Bobo Bonobo� wrote:
> James wrote:
>
> > Anyone make their own juice from tomato paste? �I would like to buy
> > the paste and add water instead of lugging the big cans of juice.
> > Would appreciate recommendations as which brands of paste can be
> > turned into good juice.
>
> I like Contadina better than any other brand of paste.
>
> The canned tomato juice at WalMart is "not from concentrate."

Walmart doesn't make any juice, they contract with the national brand
tomato juice companys, same as with all their products. Walmart
tomato juice is no different from the national brands... most of the
national brands will have a faq at their web site, those that do will
say that their tomato juice is made from tomato paste. There really
is no other way to make the commercial product known as tomato juice
except from paste.

All tomato juice sold commercially is made from tomato paste... the
only difference from brand to brand is the percentage of water used in
reconstituting... and of course the packaging... glass costs more than
steel cans, but since glass is non reactive no off taste is
imparted... once a metal can is opened do not store tomato juice in
the can, pour into a glass container and keep covered (tomato juice
readily absorbs odors) and refrigerated. Tomato paste is essentially
a fresh tomato product, it's not cooked and contains no seasonings...
tomato paste is pureed whole fresh tomatoes that has its water removed
by a vacuum process, pretty much the same way OJ concentrate is
produced. Naturally when tomato juice is prepared commercially no one
is opening millions of those tiny cans, the paste is shipped to the
regional plants in large stainless steel drums. Concentate also keeps
costs down, it would cost more, especially today, to transport the
water portion than the tomato portion is worth... this is true of all
concentrated/condenced foods. The best and least costly way for the
consumer to have tomato juice is to reconstitute their own from
paste... you can experiment to find what quantity of water works best
for you, and since in the US by law tomato paste must contain a
particular percentage of water (permitted to vary by only a couple
percent) use the same proportion of water to paste regardless which
brand. Most tomato juice contains added salt and a small amount of
citric acid, so you can season to taste, most people season tomato
juice anyway, and naturally use the best/cleanest water.

Btw, water is the most important element in all food preparation.. no
matter the quality of the other ingredients if you use poor quality
water you wasted your money and efforts... whether it's water to boil
pasta or rice, the water in your chicken soup, and especially the
water you use to brew coffee and tea. So-called coffee mavens are
full of all kinds of hyperbole and minutia about the "best" way to
brew coffee, but unless they advocate using high quality water they
don't know beans... 99.9 percent of what coffee is about is the
water... the coffee beans, how roasted, stored, and what machines are
used in the process means nothing, taste is100 percent subjective...
but if they use lousy water then they have no right to give any advice
because they have TIAD. I don't care if you spend $10,000 Euros on a
fancy schmancy espresso machine, if you use the tap water in Italy you
can't make good coffee unless you're accustomed to drinking ****.

When reconstituing, fruit juices especially, use the best water. I
highly recommend everyone have an RO (Reverse Osmosis) filter, you'll
never waste your money (and efforts) on bottled water again... cost
of RO water comes to about a nickle a gallon... and if you relocate
they can be easily removed and taken with you.