The story of Tomato Juice - family recipe
In our family, of all the foods we preserve, nothing is as "holy" as the tomato juice. By this I mean the natural, beautiful and tasty tomato juice. In the season, the most important concern for my parents is to make at least 150-200 liters of juice or tomato broth, otherwise it's panic ... This recipe is like telling a story. Every year, from harvesting to storage, the process is the same and the recipe has been practically unchanged for as long as I can remember. It's the main beverage consumed in the winter. We like it with a little salt or as such. Even my little Maria is a big fan of tomato juice. We don't make sweet compotes and fruit juices, but tomato broth is mandatory.
Of course, it can be preserved in smaller bottles or jars, made using some device or another, but the method is the same. Pay attention to the tomato juicer you are using. We have a Russian one that makes over 100 kg of tomatoes in a few hours and doesn't get tired. Long-neck juicers are also good. The most important purchase criterion is being able to squeeze the most of the pretious pulp. As tomatoes are sour, they preserve very well naturally, without the need of additives. The important condition is boiling them a little before closing into jars.
You can use it as soft drink, diet drink or in food - it's good anyway. If you don't want to complicate things, you can use this method Easy Homemade Tomato Puree. It's good for cooking, but not really pleasant for drinking, as it's not so fine.
The pictures I'm showing you this year were taken at the countryside, so I apologize for the more rustic decor and maybe not even that good looking. This is how you work with large amounts of juice - there will be splashes and bits of tomatoes.
We start, of course, with the most important process - picking the tomatoes. Last week we had a batch of 100 kg of colorful, juicy and beautiful garden tomatoes.
If you want to have the juice as sweet and aromatic as possible, I recommend keeping the tomatoes in boxes or buckets for 1-2 days - to ripen passively. But make sure they don't go bad.
When I'm in Bucharest, I choose seasonal ripe tomatoes from the market.
Wash well these beautiful tomatoes. If they are small, leave them whole.
If they are medium or large, cut into halves or quarters - enough to fit in the feeder.
Notice that we don't remove the core, the juicer will, together with the peel and the seeds.
And we start the process, according to the specifications of each tomato juicer. The most important thing is that the leftovers are as dry as possible, with all the precious pulp extracted.
On the opposite side, the tomato juice with no seeds and peel flows straight into the large saucepan.
While the juicer is working, it would be useful to prepare the jars or bottles. Wash and dry well. I would even recommend sterilizing in the oven for 30 minutes at 100 C.
Mom, because she makes so much juice, only leaves them upside down on the towel for about an hour and they still keep well over the winter.
Place the pan with the juice over heat and bring to the boil. Be sure to stir in it regularly. Don't fill it too much, the juice will foam and will boil out on the stove ...
When it comes to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes. It's enough to sterilize it, but also not to lose important vitamins.
Place the washed and dried jars on a towel or on a plate, maybe with a knife blade inserted underneath, to avoid cracking.
With a ladle or a cup, pour the hot juice into jars.
Notice that I filled the jar completely, we don't leave any head space.
Then close with airtight lids.
Here you can see my parents' stapler, it's from the Soviet times. It does its job well, but it needs special lids.
Check that the jars are tightly sealed. Tilt and, if the juice doesn't leak, place the jar upside down and let cool completely.
Do the same with all the juice.
After it cools completely, store the juice in the pantry or cellar.
Here you see our partial juice reserves from this year. We have about 120 liters so far, so we still have work to do :)
This tomato juice is fantastic and we like to drink a lot of it. We store in large jars so that it's enough for the whole family. But you also know that it's wonderfully useful for any food, sauce or sarmale (Romanian cabbage rolls).
Enjoy!
