October 6, 2013

Canning Tomato Juice

This morning, before my feet hit the floor, I got a call. A friend with a flourishing garden had 2 five gallon buckets of tomatoes that needed “done something with” as she said. So I retrieved the buckets and began the long process of making tomato juice.

Now, I have heard many people tell me that canning your own juice is somewhat dated. My husband for example was distinctly grouchy about having the stinky tomatoes with fruit flies come in the front door. And it is NOT an easy process by any means, to make your own juice. I believe that I replied to his grouchiness by saying “Making juice like this would make my grandma Martin proud of me, THAT is why I do it.” And we began the lengthy process of cleaning and squishing.

Here’s the way that we made our juice. (ALL 24 JARS SEALED!!)

Things you will need:

Tomatoes (obviously)

Jars

Flats and Rings that fit those jars

Canning salt

Tomato juicer or Squisher or sieve

canning “tools” – jar lifter, hot pads, Large stock pots,

1. Take the stinky, dirty tomatoes and clean them thoroughly. Cut out all the bad parts and quarter them.

My hubby, the camera was steamed up, but he deserved a shout out for all the work he did for me today!

There were 2 of these buckets, nearly overflowing.

2. Clean all your jars. My 2 five gallon buckets of tomatoes made 24 quarts of juice. Using that math, there’s about 12 quarts to one 5 gallon bucket. So plan how many jars you need accordingly. You should probably add a couple just in case. You don’t want to have to stop in the middle of the “hot juice” part to clean jars. Also, my mom swears that you should not can in mayonnaise jars. I have seen people do it before and I am not sure why she is so adamant about it, but I always listen to the things my mom tells me, so make sure that your jars all have a name on them. And use HOT HOT HOT (as my mom says) water to clean your dishes. And NO DISHWASHER! Again, not sure why, just “mom said so”

Jars that have been hand washed in HOT HOT HOT water.

Also keep in mind, that all the rims of the jars should be intact so as to make a good seal. Make sure that you run your finger around the top to check for a smooth finish.

3. Cook the tomatoes a little bit, then run them through the squisher. We DID NOT cook them before-hand when I was a little girl at home, and we cleaned tomato juice off the ceiling when we were done. It wasn’t until MUCH later that mom realized the partially cooked tomatoes squished cleaner and faster.

I forgot to get a picture of us running the tomatoes thru, but this is like my moms squisher. It make a pretty big mess, have your towels ready.

4. Next, you want to bring you juice to a rolling boil. But do not walk away from the stove, this stuff turns into a volcano of tomato juice the instant you turn your back. After it comes to a boil, you can turn it down so it boils less, then leave it there to cook for a good 10 minutes or so to get the “scum” to cook to the sides.

5. While you are keeping an eye on your stove, you can add to the other burner a “longer and deeper” type of pan. I always use a galvanized roaster like in the picture. This is for your jars and lids and rings to boil in. Put all of those things in the pan and cover them with water and get them heating up. The name of the game for canning is “HOT HOT HOT” (at least that is what my mom always said.)

This is a rolling boil. Right after this you want to turn yuor heat down so it doesn’t boil over. HUGE MESS! Ask me how I know 😉

This is how I set up my “hot juice” stage. The left stock pot has my juice in it (boiling) and the right roaster pan has the rings lids and jars in it (boiling. Remember HOT HOT HOT!

6. When the scum is boiling over to the sides of the pan and the juice has turned very red, then you are ready to fill your jars. Using your jar lifter, take a hot jar out of the roaster, set it on a towel next to your stock pot and add a teaspoon of salt to your hot jar. Next put the funnel in your jar and fill it with a ladle to the top. Draw from your stock pot out of the middle, where the juice is boiling and there isn’t any “scum”. Remove your funnel, and take your finger wrapped in a towel and dry the rim of your jar. Take a hot flat from the roaster pan, dry it and set it on you jar top, then quickly take a rim and tighten it onto the jar. Set the whole hot mess on a towel out of your area. You are ready to start your next jar.

This is the set up for how I fill my jars. The funnel and the salt, the little ladle to skim the jar after it’s filled.

These are 2 “tools” of canning. The Jar lifter is so useful for all those HOT HOT HOT jars. And the little stick thingy, that has a magnet on the end to grab rings and flats out of the boiling water. GENIUS!

This is the canning salt, DO NOT use iodized salt. I am sure there is a reason for this. But you know, mom said so, is the only one I’ve got.

7. After you do this process of filling jars for what seems like forever, you will get down to just a little juice and a bunch of foamy red scum. DO NOT make a jar out of this. It is all the impurities that have boiled out and it is not good eats. Just pitch it. And start the clean up. WHAT A MESS!

But the results are great. The juice we made was really pretty and there is a great sense of pride in the work that went into those jars.

Grandma Martin would be proud!

Author: Sarah

Filed Under: Antique Recipes