How Are Raisins Made?
Most raisins are sun-dried grapes. The most common raisin produced is the Thompson Seedless variety. The grapes are harvested when they reach a minimum sugar content of 19% or higher. Harvest season starts around the end of August. Once the optimum sugar content is achieved, the grapes are promptly picked and laid-out on paper trays to sun-dry in the vineyards. It takes approximately three weeks for the grapes to dry. Grapes do not become raisins until their moisture content is reduced to about 15%.
Ever since the ancient Egyptians first discovered that drying grapes preserved them, improved their flavor, and made them sweeter, people have been enjoying raisins. Most raisins today are made from seedless grapes which grow on vines in large grape orchards. Each grape vine, with the proper care, can produce fruit for 100 years
Our friend grows grapes that are harvested for raisins. He is a raisin rancher. His fields grow with the sun, so they get the most exposure. This increases the sugar content and makes the grapes, and thus raisins sweet. When it is time to harvest his grapes, he has a crew come in and they use a special knife to cut the clumps of grapes off of the vines. The grapes are laid onto a piece of brown paper that is laying on the field. The grapes lay here, in the sun and are dried. The raisin rancher picks up the raisins when they are dry enough – the water content is measured – and he takes them in to be sold to the packagers….like Sun-Maid. They have to pray for no rain, as if it rains the raisins are ruined as fungus and mold will grow and destroy the crop. Sugar is not added to raisins…they are sweet enough and it is not needed as a preservative.
