how to can tomato juice using a juicer

Preserving fruits and vegetable juices seem pretty cool to me cause here I can get the flavor of my desired fruit or vegetables on the off-season too. This is a kind of pour family tradition. Still,  we have kept our tradition going on. I have heard my great-great-grandparents used to love gardening. So, from their time, gardening can be told as our traditional hobby. And the trend of canning fruit juices and vegetable juices came from my grandmother. Today in this article, I’m going to share how to can tomato juice using a juicer.

As you know, using a juicer to get juice from any type of fruits and vegetables is the easiest and most-handy way. So, I’m using here juicer to get my tomato juice. But, if you want, you can smash the tomatoes and get juice from it without juicer too. That process, to be honest, is a little annoying to me.

Things that will need:

• 1 saucepan
• 1 large pan
• Bowl (medium-sizes)
• Ice water
• Mesh strainer
• Canning rack
• 6 Canning jars
• Canning flat lids
• Canning screw-top lids
• Towel (clean)
• Knife
• Ladle
• Tongs
• Tomatoes (I have used Roma tomato)
• 4 tablespoons of vinegar
• Salt (optional)

The Process of making tomato juice and canning:

Step 1:

First of all, you need to wash the tomatoes finely.

Step 2:

If your tomatoes have bad spots, simply cut them off. Cause, bad spots can mess up your whole tomato juice.

Step 3:

Take a saucepan and fill it with water. Over high heat, let the water boil for 5 minutes or more. The drop the unpeeled, uncut whole tomatoes into the boiling water just for 1 minute.

Step 4:

Then instantly place the tomatoes into the ice water, kept in a separate bowl. Keep them into the ice water for 5 minutes. The tomatoes are now semi-tender and you can simply remove the skin of tomatoes without any effort.

Step 5:

With a knife, cut the tomatoes in the quarter or smaller depending on what type of tomato juicer you have. Or, if you have a pretty big juicer, you can simply put the semi-tender whole tomatoes into the juicer, making sure you can make the juice out of it as much as you can.

Step 6:

Now, pour all juice including the blended bits and pieces of tomatoes in a saucepan in order to heat. Putting the temperature on a simmering point, boil the tomato juice and pieces for at least 15 minutes. You must keep the tomato juice stirring frequently so that there’s no chance of burning the tomato juice. Now add the 4 tablespoons of vinegar into the tomato juice stirring heavily. Also, if you want, you can add salt as per your taste.

Step 7:

Well, there is a fact in tomato juice, that they are not like clean juices. They are slightly mushed and tend to hold some thickness. Anyways, you need to strain the tomato juice throughout a mesh strainer so that the remaining seeds and non-smooth pieces can get separated.

Step 8:

In another saucepan or normal pan, keep a metal canning rack. The pan should be large enough to hold 2 inches of water. Now fill the pan with water, at least 1 inch in depth. Bring the water into the boiling point. It may take not more than 10 minutes.

Step 9:

Now you need to put the canning flat lids in another bowl. Over the canning lids, carefully pour the boiling water so that they can be free from germs.

Step 10:

Now, you need to take the jars out of the boiling water. Putting the jars upside down in a clean towel, you need to clean it.

Turning the jars right side up, pour the hot tomato juice with a ladle. Remember to ladle in the juice within 1/2 inch of the top, in that case, you will notice air bubbles. So, you must run a knife or fork through the tomato juice so that there are no trapped bubbles left in the jar.

Step 11:

With paper towels, wipe off the top of the jar, and put on a flat lid on the top of the jar. Lastly, you need to screw on the canning flat lid.

Step 12:

Then you need to place the jars filled with tomato juice back in the pan. Well, definitely on the canning rack, making sure the jar should not touch the bottom or other side of the large pan. There must be 2 inches of space between the jar and pan sides. Again, turn on the heat to boil the water for another 10 minutes.

Step 13:

This is the last step of your canning. Use the tongs to remove the jar out of the boiling water. Remember to grip the sides of the jar, not the lid. If you grip the lid, there’s a chance to get the jar opened. Do the same procedure with the other jars. Place the jars in a safe place, leaving them serene for at least 12 hours. Securing the lid completely, you can store the jars in a cool place for years.

See, the canning process of tomato juice is super easy. For this 1 hour 30 minutes of effort, you can enjoy your tomato juice for the whole year.

Conclusion:

Well, I have shown you one of the easiest but efficient way of canning tomato juice. This recipe is actually my concept and I couldn’t categorize it whether it is a hot bath canner or pressure canner. It’s a mix-up policy and 100% effective. Also, in my soup recipe and chili recipe, my homemade tomato juice is a must-need ingredient. Another thing, when you first open one jar filled with tomato juice, it must sound like “pop”. This sound notifies you of the break of vacuum. I think that is all for can tomato juice. This recipe will help you preparing another item also. If you have any questions regarding this, let us know via email or comment section.