North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>]

Randall:

We also make grape jelly, in our case from Concords, and have used a 
steamer/juicer.  The reason we stopped using it is that the steamer 
actually adds more water to the juice than simply heating the grapes to 
the boiling point.  When we heat up grapes for jellymaking, we add only 
the tiniest amount of water to the bottom of the kettle, just as we do 
for applesauce.  Then we heat very slowly, to avoid scorching, and the 
grapes themselves turn to liquid.  The steamer juicer works by keeping 
the fruit surrounded by steam, which condenses on the fruit and runs out 
with the juice, resulting in substantial dilution.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA