At the beginning of autumn, when the grapes are already ripening, they begin to be harvested for the winter. Winemakers prepare amazing, aromatic, but intoxicating drinks from these fruits. Housewives have long gotten used to making jam and compotes from juicy berries. The simplest and most delicious preparation will be grape juice. Its preparation does not require a huge amount of time, effort and financial costs. The drink stores well and will delight you with its taste all year round.
How to choose grapes for juice
Half the success depends on the correct choice of fruits. The drink is prepared from any grape variety, including white. The taste and benefits of each are excellent. Using the best wine varieties, you get healthy and tasty juice. It contains a high content of vitamins and optimal levels of sweetness and acidity:
- Berry selection. The drink is made from ripe juicy berries. Definitely fresh. The fruits must not be damaged. Rotten specimens significantly spoil the taste of the finished juice.
- Of the white varieties, the muscat variety is more suitable.
Making grape juice at home is not at all difficult. After spending a little time in the summer, the whole family will enjoy a healthy drink in winter.
Contraindications
Nectar has some contraindications. Fresh pressed as well as natural concentrate is contraindicated for women during pregnancy, starting from the third trimester.
Until the 28th week of gestation, such a drink is useful for both the expectant mother and the baby, but after that it is undesirable to drink it: it helps accelerate the baby’s growth and causes bloating and abdominal cramps in the pregnant woman. It is also forbidden to drink the drink during breastfeeding: the baby will suffer from severe pain and colic.
The natural product is contraindicated for children under 2 years of age: it provokes flatulence, stomach upset and destroys tooth enamel. Even after 2 years of age, children should be introduced to this drink gradually to avoid side effects.
special instructions
Grape juice should not be drunk if you have certain diseases:
- gastrointestinal ulcer;
- diabetes mellitus;
- renal and liver failure;
- diarrhea and bloating;
- urination problems;
- tendency to allergic reactions;
- acute form of fever;
- advanced stage of caries.
You should not drink a fermented drink, as it can cause severe gastrointestinal upset.
Knowing the benefits and harms of grape juice, as well as its contraindications, it is easy to use it correctly.
Grape juice with seeds
It can also be prepared by hand. It will turn out no less tasty and rich. And it doesn’t take much effort to prepare it.
Products:
- 8 kg of grapes.
Preparation:
- Sort the fruits thoroughly, discard spoiled ones, and rinse.
- After preliminary preparation, place them in a colander and secure it over a bucket or bowl.
- Squeeze all the juice out of the berries with your hands.
- Pour the liquid into a saucepan and strain it through cheesecloth twice.
- Then cook for 15 minutes.
- Immediately pour into jars and roll up.
There is no need to add sugar to juice. Even without this, it will turn out very sweet and will be stored well.
Apple-grape juice
For those who don’t like overly sweet drinks, this simple recipe is suitable. Thanks to lemon and apples, the juice acquires a special taste, becomes sweet and sour and even more aromatic. It is very easy to prepare, the main thing is just to be patient to grind all the components in a juicer.
Products:
- 2.8 kg of grapes;
- 1.8 kg apples;
- 0.3 kg lemons.
Preparation:
- Review all the years, throw away the spoiled ones, separate them from the brush and wash them.
- After this, grind in a juicer and pour into a separate container, leave for about two hours.
- After this, the liquid must be strained twice.
- Wash the apples too, cut into 4 parts, remove the middle with seeds.
- After this preparation, pass the fruit through a juicer and pour the resulting liquid into the grape juice.
- Rinse the lemons, pour over boiling water and wipe with a towel, cut into two parts and squeeze out all the juice.
- Pour lemon juice into apple-grape mixture.
- Pour the drink into a saucepan and boil.
- Immediately pour into jars and cover with lids.
- Sterilize for exactly 20 minutes.
- After that, roll it up and wrap it up.
Move the cooled container to the cellar.
Concentrated juice recipe
To prepare concentrated juice, you do not need to carry out procedures involving boiling the pulp with water. First you need to take any amount of juicy grape variety and squeeze it manually or mechanically.
Next you need to follow this sequence:
- Strain the resulting liquid through a small mesh sieve or cheesecloth.
- Pour the juice into the pan and cook it for 5 minutes, it is important not to bring it to a boil.
- Perform the straining again.
- Pour the resulting drink into prepared and sterilized containers.
Such concentrated juice can be useful for simple consumption, but it is important to dilute it with a certain amount of boiled drinking water, the ratio should be approximately 3:1 water.
What's the harm?
Juice causes tooth decay
Nectar has not only beneficial properties. If the rules of consumption are not followed, the juice can cause harm:
- It is drunk before eating, not during. The drink, consumed with food with other liquids, often causes intestinal upset.
- During the treatment period, avoid drinks that cause fermentation: kvass, soda and beer. Grape nectar does not go well with them.
- After each dose, rinse your mouth with water: the concentrated drink provokes caries.
- For diseases such as gastritis, cholelithiasis, obesity, and exhaustion, the drink is consumed in limited doses.
