HOW TO CAN TOMATO JUICE (A STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL)

1.  Wash tomatoes thoroughly.  

Cut out the stem and any defects or blemishes. 

There is no need to peel the tomatoes. Yay, for keeping things easy!

Yi fan mei yi 310ml tomato juice

2.  Cook the tomatoes.

Cut the tomatoes into chunks for quicker cooking, then dump the into a kettle.

Use your hand (or a potato masher) to squish a few tomatoes in the bottom of the kettle.  This helps create enough tomato juice to keep the tomatoes from sticking to the bottom of the kettle as they start to cook.

As the tomatoes cook, they will start to juice themselves and you’ll soon have more liquid.

Cook on medium heat, stirring several times being sure to move the tomatoes on the bottom to the top for even cooking.

3.  Cook until soft.

Cook the tomatoes until soft– this usually takes about 10 minutes.

4.  Make the Tomato Juice.

At this point, you have several options for turning the cooked tomatoes into juice.  I’m going to explain the process I use and then include details for other methods at the end of the instructions under “Notes”.

Fill the “pan” part of the Food Mill with cooked tomatoes and then turn the handle to juice them.

Continue turning, occasionally reversing the direction to clean the tomatoes off the bottom.

5.  Discard the scraps.

Once there is basically no tomato juice coming out anymore and you have very little peel and seeds left in the food mill pan (it should look something like what I show above), discard the scraps.

I actually often pour the scraps into a cake pan and after it’s full, I’ll run them all through the food mill again.

I like really thick, pulpy juice and I’ve found that by doing this, I get a pulpier juice.  But it is definitely just personal preference and you can always just toss the scraps immediately if you prefer!

6.  Pour the tomato juice into canning jars

Fill clean canning jars with tomato juice- a wide funnel makes this super easy.  The jars should be filled just to the base of the neck.

7.  Add Salt and Citric Acid or bottled Lemon Juice

For the salt, use ½ tsp. per pint and 1 tsp. per quart.  You do not need to add salt when canning tomatoes, but I recommend it because I think it helps enhance the flavor.

Add Citric Acid (¼ tsp. per pint or ½ tsp. per quart) or bottled lemon juice (1 Tbsp. per pint or 2 Tbsp. per quart) to each jar to create a safe level of acidity.

Once the salt and citric acid/lemon juice are added to the jars, wipe the rim of each jar with a clean, damp cloth to remove any tomato residue that may be there.  (If there is even a slight bit of tomato juice on it, it may not allow it to seal properly.)

8.  Prepare the canning lids.

Once you have 7 jars filled, place 7 metal canning lids in a small pan.  Cover with water; bring to a boil.

When the water boils, use a fork or lid lifter to lift the jar lids out of the water and place them on the jars. Be careful not to burn yourself!

Secure each lid with a jar band/ring.  

(Heating the lids softens the rubber, allowing for a better seal. However, I read recently that some of the newer lids recommend that you don’t boil them, so you double check the instructions on your box of lids before doing this step.)

9.  Place the filled jars of tomato juice into the canner.

Once jars are full and have the ring and lids on them, place them in the canner.

Then add hot water to the canner, enough to cover the jars by 1 to 2 inches.  Turn the burner on medium high heat.

Once the water starts to boil, reduce heat slightly and process: 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts.

Make sure the water is boiling gently and steadily the whole time.  (You may need to adjust heat to keep the boil going nicely, but really, as long as it is boiling, you are fine.)

10.  Remove the jars of canned tomato juice. 

After processing is complete, turn the burner off.

Remove jars using the jar lifter– you may want to have a dishrag in your other hand to catch any hot water that drips from the jars as you remove them- and place on an old towel, blanket or another padded surface.  (This protects your countertop from the super hot jars.)  

Allow at least a little bit of air space around each jar, making sure not to have jars close enough to touch.  Do not move jars again until they are completely cool.

Jars should seal as they cool and you will typically hear a snap or pinging sound as the vacuum seal is formed.  Lids will be slightly concave when sealed.

To test the seal, allow the jar to cool completely, then lightly tap the center of the cooled jar lid.  If it is firm and does not move, it should be sealed.  If it pushes in, it didn’t seal properly.  You can still use unsealed jars, just put them in the refrigerator and use them as soon as possible.

After the jars are completely cool, you can remove the rings.  Jars should be wiped clean before storing.