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Old August 14, 2014   #20
Tracydr
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7
Posts: 3,207
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ContainerTed View Post
Kenny J - I think that to add water back in would be hard unless you have easy access to demineralized water, such as that sold for use in steam irons. Tap water contains stuff that wasn't in those tomatoes when you picked them. I think a change of taste would be a high probability.

After I cut up the tomatoes into ~1" pieces, I use a Back-To-Basics Food Mill to strain out the seeds and pieces of the skins. Everything coming out of that operation goes into the pot. After bringing it to a boil, I reduce the heat to get a simmer that just barely rolls the liquid in the center of the pot. This allows water reduction without any sign of burning. I don't even get a thick layer of pulp on the bottom of my 12 quart pot.

Last night, I turned 17.5 quarts of raw juice into 12 quarts plus one pint of tomato juice. I kept a small amount of the original raw juice and compared it to the final result. Other than an easily noticeable difference in the thickness, I saw no change in the flavor. As posted above, the "clear-ish" juice contains a lot of great flavor. Flavor I want my juice.

It alls comes down to personal preference. I like thick juice for several reasons. One of those is that it really allows all of the flavors to come thru to me during those long winter months when I miss my heirlooms and can only find cardboard tasting commercial tomatoes to make my BLT's. You know, take a bite of the BLT and a sip of that wonderful tomato juice canned last summer. Yeah, I know it's pretending and ain't quite the same, but if you close your eyes just for a moment, ........

Well, now I have 28 quarts of "this summer" and still have more to come. AAAAHHHHHH!!!! Life is good.
I'm going to have to try this. I'd love to make my own "V-8" juice but the first time I tried, it simply didn't taste the same. I like V-8 for mixing Bloody Mary'/Marias.
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