Homemade Tomato Juice ~ Tales from Sassy Cat's Garden

With dozens of beautiful Beefy Boy Beefsteak and Sugary grape tomatoes ripening, Sassy has to preserve some summer garden goodness for winter enjoyment.

This year, instead of canning tomatoes, I have opted to freeze them.  It is very easy ... peel the tomatoes, cut them up and place in plastic containers.  Done!  If you have a lot of tomatoes, to make it go a little quicker, dip the tomatoes for a minute in a pan of hot water, then the peelings will slip right off.

When thawed, the tomatoes taste almost as good as fresh, excellent for use in soup and chili, and I guarantee the taste to be superior to those expensive store-bought tomatoes.  So far, I have frozen 3 half gallon containers and 12 quart containers of chopped tomatoes.

For making tomato juice, find one of these nifty vintage tomato juicers.  This one has been around a few decades and used every summer.  They work great except don't get too enthusiastic with the wooden pestle or hot tomato juice will squirt all over your kitchen.  hah!  It also works very well for grapes.

The tomatoes need to be cooked before juicing.  I find that 4 quarts of cut-up tomatoes will yield about one half gallon of juice.  No need to peel the tomatoes before cooking.  I add a stalk of chopped celery and half a cup of chopped onion along with a splash of salt and black pepper to the tomatoes while they cook for extra-good flavor.

Pour the tomato juice into plastic containers, leaving space for expansion, and freeze.  I use half gallon plastic orange juice/milk jugs that I have washed very, very well with hot soapy water and rinsed clean.

Soooo if you have extra tomatoes or find a great deal on them at a farmer's market, freeze some of them chopped or juiced.  You will love the taste of summer sunshine next winter!

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