Tomato Juice
 

The basic recipe comes from Balls

Our tomatoes came in early so we sprung in to action

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/tomatobully/DSCN0794.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/tomatobully/DSCN0791.jpg[/img]
We had so many tomatoes we cooked them down in every available pot, including the crock pot.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/tomatobully/DSCN0792.jpg[/img]
The finished product. I'll pop one of these in February and the taste of my garden will come flooding back.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/tomatobully/DSCN0805.jpg[/img]

Looks great!!!!!!

Bully. Are we gonna be sipping on some of that come this Saturday? :-)

not a bad idea. :D

Bully - is that a beverage, or a sauce? I know the name is "Tomato Juice Blend", but with all the vegetables, do you eat it, or do you drink it?

Looks and sounds like V-8... v-6 or v-7 in this case... depending on if you count the lemon juice! 8)

We skip a step or two by putting all our fruits/veggies through a Champion Juicer, heat the juice and can... WOW what a time-saver. I'll never regret that purchase. We make soup with ours, served with grilled cheese, [b][i]very[/i][/b] frequently during the winter... and, yes, what a pleasant flood of memories it brings! And the best part is, we only remember the bounty of the summer and forget the weeds, bugs, heat and humidity!

Cheers,

Lisa
(Got tomato juice?)

Yes, Lisa you're right - that does sound like a V-8. & since I love V-8 I'm sure this recipe will be 1000X better!! No matter if you eat it, or drink it, I'll give it a try - it sounds delicious.

We call it Bully 8

And yes you drink it..unless you've added a jigger of vodka and a splash of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce..then you sip it 8)

Bully - I did up a batch yesterday! I haven't labelled it yet (it's still on the counter, along with my Hot Sauce, Salsa, Tomato Sauce, Whole Tomatoes in Juice ...)

My son came home from his first day at College ( :D ), and asked where that V-8 was & if I had tried it yet ... Tomorrow we'll both crack open the first jar!

[quote=bully]We call it Bully 8

And yes you drink it..unless you've added a jigger of vodka and a splash of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce..then you sip it 8)[/quote]
[color=red]
[b]Don't forget the Tabasco sauce!!![/b][size=6][/size] :D[/color]

Got a recipe? Will it work for frozen maters? My upright freezer is froze shut and may have to unplug it to get to about 150lbs of deseeded mostly dejuiced maters...

How I make and Can Tomato Juice
 

I've often posted about how much I reduce the liquid and pulp after I cut up and run the tomato chunks through my Back To Basics Food Mill. Today, I had five big popcorn bowls full of chunks and it was time to make juice. My keys to reducing the water out and achieving thick juice is shown in the pictures below.

The stove gets turned down as low as I can get it and still get a very slow roll to the contents of the pots without getting any bubbles in that roll. You can see where the two eyes are set in the pictures. Our stove is a glass top and I really love it.

I used one 8 quart pot and one 12 quart pot and started with only about 1 inch of space at the top of each one. I actually thought about making this post when I was an hour into the process.

When I was done, I had 12 quarts and one pint of juice canned. This was a good run. The first three pictures show the starting point of the liquid in the pots (just above the rivits for the handles) and the settings on the stove. The fourth shows how the slow roll only keeps a small area in the center clear of the foam. The last picture just gives an overall view.

Remember, you have to keep the heat down low enough to get the liquid to roll slowly. This allows hot liquid from the bottom to slowly rise and give off steam. But you can't do a fast hard roll with bubbling action because it will scorch and/or burn the juice and ruin the taste. Patience is the real key to success. The reduction rate actually speeds up as the percentage of water gets lower and lower.

Hope this helps.

Ted I think your tomato juice looks fantastic.

Worth

Yeah, Worth. And it tastes better than it looks. I took this picture with the jar backlit by the morning sun to emphasize how thick the juice is when I'm done.

Attaboy, Durgan. You've got a lot to be proud of there. My last harvest was just over 3 bushels and I'm still working on them. But those are some pretty good looking maters you showed in the pictures.

BTW, what did the Champion Juicer cost? I may have to see about getting one. My BTB Food Mill cost me $56 at Ace Hardware back in 2009. But, I may have to look at one of those things you have. Cleanup on your juicer looks to be simple and straightforward.

looking for juice info
 

I am preparing my 1st batch of tomato juice and would like to know if and when I can add some cutting celery to it. Should it be added from the start or later after the tomatoes are cooked down some? I will be using a Foley mill to strain it. We like it sort of like V8- a little spicy and celery taste. All help will be appreciated.

[QUOTE=JoParrott;493594]I am preparing my 1st batch of tomato juice and would like to know if and when I can add some cutting celery to it. Should it be added from the start or later after the tomatoes are cooked down some? I will be using a Foley mill to strain it. We like it sort of like V8- a little spicy and celery taste. All help will be appreciated.[/QUOTE]

Dump everythi8ng in the pot. It is called INJUN Cooking. I usually add celery to the juice. A few beets enhance the red color.

[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?YCVZV[/URL] 17 August 2014 Tomato Juice
Thirty one liter jars of juice were made from about 35 pounds of tomatoes. Two beets were added to enhance the red color, two onions for flavor as was some celery. The process took two batches, since only about 20 pounds can be processed in each pot.The processed juice was pressure canned at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for long term storage at room temperature.Pictures depict the process.Tomatoes are not prolific this year due to cold temperatures and sparse Sun.

