Can I blanch

[Southern Gardener]

and peel my now ripe tomatoes, put them in the fridge and can them next weekend? I'm just not ready to do it now.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Instead of blanching them, I just put them in the freezer. Just rinse then off as clean as you want them to be when you use them, put them in a zip lock type bag, and freeze. When you thaw them, the skin will slip right off. The real problem with this is that you cannot easily core them if you want to core them. When they thaw, they are just too soft to work with. Somebody on here said they can core them when they are still semi-frozen but I've never had any good luck trying that.

I don't know how long they will last in the fridge after blanching and peeling. You could possibly freeze them after blanching and peeling if you wish.

 

[Southern Gardener]

thanks ridgerunner - I'll go ahead and blanch, peel and freeze. The will be way overripe by next weekend if I leave them.

 

[lesa]

You really don't have to blanch and peel. Just put them in the freezer. When you thaw them out- the skins will slip right off. I then run them through a food mill gadget and start cooking. Patwithchickens gave this tip- and boy is it a good one!! Also a great way to build up a bunch of maters for an all day canning session!

 

[Smiles Jr.]

. . . I then run them through a food mill gadget and start cooking . . .

After thawing do you grind them into a mush? I can't imagine cooking with tomato mush. I'm sure I'm not getting the right concept here.

Southern Gardner mentioned "caning" them and whenever we can tomatoes we always do it in sliced quarters. I'm confused.

 

[lesa]

Sorry- thought you were going to can them!! After freezing they are pretty mushy. You can cook with them- add them to a stir fry, etc. but not put them in a salad or slice them. I jumped to the conclusion that you were going to process them for canning.
Sorry again!

 

[lesa]

Ok- now it is still early and I haven't had my coffee- you say you can them, but in pieces. Gottcha! I think after freezing they will be too mushy for that. Do you like to make pasta sauce? I usually take my mushed tomatoes, cook them down and can that way...and they are ready to use for sauce making. Better get the coffee on!

 

[Ridgerunner]

After thawing do you grind them into a mush? I can't imagine cooking with tomato mush. I'm sure I'm not getting the right concept here.

Southern Gardner mentioned "caning" them and whenever we can tomatoes we always do it in sliced quarters. I'm confused.

I cook with tomato mush all the time. It's called tomato sauce or puree, depending on how long you cook it down. Skin and seeds have been removed.

As far as canning frozen tomatoes, they do not have any real texture when you use them, but you can use them in cooking the same as fresh canned tomatoes. I don't get a lot of body out of cooked tomatoes anyway.

One big benefit to freezing them, other than they are so easy to peel, is that you do not have to have enough fresh for a canning. You can save them up until you have enough for a decent sized canning. I obviously don't blanch them when I do this either. They just get washed and popped into the freezer in a zip loc type bag.

 

[Southern Gardener]

leas, yes you were right, I'm going to use them to can salsa so they can be mush. I did blanch and freeze two large freezer bags yesterday. I also want to can a batch of seasoned tomato chunks, so I shouldn't freeze them?

 

[lesa]

I don't think they will hold there shape. I would use fresh for that...