A couple of weeks ago when Texas grapefruit was in season I picked up about 40 pounds of it for canning.  I think I paid less than $7.00 for the 40 pounds, making it a pretty good deal for Michigan.  I’m guessing it’s a lot cheaper in roadside stands down south, but with the snow still above the top of the boots up here, it’s not very likely to show up in many road side stands.  You’ve heard me rant about the relativity of local food in previous entries, so just let me leave it at:  I’m fine buying my grapefruit from Texas.  1000 miles away is a lot better than 5,000 miles away in Brazil.  ’nuff said?

Anyway, to keep the Texas grapefruit around and useful until it comes in season this time next year, I wanted to put as much of it up as I could.  The idea of dehydrated grapefruit just didn’t hold the appeal that moist, tangy-sweet grapefruit served ice cold does.  So I decided to can it.  Home canning grapefruit has its ups and its downs, but over all I am very happy with the process.

The most important thing to consider when canning grapefruit is the removal of as much of the white pithy material as possible.  This is what makes grapefruit bitter.  The grapefruit were peeled by hand by the whole family.  This was fun and much better smelling than the onions we dehydrated a few weeks ago.

The next step was to remove the hearts from the membranes.  This was a bit tedious and time consuming.  Unfortunately I had not heard of this easy method of cleaning grapefruit before we canned these up.  Next year we will use this method and probably be willing to put up more because of the speed that the membrane removal goes using the method in this video.

The sectioned and peeled grapefruit is very easy to process.  Being an acidic fruit, you don’t even need to break out the pressure canner.  Simply fill the jars and top with a weak sugar solution leaving 1/2″ head space.  Process quarts for 10 minutes in a water bath canner.  That’s it.

I find the texture of canned grapefruit to be a little disappointing, but not detrimental.  The flavor is excellent.  I almost prefer it to fresh, but I think this is mainly the ease with which it can be eaten vs. fresh grapefruit.  I also think watermelon that has been cut up into little chunks and de-seeded tastes much better than big slices of watermelon.  The wife has never been very happy with my mother for spoiling me like that.

Once you have the canned grapefruit you can simply eat it.  I like to mix it with other fruit that is in season or stored for an almost fresh fruit salad.  Cubed apple mixes well with it to give the dish a bit of crunch.  Grapes of course are wonderful as are cherries.  One thing I haven’t tried is to add a bit of dried fruit to it and see how the texture feels.  I’m thinking a dish with canned grapefruit, dehydrated strawberries, apples, and some raisins.  Maybe top with a bit of granola for a good breakfast.

You can also turn the canned grapefruit into a juice very quickly or juice it and then use the juice to make a delicious grapefruit jelly.

Grapefruit Jelly

3 Cups grapefruit juice
4 cups sugar
1.75 ounce of  box pectin
3 drops red food color (obviously optional, but improves look)

Add pectin to juice and bring to a boil. Add sugar and bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute. Add food color. Skim and pour into six 6-ounce jars. Skim again and seal.

That’s my adventure with grapefruit from a couple of weeks ago.  Keep workin’ for the simple life!