Tomato Juice

This past Sunday I canned more tomato juice and this time I added some other vegetables to make a vegetable juice rather than just plain tomato juice. The directions for the recipe below are the traditional instructions for canning tomato juice as found in my canning book. I don't follow them exactly though. Years ago, I was blessed enough to get a Champion Juicer. I used it a lot when we first got it, but eventually the newness wore off and I stopped using it, then stored it out of sight. Last year when my husband saw all time and effort it was taking me to can our tomatoes, he asked, "Why don't you use the juicer"? The thought simply never occurred to me before, but the more I thought about his suggestion I said to myself, why not!? Thanks to my husband's brilliant idea I have been able to cut my canning time in half by putting my produce through the juicer rather than using a sieve this season.

After juicing my tomatoes and vegetables, I add the juice to a large stock pot and bring it to almost boiling. While I'm juicing, I heat the water in in my water bath canner and place my empty quart jars on the rack (in the raised position) so that when my juice is to the desired temperature, I can start adding it to the hot jars for processing. When all was said and done I wound up with 34 quarts.

Lisa and Ann asked me for the recipe that I use so without further ado, here it is.

22 pounds tomatoes
3/4 c. diced carrots
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped parsley
3/4 c. chopped celery
3/4 c. chopped green pepper
1 T. salt (optional)
Bottle lemon juice or citric acid

Wash tomatoes; drain. Remove core and blossom ends. Cut into quarters. Combine tomatoes and vegetables in a large saucepot; simmer 20 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. Press mixture through a sieve or food mill. Stir in salt, if desired. Heat juice 5 minutes at 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not boil. Add 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid to each quart jar. Add 1 tablespoon or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to each pint jar. Ladle hot juice into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 40-minutes, quarts 45 minutes, in a boiling water canner. Yield: about 14 pints or 7 quarts.

Yield Information

One bushel of fresh tomatoes weighs 53 pounds and yields approximately 18 quarts of canned tomatoes or 15 to 18 quarts of juice. Approximately 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds of fresh tomatoes makes 1 quart of canned tomatoes.

Process Carefully to Avoid Spoilage

The most common reasons for spoilage in home-canned tomato products are underprocessing and incomplete seals. Tomatoes that have not been processed long enough to destroy molds and heat-resistant bacteria may spoil during storage. One of the common spoilage organisms, Bacillus coagulans, is very heat resistant and causes flat-sour spoilage. The jar lid may still be sealed and the product may appear normal, but the tomatoes will smell sour because of lactic acid produced by the growth of B. coagulans in the product. Never use tomatoes or tomato juices with off-odors.

Molds can grow on the surface of improperly processed tomato products and may eventually reduce the acidity to a point where botulism-producing spores can grow and produce a deadly toxin. Because even minute amounts of botulism toxin can cause fatal illness, discard without tasting any canned products that show mold growth on the surface. Discard them where they cannot be eaten by other people or animals.

The processing times in this fact sheet are designed to ensure sufficient destruction of bacteria and molds. Where appropriate, processing recommendations for both water bath and pressure canning are given. In general, a pressure canner results in higher quality and more nutritious canned tomato products.