Tomato Juice
© Denzil Green
To make Tomato Juice, tomatoes are cooked to develop the taste and release the juice, then strained to remove excess fibres and seeds, and then canned or bottled.
It differs from Tomato Sauce in that Tomato Sauce is cooked further until it reduces and becomes thick, and flavourings are definitely added, such as herbs and spices.
Tomato Juice made at home from home recipes is often flavoured with herbs or spices, and vegetables such as hot or sweet peppers, onions, garlic and celery.
Commercial varieties, which are usually canned or bottled, are usually just tomatoes and salt, though there are flavoured “cocktail” varieties such as Clamato and V8 that will use some of the same types of flavourings as home recipes would use.
Tomato Juice is often used in drinks such as Bloody Mary, Virgin Mary and Red Eye cocktails.
Cooking Tips
For home canning, additional acid such as lemon juice is usually added. If you are adding additional vegetables that are low in acidity, you should consult a preserving source for full directions in how to handle this: the danger is that the additional vegetables will lower the acidity and make the Tomato Juice unsafe during storage; the source will probably advise you to only can that juice if you have a pressure canner.
Substitutes
Tinned tomatoes, whizzed in a blender then strained.
Quick Tomato Juice:
1 can tomato paste
4 cans of water (use the now-emptied tomato paste tin to measure)
Add water to tomato paste, blend or stir. Season with any of the following: salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, hot sauce, fresh chopped parsley.
Nutrition
Varies based on brand or recipe.
Equivalents
About 3 ¼ pounds (1.5 kg) of tomatoes are needed to produce 1 US quart (33 oz / 950 ml) of Tomato Juice.
Literature & Lore
The state of Ohio adopted Tomato Juice as its official beverage in 1965.