Grape juice recipe with tips to clean grapes

Grape juice recipe – If you are new to making homemade fresh grape juice then this post may be helpful. There are numerous benefits of consuming grape juice, especially when made fresh and consumed immediately.

Grapes are a rich source of antioxidants, many vitamins and minerals.

Though grapes provides us with abundant nutrients and benefits, it is good to consume a variety of fruits or juices and not limit to grapes alone.

This post on how to make grape juice was sitting idle in my drafts since last year. Thought of sharing this as the summer has set in.

There are 2 ways of making juicing grapes – One is to boil the grapes and then make a juice that can be preserved for long time. This method is good for those growing grapes in their orchard.

Second one is to juice fresh grapes for maximum benefits. I am sharing this method here along with some tips on how to clean grapes for juicing them.

Here are the simple steps I follow to clean up the grapes whether organic or not.

How to clean grapes before making grape juice

1. Make sure you begin to clean them just before you make the juice otherwise ripe fruits may begin to rot once they come in contact with moisture. I usually clean them about 30 mins before I intend to juice the grapes. I also ensure they are at room temperature. If the grapes are cold, getting rid of the unwanted particles from the surface of fruits is hard.

2. Wash the grapes very well under running water and place them in a wide bowl. For 1 kg of grapes, sprinkle 2 tbsps of sea salt (powder not crystal) then spray vinegar generously.

3. Begin to destem & remove over ripe or rotten grapes. This would take about 10 to 15 mins. By then the salt completely melts.

4. Add water just enough to cover them. Rub them gently and discard the water. Repeat the rinse under running water with ample amount 3 to 4 times.

5. Drain them to a colander. You may still see whitish coating like on the grapes, just ignore it as they are the naturally occurring substance on grapes.

6. Add them to your juicer or blender jar and begin juicing. Other ingredients that go well with grapes are ginger, lemon juice, handful of holy basil or tulsi, mint leaves etc.

If you are using a blender, then you will have to strain the juice in a strainer. Use a spoon to press down the juice.

If you have used salt for washing, the grapes turn salty so don’t need to add salt while making the juice. Skip adding lemon juice if the grapes are sour.

I sometimes use 1 medium size lemon for 1 kg grapes.
1 kg grapes will yield about 820 ml cold pressed juice, though it depends on the freshness of grapes and the juicer used.

Serve fresh grape juice immediately before it begins to oxidize.

Tips

Grapes are one of fruits with lot of pesticide residue and cleaning them thoroughly is very crucial before consuming. Though organic grapes may be the best choice, sometimes we end up buying the regular ones considering the freshness, quality & availability.

This juice can be made in a blender, centrifugal juicer or a slow juicer what ever you have. I have made this in a cold press juicer hence did not add any water.

If using a blender then you may need to add water as desired according to your taste. We do not use any sweetener for our juices, if you desire you can add.

For maximum benefits, always consume fruit juice alone and not with breakfast or snack.

When consumed alone the nutrients are quickly absorbed by the body typically within 15 to 20 minutes. The entire fruit juice gets digested well.

Eating other foods along with the juice slows down the digestion and absorption as well. This may also result in acidity, loss of appetite and sluggish digestion.

For more Fruit juice recipes, you may like to check
Apple juice
Watermelon juice
Amla juice
Aloe vera juice
Dry dates juice