Grapes to Raisins

We have a very nice Candice grape vine off the back of the garage.  It grows over an arbour which also shades the dog's yard.  And no, when grapes are ripe and in danger of falling in the run, the dog is not put in there because grapes are very bad for dogs!

We never seem to get many grapes because just when they reach ripeness, the raccoons arrive and clean us out.  The first we realize that we've been robbed again is when we hear thumping on the roof and many rapid little footsteps - and by then, of course, it's much too late.  Grapes are ripe enough when they feel soft to the touch, taste sweet and have a bloom on them.

Only once have we ever gotten grapes for ourselves.  About 4 years ago we had a bumper harvest and beat out the raccoons.  I had enough grapes to give lots to friends and to make raisins!  And this year we seem to have another good harvest, so hubby and I were out last night picking bunches which had ripened. Since there was no time to process the grapes last night and today was a busy day, the processing took place tonight.

Candice grapes washed and ready for stripping

I washed the bunches carefully and picked off wizened grapes.  I think these were exposed to the birds who were trying to get in ahead of the raccoons.  My dehydrator trays were nice and clean from last year, so all I had to do was strip off the grapes and fill the trays.  I know I should have taken more care in placing them so they didn't touch, but too bad!  If some stick together it's no big deal.  After reading up on the Internet, the dehydrator was set for 12 hours at 135 degrees F.

Stripping grapes

I still have a few of the raisins I processed last time.  Perhaps I may have dried them a bit too long, but I understand now that this makes them last longer.  I also read that if you add a wee bit of water to the raisins and give them a few seconds in the microwave, it softens them up.  I've always done it by soaking them for a few minutes in hot water and then using the hot water in whatever I'm baking.

The raisins I've gotten in the past have been superb.  Candice grapes make a really grapey-tasting raisin. Hopefully there'll be more grapes to harvest as there are still quite a few bunches up in the arbour getting riper.  It would be very nice if the raccoons gave me another raisin year!

2 Days Later:  The grapes took much longer to dehydrate than I'd expected - probably 36 hours in all.  At the end of it, though, I have a nice little container of delicious raisins to tuck away.  Here's what they look like.