How to Crush Grapes

Crushing helps separate the grape pulp from the juice.

Crushing extracts the juice from grapes. Use the juice to make wine, jellies, jams or fruit juice for cooking and drinking. Thin-skinned, seedless grapes, such as most table grape varieties, require the least amount of effort to crush and use since you don't need to strain out the seeds or thick skins after crushing and juicing. Heat helps extract more juice from the remaining grape pulp, allowing you to get the most from your batch of grapes. Does this Spark an idea?

Print this article

Bowl
Potato masher
Pot
Sieve or cheesecloth

Instructions

- 1
  
  Rinse the grapes clean under cool water. Remove the stems and dispose of any spoiled or bruised fruits.
- 2
  
  Place 2 cups of grapes in a large bowl. You can crush more than 2 cups at a time, but smaller batches are simpler to crush evenly.
- 3
  
  Crush the grapes using a potato masher. Press the masher down onto the grapes, twist and lift. Repeat the mashing technique until all the grape skins burst and the fruit is evenly crushed. Repeat for each remaining batch of grapes.
- 4
  
  Simmer the crushed grapes in a large pot for 10 minutes so the flesh releases the rest of its juice.
- 5
  
  Strain the grapes and juice through a mesh sieve or cheesecloth to separate the grape pulp and skins from the juice. There is no need to separate the pulp and juice if you are making jam.

Tips & Warnings

Put the grape pulp through a food mill to separate out the skins if you don't like skins in your jam.
Crush the grapes in a juicer or food processor if you have access to either appliance.