Freeze it for soup base this winter!
I just put 3 qts. of the water that I softened/cooked my tomatoes in for my sauce into the freezer for the same thing.

Deanna

Sure - just freeze it or can it or cook it down to make juice or even sauce. That's what most do - one or the other. It has many uses.

Dave

Gazpacho?

Nice and refreshing on a hot day.

As soon as the tomatoes are chopped and drained, I start cooking the juice down and use it instead of store bought sauce. I cook it down using a large clad bottom stainless steel fry pan. The larger the surface area, the faster it will cook into a thick sauce.

It can always be canned and used in soups, chilis or stews in lieu of water. It makes a good base.

Carol

I use the large electric roasters to cook down my tomatoes. The left over juice is cooked down and canned or frozen for future use. I like the roasters because I can keep the temperature low (180 or so) and they have a large surface area for evaporation.

Bloody Mary additive?

Chuck

Chuck, you may have the best idea of all.

Truthfully? In the middle of canning season the chickens often get mine. Other times I'll reduce it and can it to use in soup over the winter.

nik, that's a good idea, using the roaster. Since mine is electric it can go out on the back deck when it's hot and not take up counter space I need when I'm canning. I use my big roaster to make beef and chicken stock for canning too.

Annie

Tomatoe juice in beer works for us.

The watery liquid that is exuded from tomatoes tends to be off flavored and if cooked down has an odd taste. I mixed it with pureed skins and seeds and when it was cooked down, it was awful, so I tossed it out. Hardly worth the effort. When I can tomato sauces now, I scoop out most seeds and water before I run them through the food strainer. This way, the output is quite thick and needs less cooking down.

I think the juice alone (not cooked down, not mixed with seeds/skins) is great for a soup base (stew, braising, etc.)
I can see where concentrating the flavor or adding in the skins/seeds might change that.

Try dumping that watery juice over a roast in the crockpot with carrots and potatoes! Just a little flavor boost from plain water. You can still use whatever seasonings you normally would.

Deanna

The watery liquid that is exuded from tomatoes tends to be off flavored and if cooked down has an odd taste.

Strange. We don't find that to be the case at all. But then we don't add the skins and seeds back in as they only impart bitterness.

We cook down to juice or sauce all our left-over tomato recipe juices and use them in chili, spaghetti sauce, soups, stews, and even drink it straight. They taste just like whatever it was we made - salsa, stewed tomatoes, etc.

Dave

The only time I drain the liquid out of cut up tomatoes is when I make Salsa. There are no skins and I strain the seeds out before cooking down. Makes the perfect sauce.

At first, I figured the waste might be useful, but its not. Now I just toss it out, as its not worth the effort to boil down the watery liquid.