Juicing Grapes the Hard Way

Okay, a few years ago I got the bright idea to make grape juice, and so my Mom and I scoured the county for a place with u-pick grapes. We finally found one. How weird, right? Doesn't anyone else want to u-pick grapes anymore?

So I called my Grandma before we went and asked her if I needed like a knife to cut the grape clusters off. The extent of my knowledge of picking grapes was from the movie A Walk in the Clouds. They used a knife so maybe I needed one.

My Grandma said, "No. When I picked grapes they came off very easily."

We get to the field, and I start to feel overwhelmed before we even get to the vines. The rows have not been cared for- to say the least. Grass as tall as me is growing in the middle of the rows, along with wild blackberry bushes. Once we brave our way down this ridiculously long row, I realize two things.
       1. There are not many clusters of grapes
       2. They are not coming off easily at all

Well, we'd already driven all the way out here, and by this time we're so far down this row that honestly it seemed pretty overwhelming to try to go back. So I start using my keys to try to saw off clumps of grapes. It was awful! All I could think the whole time was- Obviously my Grandma doesn't remember this clearly at all.

We finally get back to the fruit stand (After falling in holes, getting stuck in blackberry bushes, etc.) and buy our grapes. All like 20 lbs. of them for all that work. And the people at the stand begin telling us about the juicer/steamer. We were intrigued. Everything I'd every read about juicing involved a cheese cloth, and seemed pretty overwhelming.

We were sent to Bi-Mart, but they were out of this beautiful machine so we decided to tackle juice making without it. Big mistake. It took forever, didn't yield much, and we weren't satisfied with the finished product.

There was a lot of sediment in it. I guess we needed to do more with the cheesecloth. Really, the only person happy with the juice was my husband. And he is not picky, so that's not saying much.

Fast forward a few years, and my Grandma gives me a juicer/steamer for Christmas. Coming soon- "Ode to my juicer/steamer."