Immediately worth mentioning: there are many recipes that tell you how to make tomato juice at home. They differ from each other either radically or in details. One thing is invariable: at the entrance we have tomatoes of any kind, any size and almost any degree of maturity, and at the output - delicious and healthy tomato juice. This is the best fate for those fruits that were rejected when sending a tomato crop for pickling or pickling.
Now we need to explain why the manufacture of tomato juice at home is a process from which it is worth excluding a juicer. This device extracts liquid from tomatoes, but retains most of the pulp, which is extremely valuable and useful. Along with the skin and seeds, for some reason, it is equal to the cake and thrown away. Therefore, the recipe below is aimed at obtaining a thick, uniform juice containing enough pulp in order not to lose its value.
So, at the entrance - a bucket of tomato (which roughly corresponds to 6 kg of fruit). Wash them, cut off the damaged parts, cut into several parts and put them in a fireproof container of the appropriate size. A pot with a thick bottom, a cast-iron boiler, etc. will do. The container must be put on low heat and cook, stirring occasionally.
At the same time, you do not need to add water - ripe tomatoes already comprise almost 94% of it. Let them boil in their own juice. Also, do not be afraid that such a manufacture of tomato juice at home will be accompanied by a loss of vitamins and nutrients. On the contrary. If you cook raw tomatoes for a long time, they significantly increase the amount of natural antioxidants that inhibit the aging process of cells and prevent the formation of malignant tumors.
After the tomato brew boils, it needs to be simmered on the stove for about another hour. As a result, the fruits should boil so that they can be easily rubbed hot through a wire sieve. The more they boil, the less cake will remain.
The output should be 3-4 liters of juice - as thick as mashed potatoes. It is again brought to a boil on the fire, eliminated with a slotted spoon from the foam and poured into pre-sterilized jars. It remains to roll them up and store at room temperature.
Another recipe provides the manufacture of tomato juice at home without boiling. After preparation, the fruits are blanched for 1-2 minutes in boiling water, after which they are dipped in cold water for the same time. After this procedure, the peel from the tomatoes is removed very easily. Then they are placed in a colander over an enameled container and knead with a wooden pestle. From 1.2 kg of tomatoes, a liter of juice is obtained. If necessary, it is filtered and salted, then poured into cans prepared for preservation and sterilized (1 l - 20-30 minutes, 2-3 l - 30-40 minutes). Further operations - as usual.
After the production of tomato juice is completed, you can do anything with it. You can just drink it after diluting it with boiled water because of the density (compare the juice prepared in this way and passed through a juicer - feel the difference). You can add salt, hot red pepper, etc. to your taste.
This production of tomato juice at home allows, without adding anything to it, to make it both sweet and sour. The first is obtained from large fleshy overripe tomatoes, it is most pleasant to drink it. And small fruits give juice with acidity, which is much more universal. They can be seasoned with borscht, it is good to stew cabbage or stuffed peppers, an excellent lasagna sauce is prepared from it. Finally, such juice is used as a preservative for whole sweet peppers, peeled tomatoes.
Remember that, in addition to the indisputable advantages and usefulness, tomato juice has a number of contraindications, so everything that is in moderation is good.