Recipes

Make Your Own Tomato Juice

If you love tomatoes, you’ll enjoy a glass of tomato juice. This is especially true if it’s freshly made by you with fresh, ripe tomatoes. Making tomato juice is not as difficult as you might think.

Follow the instructions below and you’ll be drinking homemade tomato juice in no time.

Author: Noelle Renee Allen

Ingredients

Tomatoes
Lemon juice
Jar funnel
Jar grabber
Large pot
Spoons and ladle
Pressure canner
Canning jars
New lids and rings

Instructions

Step #1: Choose your tomatoes. The best ones to use for juice are beefsteak, Roma, Lemon Boy, and Better Boy. You need about 23 pounds for 7 quarts or 14 pounds for 9 pints.
Once you have your tomatoes, wash them, slice off the bruises and remove the stems.
Step #2: Wash the jars and lids. While you don't need to sanitize them, it's a good idea to do it. You can simply place them in the dishwasher on the sanitizing cycle.
Step #3: Cut up the tomatoes and place them into the pot. You can use a juicer, but there's a higher likelihood the juice will separate when you use it.
Heat the tomatoes in the pot until boiling. Crush the tomatoes as they are heating up and boiling. While the tomatoes are boiling and you're crushing them, add more tomatoes to the pot.
Step #4: Simmer the tomatoes for five minutes after you've added all the tomatoes.
Step #5: Use a sieve to remove all the skin and seeds from the tomatoes in the pot. Put the tomatoes back in the pot and heat it up again.
Step #6: In each jar, add two tablespoons of lemon juice. For seasoning, you can also add one teaspoon of salt to each jar. Once you've done that, simply pour the tomatoes into the jars. Make sure to leave at least a ½ inch at the top for expanding room.
Step #7: The last step is to can them using a pressure canner or a water bath. It usually takes about 10 to 20 minutes. Once the canning is done, you just have to let it cool to room temperature or place in the fridge. You can then store your canned tomato juice.
Seasoning is everything with tomato juice. For more flavor, you can add herbs to it such as basil or parsley. As you get better at canning tomato juice, you'll find a combination of seasoning that gives you the best tasting juice. It will be juice you can't find anywhere else because it's your very own.