How to Make Tomato Juice – Beginner Friendly!

Are your tomatoes finally starting to ripen? Each year since we moved into our house my next door neighbors have asked me “are your tomatoes ripening?” It has been a weird few years for tomatoes! But each year they do eventually ripen, maybe on the kitchen counter, and are ready to process. One thing I have not invested in yet is a food mill, and after using the following hack I don’t know if I ever will.

This year I grew a new-to-me type of tomato. Early this spring, while I was perusing Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds I found a variety called German Pink Tomatoes. They were advertised as wonderful tomatoes for canning, juicing and slicing, so I had to try them out. I have been so impressed by them that I may replace all of my tomatoes with German Pink Tomatoes for years to come. The flavor is wonderful, and they are large and full of tomatoey goodness without a lot of seeds. Best of all they made making Tomato Juice from scratch a breeze, even without a food mill. 

Here is How to Make Tomato Juice without a Food Mill

The other day while I was preparing to make Beef Stew I decided that I would make my own tomato juice for the recipe. I figured I would just use the blender hack where you put all your tomatoes in a blender, skins, seeds and all. Instead I decided to give something else a try. To make a tomato juice my grandmother would be proud of! 

Equipment Needed

1. Large stock pot
2. Large glass bowl, or liquid measuring cup
3. Stainless Steel Colander
4. Fine Mesh Colander

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1. Boil water in a large pot
2. Place a colander on top of a large liquid measuring cup, or in a large glass bowl
3. Place a few tomatoes in the boiling water at a time
4. Leave in the water for a minute, until the skin breaks
5. Scoop the tomatoes out of the pot and place in the colander
6. Using tongs (or your fingers if the tomatoes have cooled down enough) peel the skin off of the tomatoes
7. Once all of the tomatoes are peeled empty the pot of water and cook the tomatoes for five minute, breaking them apart as they soften
8. Carefully pour the pot of stewing tomatoes into the colander on top of the bowl to catch the juice
9. Using a wooden spoon, stir the tomatoes around the colander pushing them into the sides to extract the juice.
10. Continue stirring until all the tomatoes are juiced and there are seeds and some stringy pulp left in the colander
11. Place a fine mesh colander over the large pot
12. Pour the tomato juice through the colander into the pot
13. Repeat the stirring process to extract all of the juice and remove as many seeds as possible
14. Bring to a low simmer

Tomato Juice to Tomato Paste

From step 14 you can decide how you want to use your tomato juice. If you simply want tomato juice you can remove it from the heat and use in a recipe or can it up. If you want to make ketchup you can boil it down to a thicker consistency. Similarly, if you want to make a tomato paste (which is what I did with my remaining tomato juice) you can simmer it until it scrapes off the bottom of the pot. Fair warning, this can take, well, it took me hours. Once it was finished, I decided to freeze my tomato paste since I use such small amounts at a time. 

And there you have it! A simple way to make tomato juice without all of the fancy equipment! 

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1. Fine Mesh Colander
2. Stainless Steel Colander
3. Large Liquid Measuring Cup