7 August 2020 Tomato Juice 7 August 2020 Tomato Juice 7 August 2020 Tomato Juice As the tomatoes ripen most are processed into juice. The only addition to the process is a liter of water to facilitate cooking.Today seven liters of juice was made. The process is, wash, cut into smaller cooking pieces, add a liter of water, boil until soft about 20 minutes, beat into a slurry, strain through a 2 mm mesh screen, put the residue through a Champion juicer to get most of nutrients. Pressure can at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for long term storage at room temperature.
What do think about adding citric acid or lemon juice to tomato juice to ensure safety . . . I assume you use tomato cultivars you know to be acid enough. What I'm wondering is, if I were to try making tomato juice myself, how would I know the tomatoes I used were sufficiently acidic?
The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends adding lemon juice or citric acid when canning tomato juice according to their recommended times and pressures. However, Durgan's practice of pressure canning for 15 minutes at 15 PSI exceeds the recommended pressure of 11 PSI; and so, it is probably OK, since their recommendations include a significant safety margin. I follow the recommended times, pressures, and procedures when canning but have occasionaly forgotten the two tablespoons of lemon juice, with no noticeable effects.
The worrying effect of processing low-acid tomatoes is the risk of potentially deadly botulism poisoning. The fact that you cannot see, smell, or taste the botulinum toxin means that all food has to be processed perfectly and I admit to being bit intimidated by the challenge, especially where low-acid tomatoes are concerned . . . perhaps adding citric acid or lemon juice together with careful pressure cooking should provide the confidence I need. Home Canning and Botulism | Food Safety | CDC
Practice has indicated to me, that all plant material can be pressure canned from a slurry at 15 PSI for 15 minutes and be safe. I find the recommendations almost silly and they complicate unnecessarily. The slurry insures the jar contents are homogeneous, hence no insulated material is present. The essential criteria is the jar contents have to be all heated to 240F for 15 minutes. all pathogens are then made harmless. The 240F is achieved by insuring the jar contents pressure reaches 15 PSI. This is done by letting the steam escape for about 20 minutes before placing the weight on the escape hole, and after it starts to rock, then start the 15 minute timing. I have processed over 3000 liter jars of most plant produce and not one has caused sickness.A gauge is redundant, since the weight is accurate enough. I don't do any water bath canning and have absolute confidence in my pressure canning method.
