Up late to make tomato juice tonight

ContainerTed · October 12, 2018

Well, I went over to Grainger County and purchased 4 bushels of what they called Beefsteak tomatoes to make my juice. I chopped up 3 bushels and have been making juice all day. I have the first 7 quarts out of the pressure canner and am reducing about 6 gallons of juice at the moment. It is soooo.... good. I didn't have that much out of my garden (at the same time) that would justify trying to make juice. So, I kept some of the juice from all the ones I grew and added the volume of the purchase and ........ Yeah, it's just wonderful.

I started with about 18 gallons of raw juice, and I'm cooking it down a bit more than usual. That's because I usually take out the seeds and then do the juice. With this setup, I've got a bit more watery juice that needs to be reduced.

So, it looks like about 24 to 30 quarts, give or take. Yeah, for those who haven't followed my juice posts before, I like my juice thick. In January and February, I'll be tasting some good stuff. I've said it before, and I'll repeat it again. It's like drinking a summer heirloom in the middle of a winter snow storm.

And, my recipe is just reducing the liquid and then adding canning salt. Nothing else. I've still got one quart from 2016 that will be next on the menu.

Take care, y'all.

Take care

ContainerTed · October 12, 2018

Got 25 quarts out of this first part of the run. I'm tired. Been at this since about 9 o'clock this morning. I'll finish tomorrow.

Yeah, it tastes so danged good.

ginger2778 · October 13, 2018

Ted what do you use to separate out the skins and seeds, and get it fine enough to be drinkable? I might want to try it this year, and I haven't a clue how to start. ( I suppose I could watch a YouTube video)

ContainerTed · October 13, 2018

Marsha, I am currently using a "Back to Basics" food mill. It is a hand crank type and is almost identical to the Victorio products. BTW, it also does apples for apple sauce and apple butter, etc. Mine cost me $57 about ten years ago. I am currently looking at the attachment for our Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Here's my steps to make my juice.

1. Wash the tomatoes. DUHHHH !!!!

2. Begin cutting the tomatoes and removing seeds. I use the point of my best knife to remove them without too much damage to the locule walls. After the seeds are secured, I cut up the remains of the tomatoes into chunks 1.5-2". I use large plastic bowls to hold the cut up chunks. I do not remove the skins.

3. I crank all the tomatoes thru the BTB mill which removes the skins and remaining seeds. I run everything thru at least twice to get all the juice and "meat" possible. The skins are usually so devoid of any meat that I can do a skin color check.

4. The juice goes into a large 12 quart pot on the stove where it is brought up to a gently rolling boil. Actually, you can't really call it a boil because the juice "rolls" but there are no bubbles. I stir with a large spoon every now and then and check the bottom for any sticking.

5. Now begins the reduction phase. You know you have the setup right when the contents of the pot are rolling without bubbles and the steam is rising off the surface. So, this is stir every now and then, and wait time. It is also tasting time and this is where, as it thickens, I add canning salt and perhaps a bit of sugar if the tomatoes had been on the tart side. It's important to wait till late in the reduction phase to add the salt. This assures the ratio of salt to juice is no more than 1 teaspoon per quart. When I have reduced it enough, I put it into jars and pressure can it.

I keep the freshly canned jars on the kitchen counter for about 48 hours to make sure the seals are good. I can reprocess any that fail. I've only had one fail ever. It was an almost undetectable irregularity in the rim of the jar. Then they are stored on shelves at normal room temp until needed. I like my juice cold, so mine will go into the fridge just before consumption.

I'm going to finish off the final bushel today. I'll take a few pictures and post them here.

Worth1 · October 13, 2018

I wonder if this stuff would make some sort of good hooch.

Worth

ContainerTed · October 13, 2018

It makes a great wine, but you might have to add some sugar to get a higher alcohol content.

Salsacharley · October 13, 2018

I bet your juice has some healing properties, especially spiritually.

Worth1 · October 13, 2018

My job as a wee thing was to stand on a chair and stir the stuff in a big granite ware kettle so it wouldn't stick.

ContainerTed · October 13, 2018

Okay, here's the rig I use. I mount the BTB mill on one of our old cutting boards. I add in a small block of wood to raise it up to fit the height of my bowls. I also use a couple of clamps to hold everything together as one unit over the double sink.

DSCF0001.JPG

This is the hopper where you put the tomato chunks. The hole is the driver for how large or small the chunks should be.

DSCF0002.JPG

Here's how I have my chunks before they go into the hopper. Staging them this way allows me to do a lot of cutting up before I have to squeeze out the juice.

DSCF0003.JPG

This blue (cheap) spoon is one that I use a lot. It moves the chunks to the hopper. And it also is my primary stirring instrument. By moving it sideways in the reduction pot, I can create a better stirring turbulence in the deep pot.