[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?AGNPW[/URL] 6 August 2014 Cucumber Tomato Juice
Many cucumbers were available from the garden and the tomatoes are starting to produce. About 30 pounds total was made into juice in two batches. A total of 13 liters of juice was obtained and pressure canned at 15 PSI for 15 minutes. Annotated pictures depict the method used.

Question about tomato juice
 

so I processed 25 pint of tomatoes today. Was wondering if the juice leftover can be turned into tomato juice? If so, recipe? Thanks!

What does the leftover liquid look like? Is it red? Does it include any pulp? How much do you have?

Assuming you want to keep it, boil it down a bit if there is an abundance of clear liquid. This will keep the flavors and thicken it up some. Keep the boil VERY low. If you are getting lots of bubbling, it may burn it or scorch it. When you get it to the right thickness, taste it. If it needs a bit of sweetener, or anything else you want in there to bend the taste, now is the time to add it.

Add up to one teaspoon of canning salt to each quart jar, or you can use lemon juice or pectin. But I think citrus changes the overall taste, so I do the salt. Process in a water bath or pressure canner per manufacturer's recommendations.

If your liquid is really clear and thin, you might want to squeeze a few toms to add the pulp. But, the liquid is all about flavor. Boil it down slowly and you'll know the taste of summer this winter.

Cool. The juice was very red, and thicker than it usually is, that's what made me wonder to begin with. Guess I did a better job than usual getting rid of excess juice while seeding it. Thanks!

Great, I'm happy you don't have to waste it. Just always remember to adjust the taste before it goes into the jar. You know, I only use salt because it adds to the flavor and helps with the long term storage.

You can start with the juice, and then add things to bring the taste around to almost any tomato-based soup flavor you like and then put it into the jar. Campbell's tomato soup can be closely duplicated with juice from good tasting tomatoes, a little bit of salt, and (for me) a little fresh ground pepper.

Thick juice out of the jars, some diced up veggies and a couple of favorite herbs with some citrus and you have great salsas.

Take care

Not trying to step on any toes but thought I would chime in on this thread. My wife & I recently purchased a Victario strainer and now have a surplus of tomatoes. I'm trying to find a simple recipe for making tomato juice. We would of course be using the new strainer & a simple bath but we aren't sure of cooking times??? I'm sure there are recipes on here somewhere but can you point me in the right direction? I'll continue to look...

[QUOTE=wildcat62;497859]Not trying to step on any toes but thought I would chime in on this thread. My wife & I recently purchased a Victario strainer and now have a surplus of tomatoes. I'm trying to find a simple recipe for making tomato juice. We would of course be using the new strainer & a simple bath but we aren't sure of cooking times??? I'm sure there are recipes on here somewhere but can you point me in the right direction? I'll continue to look...[/QUOTE]

No you aren't stepping on toes.:D

Are you asking about juice reducing times or processing times as in water bath to can them?

The reducing time can vary the processing time is the same.
[URL]http://www.uga.edu/nchfp[/URL]
[url]http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_juice.html[/url]
As for reducing let the juice simmer til it gets thick this way you dont have the clear watery stuff in the end in your jars.
Then you can dilute it as you wish when you open the jar up.
This can take a while.

Worth

If you are looking for a tomato juice with a few veggies in it, here is a recipe you can water bath can. Be sure to add the lemon juice or citric acid though to make it safe.

[url]http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_veg_juice.html[/url]

Here is a simple juice recipe with only tomatoes. The NCHFP recommends the addition of lemon juice/citric acid to tomatoes because they can be borderline on the pH scale. Some folks might not follow the recommendation to only use firm ripe tomatoes and if they use overripe, then the pH could be too high.

[url]http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_juice.html[/url]

We posted at the same time, Worth ;-)

So basically use the Victario to strain any seeds/skin from the tomatoes.
Boil the juice to the desired consistency to reduce water.
Add the lemon juice or acid.
Follow the process times in the chart.
Seems simple enough. What about adding salt ? Can you add the salt instead of the lemon juice or is that for 2 different purposes?
I guess the advantage in using Victario is not having to blanch the tomatoes ?

[QUOTE=wildcat62;497872]So basically use the Victario to strain any seeds/skin from the tomatoes.
Boil the juice to the desired consistency to reduce water.
Add the lemon juice or acid.
Follow the process times in the chart.
Seems simple enough. What about adding salt ? Can you add the salt instead of the lemon juice or is that for 2 different purposes?
I guess the advantage in using Victario is not having to blanch the tomatoes ?[/QUOTE]

Citric acid would be what I would use instead of lemon juice.
If you do use the juice use the bottle not from a lemon that way the acidity will always be the same.
It is the part that makes sure your PH is below 4.6
Salt/acid two different things.
You cant interchange them.
Salt to taste or no salt at all it is your choice.
I prefer less salt because it hides the tomato flavor.
One 7.5 oz bottle of citric acid will can up to 77 quarts of tomatoes.
Do not confuse it with fruit fresh.
Fruit fresh is ascorbic acid, not the same as citric acid.
Some people blanch even using the tomato juicer.
It also take the work out of processing tomatoes the old way the way we did.


Worth

Thank you all for the help. Loads of information & nice people on this website.

The only other advice I can give you is to reduce it to more of a sauce Constancy but don't over heat ie burn.

And dont add a bunch of crazy ingredients just keep it simple.
Tomato citric acid and salt.
That way you can not only drink it but cook with it also.
Any spices can be added later.
I use the low sodium V/8 juice instead of tomato sauce for my chili.

Worth

Clear tomato juice bottles the same way as pulpy juice. I typically use clear juice in soups.