How to Make Concord Grape Jelly in Canada (Both Bernardin Routes)

Concord grape jelly is the heritage September preserve of Niagara and the broader Great Lakes region. For over a century, southern Ontario households have made grape jelly the same way — simmer the grapes, hang the juice overnight in a bag, boil with sugar, jar. The result is the deep-purple, intensely-flavoured jelly that store-bought Concord jelly tries (and fails) to imitate.

This guide follows the Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving (ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5), which publishes two Concord grape jellies — one with liquid pectin on page 112, one with no added pectin on page 116. Both start from the same grape juice, made by the method on page 104, and neither takes lemon juice. They are laid out separately below, because they have different sugar quantities, different yields and opposite instructions about testing for a gel.

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Pick your grapes

Concord (the standard)

• Concord — purple-black, slip-skin (skin separates easily from flesh), the canonical jelly grape. Niagara’s industry standard. Available at Niagara-region farmer’s markets and U-picks September-October. Some larger Canadian grocers stock fresh Concords briefly during peak season.
• Niagara (green Concord-family grape) — same family, golden-green jelly, milder flavour
• Catawba — red, sweeter, works similarly
• Wild grapes — Canadian Vitis riparia grows wild across southern Canada; smaller and tarter, and people do make jelly from it, but the book names Concord and we are not extending its figures

Don’t use

• Table grapes (Thompson seedless, red globe, etc.) — bred for eating, not for jelly. Disappointing jelly, and not what either recipe was tested with.
• Wine grapes (Cabernet, Pinot, Riesling) — expensive, and not what either recipe was tested with
• Bottled grape juice from the grocery store — both recipes call for juice made by the page 104 method, which is a different ingredient

Both of the book’s recipes specify Concord grapes by name. Niagara, Catawba and wild Vitis riparia are real jelly grapes and people make good jelly from them, but the book does not name them, so we will not put its sugar and pectin quantities behind them (growing grapes in Canada).

What you need

From the Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving (ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5), pages 104, 112 and 116.

The juice — the same for both routes (page 104)

• Fresh Concord grapes — the book’s juice page gives 14 oz (390 g) per cup (250 mL) of juice, and both recipes need 4 cups, so plan on four times that
• Water — just enough to stop the fruit scorching, about ¼ to ½ cup (50 to 125 mL) per 4 cups (1 L) of fruit
• A jelly bag, or several layers of cheesecloth in a colander — dampened
• Large bowl to drip into, and something to suspend the bag from (upside-down chair leg, jelly-bag stand, cupboard handle)
• A large glass measure — you are measuring the juice to a set volume, not guessing at it

Route A — liquid pectin (page 112), about seven 250 mL jars

• 4 cups (1 L) grape juice made with Concord grapes
• 7 cups (1.75 L) granulated sugar
• 3 oz (88.5 mL) liquid pectin

Route B — no added pectin (page 116), about four 250 mL jars

• 4 cups (1 L) grape juice made with Concord grapes
• 3 cups (750 mL) granulated sugar
• Frozen plates, or whatever you use for the gel stage test on page 19

For either route

• Bernardin 250 mL regular-mouth jars, fresh SNAP lids, bands
• Standard canning kit — jar lifter, headspace tool, funnel, water-bath canner, ladle, large heavy pot (which canner to buy)
• Apron — grape juice stains everything

Neither route takes lemon juice. Several of the page 112 jelly variations do; Concord Grape is not one of them, and the page 116 Grape variation takes none either. Use the acid quantity in the recipe in front of you and never carry one across from a neighbouring variation.

The figures on this page come from the edition we hold — ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5, 448 pages. Different editions of the Complete Book carry different figures, so verify the process time against your own edition before you start.

Corrected 17 September 2026: this page previously published its own Concord grape jelly — a fruit weight, a water quantity for the simmer, a sugar quantity matched one-to-one to the juice, 2 tbsp of bottled lemon juice described as being for set rather than safety, a 10-to-15-minute hard boil and a finishing temperature. No source we hold publishes any of those figures, and neither of the book’s two grape jellies contains lemon juice at all. Both of its routes are given above. Six variations, our own yield estimates and two unsourced rescue quantities have also been removed.