To get the maximum benefit from the product, nutritionists advise drinking it on an empty stomach three times a day. In the first doses, the dose is 200 g, in subsequent days it is increased to 400 g per dose.
Grape juice in a juicer
The easiest way to prepare grape juice is to use a juicer. By spending a minimal amount of time and ingredients, you can get a tasty and healthy drink for the whole family. At the same time, berries of any variety are suitable for preparing juice for the winter, for example, juicy Cabernet grapes, the tart-sweet Isabella variety, or the sugary-sweet Bianca variety.
Hand squeeze recipe
If you prepare the juice manually, the resulting quantity of the drink will not be such a large amount, however, due to the fact that the fruit seeds will be intact, the liquid will lose its specific taste.
To prepare the drink you need to take the following ingredients:
- 1 kg of juicy grape variety;
- 100 grams of drinking water;
- sugar (if needed).
Sequence of making freshly squeezed juice:
- All fruits must be separated, sorted and washed thoroughly under running water.
- Place the ingredient under a press or masher to squeeze out the liquid.
- The resulting mass must be filtered through a sieve with small holes or cheesecloth.
- The resulting pulp must be placed in a separate pan, pour in water and boil the mixture for 10 minutes, after which it must be cooled.
- Strain the pulp through a sieve or cheesecloth and add the resulting juice to the container with the first squeeze.
- You can add sugar to the resulting juice to taste, but only if the final product is sour.
- The drink needs to be poured into jars, then placed in a container with boiling water for 20 minutes.
- Close the jars with a lid and store in a cool, dimly lit place.
Juice from grapes through a juicer
It is very convenient and quick to prepare grape juice at home if you have a juicer in the house, and a simple recipe will help you prepare it.
Ingredients:
- Grapes – 5 kg
The procedure for preparing the drink is as follows:
- Separate the berries from the branches. Remove spoiled, limp, unripe fruits.
- Soak suitable berries in water for 40 minutes to remove any remaining dust and debris. Drain the grapes in a colander, rinse under running water and dry on cotton towels.
- Using a juicer, extract grape juice. Pass the drink through several layers of gauze 2 times in a row.
- Heat the drink to a temperature of 60 degrees and leave for 2-3 hours until a sediment forms.
- Pour the juice into another pan so that the sediment remains in the old container.
- Place the pan with the drink on the fire, bring the liquid to a temperature of 90 degrees.
- Pour the juice into disinfected jars and seal.
- Cool the roll upside down under a warm blanket.
Common mistakes
- To obtain a drink with a pleasant taste and delicate aroma, you need to separate the berries from the grape clusters. The process is labor-intensive, but it should not be neglected, as this will affect the taste of the final product.
- When preparing a drink using a juicer, you should periodically clean it of the resulting pulp. Otherwise, the juice will acquire a bitter taste and lose its sophistication.
- It is important to carry out the sterilization process correctly when storing juice for the winter. The jars must be washed well with detergent and rinsed thoroughly. After pouring the drink, the jars are placed in a container of water and boiled for 5 - 15 minutes. The final step is screwing on the sterilized lids.
- Before putting the jars of juice away for long-term storage, you need to let the drink brew . To do this, the rolled up cans are turned upside down and covered with a warm blanket. They are placed in a dark place and left that way overnight.
Grape-grapefruit juice without sterilization
Another option for quickly preparing grape juice is to prepare it without sterilization. And to give the drink a little sourness, you can add citrus fruits, such as grapefruit, to the product.
Components:
- Grapes – 2 kg
- Lemon – 0.2 kg
- Grapefruit – 1.5 kg
- Sugar – 0.3 kg
- Water – 0.3 l
- Cinnamon – 2 g.
The procedure for preparing a delicious drink:
- Sort the berries, separate them from the branches and rinse thoroughly.
- Extract the juice from the berries using a juicer. Filter the liquid through cheesecloth or flannel cloth.
- Wash citrus fruits and separate from the zest. Using a juicer, extract juice.
- Boil water, adding sugar and cinnamon. Pour boiling liquid into citrus juice.
- Pour grapefruit-lemon juice into grape juice.
- Boil the drink for 10 minutes.
- Pour the juice into disinfected jars, seal and cool.
- Store the seam in a cool room, protected from direct sunlight.
Calorie content
100 g of nectar contains 70 calories, which is 3.3% of the daily dose recommended by nutritionists.
The calorie content of berries is higher than that of grape juice. This allows you to include the product in your diet. It is especially useful for those who want to lose extra pounds. It also cleanses the body of toxins and promotes fat burning. After drinking a drink with a high content of glucose and sugars, a feeling of satiety sets in, which makes a person forget about snacking.
Nutritional value per 100 g of product is:
- proteins - 0.15-0.9 g;
- fats - 0.2 g;
- carbohydrates - 10-30 g.
The content of dry substances in the concentrated drink is 63-65, density is 1.3 g/cm3.
