice earlier in the season. Our family juice recipe - wash, leave most on the stems or trim off any large stems sticking out, put in large pot and almost cover with water. Bring to a boil until they are falling apart. I let mine cool. Line a large colander with loosely woven old flour sack type cloth and press and squezze until remain s are almost dry. I put mine in jars and freeze. piegirl

October 22, 2011	#4
delltraveller Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Iowa Posts: 481	Piegirl, Don't the stems make the juice taste funny? Bitter and "greeny"? Maybe white grapes are different. But if you leave the stems on purple or dark grapes, you get a nasty, unpleasant flavor.