Stage 1: the juice — both routes (page 104)

1. Wash the grapes under cool water. Discard any mouldy or shrivelled ones.
2. Remove the stems — pull the individual grapes off the bunches.
3. Crush the grapes in a large stainless steel saucepan, with a potato masher or your hands.
4. Add just enough water to prevent scorching — about ¼ to ½ cup (50 to 125 mL) per 4 cups (1 L) of fruit.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat, cover loosely and boil gently 5 to 10 minutes, crushing the fruit occasionally.
6. Drip it. Suspend a damp jelly bag or a cheesecloth-lined sieve over a large clean bowl, ladle the cooked pulp in, and let it drip at least 2 hours or overnight at room temperature. Do not squeeze the bag — page 105 says squeezing may make the juice cloudy.
7. Measure 4 cups (1 L) of juice. Both recipes start from that volume, so measure it rather than estimating.

Now pick a route. They are not interchangeable partway through: the sugar is different, the finish is different, and one of them tests for a gel while the other explicitly does not.

Stage 2, Route A: liquid pectin (pages 111 and 112)

About seven 250 mL jars.

1. Combine the 4 cups (1 L) juice and 7 cups (1.75 L) sugar in a large stainless steel saucepan.
2. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat — one that cannot be stirred down.
3. Stir in 3 oz (88.5 mL) liquid pectin, squeezing the pouch to get all of it out.
4. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.
5. Remove from the heat and skim off any foam with a large slotted metal spoon.

Do not test for a gel stage on this route. The book’s introduction to its liquid-pectin jellies says these need the least cooking of all cooked jellies and that there is no need to worry about a gel stage test. The 1-minute hard boil after the pectin is what sets them.

Stage 2, Route B: no added pectin (page 116)

About four 250 mL jars.

1. Combine the 4 cups (1 L) juice and 3 cups (750 mL) sugar in a large stainless steel saucepan. That is less than half Route A’s sugar — it is not a typo, and it is not a reduction of Route A.
2. Boil hard, stirring frequently, until the jelly begins to sheet from a metal spoon — about 25 minutes.
3. Take the pan off the heat and test the gel, using the gel stage tests on page 19. The book is specific that the pan comes off the heat before you run the sheet test or the refrigerator test.
4. Skim off any foam.

This route requires watching. The book’s own introduction to its traditional jellies says jellies made without added pectin must be watched carefully to determine the gelling point, and to review the gel stage tests before starting. If you have never done one, read why didn’t my jam set first — it walks through the cold-plate test.

Stage 3: jar and process — both routes

1. Have your water-bath canner simmering and hot 250 mL jars ready, fresh SNAP lids on the counter.
2. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars. Leave 0.5 cm (¼ inch) headspace.
3. Do not run a bubble remover. The book notes that jellies are pure liquids, so removing air bubbles is not required.
4. Wipe rims with a damp clean cloth and apply fresh SNAP lids fingertip-tight.
5. Lower the jars into the canner so they are covered by at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) of water.
6. Process 10 minutes at altitudes up to 305 m.
7. Adjust for altitude per our altitude article.
8. Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid and wait 5 minutes before lifting the jars out.
9. Cool 24 hours undisturbed. Don’t move the jars — gelling happens during cooling.
10. Check the lids. A sealed lid is concave and does not move when pressed. Label, store.

If a jar doesn’t seal: the 24-hour rule applies.

Storage

• Cool, dark, dry place at room temperature
• Best quality 12 months — Bernardin’s guidance is to use home-canned food within one year. That is a quality window, not an expiry: the jar is as safe as the process made it. Colour, flavour and texture fade.
• After opening: refrigerate, use within one week (HealthLink BC)
• Inspect before opening — deep purple stays for years

Corrected 31 Aug 2026: this page previously gave an after-opening window of 1-2 months. HealthLink BC File #22 publishes one week for any opened home-canned container — “Once the container has been opened, refrigerate leftovers, and use within one week.” Our longer figure was never attributed to anyone. The shelf life of the sealed jar is unchanged.

Variations

None, and the two routes above are not variations on each other. This page carried six — a cinnamon stick, a spiced version with cloves and allspice and star anise, a port version that was refrigerator-only, a multi-grape blend, a wild-grape version with its own sugar adjustment, and a note on canning the plain juice. Every one changed the composition of a tested recipe, and the quantities came from us. They are removed rather than rewritten.

The page 112 neighbours are separate recipes rather than adjustments to this one, each with its own juice volume, sugar and pectin: Black Raspberry, Strawberry, Red Currant and Cherry. Page 116’s neighbours are Crabapple and Apple. Follow whichever you want in full.

On canning the plain juice: we hold no recipe for it. Page 104’s Grape Juice for Jelly is an ingredient, not a finished preserve — it has no jar size, no headspace and no processing time of its own — so we are not sending you to look for a juice recipe we have not read.

How to use Concord grape jelly

• PB&J — the canonical use. Peanut butter and Concord grape jelly is the gold standard.
• On toast or scones
• In thumbprint cookies — purple jewel-toned
• As a glaze for pork tenderloin or chicken — brush in last 15 minutes; combines with mustard for a sweet-savoury glaze
• Concord grape glaze for meatballs — equal parts jelly + ketchup + Dijon mustard for cocktail meatballs
• In a Linzer cookie or jam tart
• Stirred into yogurt or oatmeal
• Cheese pairing — sharp cheddar, aged gouda, blue cheese
• As a cocktail ingredient — muddle with whisky for a Concord whisky sour
• In a Concord grape vinaigrette — whisk with olive oil and balsamic for fall salads
• Holiday gift — deep purple is distinctive on a gift table

Common problems

• Jelly didn’t set. On Route A, the usual cause is a hard boil shorter than the full minute after the pectin went in, or juice that was never measured to 4 cups (1 L). On Route B, it is stopping before the jelly sheets from the spoon. We do not publish a rescue quantity for either route, because no source we hold gives one — why didn’t my jam set covers what your options actually are.
• Jelly is cloudy. Squeezed the jelly bag, or boiled too vigorously. Cosmetic; tastes the same.
• Jelly is too firm or gummy. Over-boiled, which is much easier to do on Route B. It is perfectly good to eat; use it as a glaze rather than a spoonable jelly.
• Crystals after months. Sugar crystallization in storage; safe. Warm jar in hot water to redissolve.
• Tartrate crystals. Concord grapes contain tartaric acid that sometimes crystallizes — small clear crystals at the bottom of jars. Harmless; remove if visually unappealing.
• Jelly is brown not purple. Over-cooked or oxidized in storage. Cook for less time; store in dark.
• Jar didn’t seal. The 24-hour rule.

Yield expectations

Both routes start from 4 cups (1 L) of juice, and the book publishes different yields for each because the sugar differs:

• Route A, liquid pectin (page 112) → about seven 250 mL jars
• Route B, no added pectin (page 116) → about four 250 mL jars

For the fruit, the book’s juice page gives 14 oz (390 g) of grapes per cup (250 mL) of juice, so 4 cups is four times that. This page used to publish its own fruit-to-jar arithmetic and a farm-stand estimate; both were ours and are gone.

Why Concord grape jelly is worth making

• Best grape flavour you’ll taste — Concord grapes are bred for juice; supermarket grape jelly tries to copy this
• Heritage Canadian preserve — Niagara grape industry built on Concords; multi-generational family recipe
• Easier than it sounds — overnight drip is unattended; cook is short
• Two tested routes — one with pectin and a 1-minute boil, one without and a longer watched cook
• Gift-friendly — deep purple jelly in small jars is striking
• Keeps a full year — Bernardin’s guidance is to use home-canned food within one year, and one September batch covers that year

When to make

• Late September: peak Niagara Concord season; fresh grapes at Niagara, Hamilton, and southern Ontario farmer’s markets and U-picks
• Early October: tail end; still good
• Off-season: use frozen Concord grapes (some specialty grocers carry them) or accept that fresh is window-limited

For a Niagara-region annual tradition, plan one weekend in late September for the year’s grape jelly.

Next steps

• How to make apple jelly in Canada — same jelly-bag technique, and the book publishes two routes for it too
• How to make hot pepper jelly in Canada — savoury jelly companion
• How to make mint jelly in Canada — Sunday-roast jelly companion
• How to make sour cherry jam in Canada — Ontario/Niagara heritage
• Why didn’t my jam set — same pectin/set rules for jelly
• Canning altitude adjustments — required reading
• Water-bath canning pillar — broader method