DSCF0004.JPG

When everything is operating, this is the view of the process. The skins and seeds go out the left and the good stuff comes into the collection bowl.

DSCF0005.JPG

Skins and seeds will be run at least a second time to make sure no meat or juice is missed.

DSCF0006.JPG

If you want to recover seeds from this process, you must have all the tomatoes to be of the same variety. Otherwise, you'll have no way of knowing which seed is what variety. The BTB mill will get all the meat. The skins are so clean that you can easily tell if the skin is yellow or pink.

DSCF0007.JPG

However, if you do only one variety, when you get done cranking, you can add water to the waste of skins and seeds and by pouring off the skins, the seeds are left and I have not found any problem with viability.

DSCF0008.JPG

That's it. Now the juice is reduced and it goes into jars and is canned. I always take the pressure up to 15-18 PSI for about 5 minutes in addition to the normal recommended canning times. This gives me reassurance that I've covered all the bad accidental possibilities in my sterilization processes.

Cheers, Y'all.

biscuitridge · October 13, 2018

I would hesitate to use that unit because it's made out of aluminum, and aluminum reacts with the acid in the tomatoes, so you'll be getting a dose of aluminum which is a contributing factor in Alzheimer's. I had the same unit, it works great,but I don't want the aluminum in my food so I made one just like it out of stainless steel and added a motor, it makes momma happy. Cabelas sells an attachment for their meat grinders that is made out of porcelain covered cast iron I think, it's a very nice unit,and makes great applesauce as well, 2 weeks ago we got together with some friends and made and canned over a thousand quarts of applesauce and pressed about 300 gal of cider. We used the Cabelas units for the sauce,and my bladder press for the cider.

Worth1 · October 13, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by biscuitridge

I would hesitate to use that unit because it's made out of aluminum, and aluminum reacts with the acid in the tomatoes, so you'll be getting a dose of aluminum which is a contributing factor in Alzheimer's. I had the same unit, it works great,but I don't want the aluminum in my food so I made one just like it out of stainless steel and added a motor, it makes momma happy. Cabelas sells an attachment for their meat grinders that is made out of porcelain covered cast iron I think, it's a very nice unit,and makes great applesauce as well, 2 weeks ago we got together with some friends and made and canned over a thousand quarts of applesauce and pressed about 300 gal of cider. We used the Cabelas units for the sauce,and my bladder press for the cider.

I'm not saying you are wrong but if you do you might consider not eating out in restaurants because many of them use aluminum kettles.

biscuitridge · October 13, 2018

You are right,that's exactly why I don't eat out at restaurants, why should I when I have all the organic produce that I need right in my garden. I know most people aren't that fortunate to have the space and time to grow most of their own food,anyway it's just a heads up in case anyone is interested. Not trying to put a damper on anyone's fun.

ginger2778 · October 14, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

Okay, here's the rig I use. I mount the BTB mill on one of our old cutting boards. I add in a small block of wood to raise it up to fit the height of my bowls. I also use a couple of clamps to hold everything together as one unit over the double sink.

Attachment 84558

This is the hopper where you put the tomato chunks. The hole is the driver for how large or small the chunks should be.

Attachment 84559

Here's how I have my chunks before they go into the hopper. Staging them this way allows me to do a lot of cutting up before I have to squeeze out the juice.

Attachment 84560

This blue (cheap) spoon is one that I use a lot. It moves the chunks to the hopper. And it also is my primary stirring instrument. By moving it sideways in the reduction pot, I can create a better stirring turbulence in the deep pot.

Attachment 84561

When everything is operating, this is the view of the process. The skins and seeds go out the left and the good stuff comes into the collection bowl.

Attachment 84562

Skins and seeds will be run at least a second time to make sure no meat or juice is missed.

Attachment 84563

If you want to recover seeds from this process, you must have all the tomatoes to be of the same variety. Otherwise, you'll have no way of knowing which seed is what variety. The BTB mill will get all the meat. The skins are so clean that you can easily tell if the skin is yellow or pink.

Attachment 84564

However, if you do only one variety, when you get done cranking, you can add water to the waste of skins and seeds and by pouring off the skins, the seeds are left and I have not found any problem with viability.

Attachment 84565

That's it. Now the juice is reduced and it goes into jars and is canned. I always take the pressure up to 15-18 PSI for about 5 minutes in addition to the normal recommended canning times. This gives me reassurance that I've covered all the bad accidental possibilities in my sterilization processes.

Cheers, Y'all.

Ted this thread is a lot of work for you to post but I am thanking you so much. The explanations are detailed, the pictorial makes your technique so easy to follow. I am doing a bit if online searching for the processor, I will get seriously into it in November, because this is crunch time for me. (I have about 500 beautiful seedling plants that were pre ordered for sale, and another 300 for my annual Swap next Saturday.)
I am saving this thread to my favorites, again so many thanks.😍

ContainerTed · October 14, 2018

Marsha, I'm looking to buy the Kitchen Aid accessory simply to have the motorized version. It works with the meat grinder attachment, which I already have. I'm told that a few parts change out to get the tomato/apple/whatever milling function. You might consider this. I intend to have mine for next season, but I'm also considering getting it now (before prices go up again) to do some apple sauce and a jar or two of apple butter.

Apple butter is so easy to make and tastes so good on those morning when you want some to go on your toast.

Dang it. Now I've done gone and got myself watering at the mouth.

Take care

Father'sDaughter · October 14, 2018

Ted, thanks for sharing your "how to." If you do buy the attachment this year and use it for apples, please let us know how it goes.

I bought it last year and it's been fantastic for tomatoes as long as I cut them into a size that easily fits into the chute. You're already doing that with yours, so you won't have a problem.

I just ran a bunch of dwarf pastes through it yesterday and I'm still surprised with how much easier it is to set up and run. Once they were cut up, the machine was set up, this bowl of dwarfs plus the smaller bowl of other pastes was run through, the peels run through twice, the purée was on the stove cooking down, and the machine was disassembled and in the sink in less than half an hour. I can actually use my 8 quart pot under it to catch the juice which is a big plus. And clean up time is about the same as with the Vittorio.

I haven't had a chance to try it with anything else yet, but apples would be at the top of the list.

October 12, 2018	#1
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	Up late to make tomato juice tonight Well, I went over to Grainger County and purchased 4 bushels of what they called Beefsteak tomatoes to make my juice. I chopped up 3 bushels and have been making juice all day. I have the first 7 quarts out of the pressure canner and am reducing about 6 gallons of juice at the moment. It is soooo.... good. I didn't have that much out of my garden (at the same time) that would justify trying to make juice. So, I kept some of the juice from all the ones I grew and added the volume of the purchase and ........ Yeah, it's just wonderful. I started with about 18 gallons of raw juice, and I'm cooking it down a bit more than usual. That's because I usually take out the seeds and then do the juice. With this setup, I've got a bit more watery juice that needs to be reduced. So, it looks like about 24 to 30 quarts, give or take. Yeah, for those who haven't followed my juice posts before, I like my juice thick. In January and February, I'll be tasting some good stuff. I've said it before, and I'll repeat it again. It's like drinking a summer heirloom in the middle of a winter snow storm. And, my recipe is just reducing the liquid and then adding canning salt. Nothing else. I've still got one quart from 2016 that will be next on the menu. Take care, y'all. Take care __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch Last edited by ContainerTed; October 13, 2018 at 02:51 PM.

October 12, 2018	#2
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	Got 25 quarts out of this first part of the run. I'm tired. Been at this since about 9 o'clock this morning. I'll finish tomorrow. Yeah, it tastes so danged good. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

October 13, 2018	#4
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	Marsha, I am currently using a "Back to Basics" food mill. It is a hand crank type and is almost identical to the Victorio products. BTW, it also does apples for apple sauce and apple butter, etc. Mine cost me $57 about ten years ago. I am currently looking at the attachment for our Kitchen Aid Mixer. Here's my steps to make my juice. 1. Wash the tomatoes. DUHHHH !!!! 2. Begin cutting the tomatoes and removing seeds. I use the point of my best knife to remove them without too much damage to the locule walls. After the seeds are secured, I cut up the remains of the tomatoes into chunks 1.5-2". I use large plastic bowls to hold the cut up chunks. I do not remove the skins. 3. I crank all the tomatoes thru the BTB mill which removes the skins and remaining seeds. I run everything thru at least twice to get all the juice and "meat" possible. The skins are usually so devoid of any meat that I can do a skin color check. 4. The juice goes into a large 12 quart pot on the stove where it is brought up to a gently rolling boil. Actually, you can't really call it a boil because the juice "rolls" but there are no bubbles. I stir with a large spoon every now and then and check the bottom for any sticking. 5. Now begins the reduction phase. You know you have the setup right when the contents of the pot are rolling without bubbles and the steam is rising off the surface. So, this is stir every now and then, and wait time. It is also tasting time and this is where, as it thickens, I add canning salt and perhaps a bit of sugar if the tomatoes had been on the tart side. It's important to wait till late in the reduction phase to add the salt. This assures the ratio of salt to juice is no more than 1 teaspoon per quart. When I have reduced it enough, I put it into jars and pressure can it. I keep the freshly canned jars on the kitchen counter for about 48 hours to make sure the seals are good. I can reprocess any that fail. I've only had one fail ever. It was an almost undetectable irregularity in the rim of the jar. Then they are stored on shelves at normal room temp until needed. I like my juice cold, so mine will go into the fridge just before consumption. I'm going to finish off the final bushel today. I'll take a few pictures and post them here. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch Last edited by ContainerTed; October 13, 2018 at 02:53 PM.

October 13, 2018	#6
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	It makes a great wine, but you might have to add some sugar to get a higher alcohol content. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch Last edited by ContainerTed; October 13, 2018 at 02:53 PM.

October 13, 2018	#9
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	Here's the pictures to go with the post above Okay, here's the rig I use. I mount the BTB mill on one of our old cutting boards. I add in a small block of wood to raise it up to fit the height of my bowls. I also use a couple of clamps to hold everything together as one unit over the double sink. DSCF0001.JPG This is the hopper where you put the tomato chunks. The hole is the driver for how large or small the chunks should be. DSCF0002.JPG Here's how I have my chunks before they go into the hopper. Staging them this way allows me to do a lot of cutting up before I have to squeeze out the juice. DSCF0003.JPG This blue (cheap) spoon is one that I use a lot. It moves the chunks to the hopper. And it also is my primary stirring instrument. By moving it sideways in the reduction pot, I can create a better stirring turbulence in the deep pot. DSCF0004.JPG When everything is operating, this is the view of the process. The skins and seeds go out the left and the good stuff comes into the collection bowl. DSCF0005.JPG Skins and seeds will be run at least a second time to make sure no meat or juice is missed. DSCF0006.JPG If you want to recover seeds from this process, you must have all the tomatoes to be of the same variety. Otherwise, you'll have no way of knowing which seed is what variety. The BTB mill will get all the meat. The skins are so clean that you can easily tell if the skin is yellow or pink. DSCF0007.JPG However, if you do only one variety, when you get done cranking, you can add water to the waste of skins and seeds and by pouring off the skins, the seeds are left and I have not found any problem with viability. DSCF0008.JPG That's it. Now the juice is reduced and it goes into jars and is canned. I always take the pressure up to 15-18 PSI for about 5 minutes in addition to the normal recommended canning times. This gives me reassurance that I've covered all the bad accidental possibilities in my sterilization processes. Cheers, Y'all. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

October 13, 2018	#3
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Ted what do you use to separate out the skins and seeds, and get it fine enough to be drinkable? I might want to try it this year, and I haven't a clue how to start. ( I suppose I could watch a YouTube video)

October 13, 2018	#5
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	I wonder if this stuff would make some sort of good hooch. Worth

October 13, 2018	#7
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	I bet your juice has some healing properties, especially spiritually.

October 13, 2018	#10
biscuitridge Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: washington Posts: 498	I would hesitate to use that unit because it's made out of aluminum, and aluminum reacts with the acid in the tomatoes, so you'll be getting a dose of aluminum which is a contributing factor in Alzheimer's. I had the same unit, it works great,but I don't want the aluminum in my food so I made one just like it out of stainless steel and added a motor, it makes momma happy. Cabelas sells an attachment for their meat grinders that is made out of porcelain covered cast iron I think, it's a very nice unit,and makes great applesauce as well, 2 weeks ago we got together with some friends and made and canned over a thousand quarts of applesauce and pressed about 300 gal of cider. We used the Cabelas units for the sauce,and my bladder press for the cider.

October 14, 2018	#14
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	Marsha, I'm looking to buy the Kitchen Aid accessory simply to have the motorized version. It works with the meat grinder attachment, which I already have. I'm told that a few parts change out to get the tomato/apple/whatever milling function. You might consider this. I intend to have mine for next season, but I'm also considering getting it now (before prices go up again) to do some apple sauce and a jar or two of apple butter. Apple butter is so easy to make and tastes so good on those morning when you want some to go on your toast. Dang it. Now I've done gone and got myself watering at the mouth. Take care __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

October 14, 2018	#15
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	Up late to make tomato juice tonight Ted, thanks for sharing your "how to." If you do buy the attachment this year and use it for apples, please let us know how it goes. I bought it last year and it's been fantastic for tomatoes as long as I cut them into a size that easily fits into the chute. You're already doing that with yours, so you won't have a problem. I just ran a bunch of dwarf pastes through it yesterday and I'm still surprised with how much easier it is to set up and run. Once they were cut up, the machine was set up, this bowl of dwarfs plus the smaller bowl of other pastes was run through, the peels run through twice, the purée was on the stove cooking down, and the machine was disassembled and in the sink in less than half an hour. I can actually use my 8 quart pot under it to catch the juice which is a big plus. And clean up time is about the same as with the Vittorio. I haven't had a chance to try it with anything else yet, but apples would be at the top of the list.