Freezing/processing tomatoes

[Ridgerunner]

Maybe its a good time to start a thread on this. Some people are already getting tomatoes. Im sure we all have our ways of handling them, so Ill start with mine.

A good way to save tomatoes for future processing if you dont have enough for a full batch or if you just dont have time right now is to freeze them. This is not good for eating fresh tomatoes because they dont have any texture when they thaw, but it works great if you are canning sauce, puree, or tomatoes. There is a potential problem with skins or cores though. Ill get to that.

To me, there are two types of tomatoes. One is the perfect without a blemish tomatoes. You know, the type you get at the store. The kind you can just plop in the pan and cook them after a good wash. These tomatoes can go straight into the freezer in a zip-loc type bag after you wash them. When you take them out and thaw them, you can just slip the skins off. Works extremely well. They are hard to core because they are so mushy, the no texture thing I mentioned. Some people say they can core them if they get them while they are still partially frozen but Ive never been successful with that. So for me, this is only used for perfect tomatoes.

Then you have what normally comes from my garden. They have blemishes. Some of the big knobby beefsteaks just grow with those brown streaks I dont want to eat. Others may have blemishes where a stink bug was sucking on them or something was eating or pecking at them. Some have serious core issues. With the difficulty in coring or cutting out bad parts after they thaw I just am not going to freeze these whole. I cut them up, core them, and remove anything I dont want, including seeds. Then I freeze them in a zip-loc type bag.

A problem with freezing them like this is that they will freeze in a solid lump and with them cut up, its difficult to go through them and remove all the skins. I guess you could after they thaw but Ive never tried to do that. Not sure how that works. With my method of preparation it doesnt matter anyway. I have to remove all the seeds anyway due to my wifes diverticula. That will take care of the skin problem too.

When I take the frozen gallon bags of tomatoes out of the freezer, I put them in a big sauce pan and start cooking them down, not bothering to thaw. I constantly stir them so they wont stick and burn, especially when they first start thawing. I dont just thaw them but actually cook them down some. I need to reduce the moisture in them anyway. During this cooking down process, a lot of the skins raise to the top, sort of curling up. I carefully remove what skins I can. If you are careful it only burns a little and does not blister. Ive actually gotten pretty good at it so I dont burn myself often and hardly ever seriously. Its amazing how many skins you can remove if you are patient and keep stirring.

I have a 12 quart and 8 quart stainless steel saucepans so I normally cook down 5 one gallon bags at a time.

After they have cooked down some, I let them cool so they dont overheat the gasket and run them through a Squeezo strainer, running the skins and such back through a few times. This removes the seeds and the skins.

I then take the skins and seeds and run those through a food mill to get the last of the pulp out. Some of the skins get chopped up into tiny pieces in the food mill but thats OK with me. This is a long slow process but I think the Squeezo speeds it up plenty, certainly enough to justify the extra dishwashing.

Sometimes I continue processing, cooking them down some and canning them as tomatoes (though all chunks are removed. Its more of a liquid, but all the good stuff is in there.) I may cook them down more and can them as puree, maybe cook more and can as sauce. A favorite is to add various herbs, spices, and vegetables to create a spaghetti sauce.

But sometimes Im tired at this point or the wife wants her kitchen back. So I just cool off the prepared tomatoes and refreeze to finish processing later. Thats part of why I cook them down a fair amount to start with. Not just to give me time to get most of the skins out but to reduce the volume for when I refreeze.

I usually cook a chicken in the crock pot the night before so a part of supper is ready in the fridge. The wifes usually not as anxious to get her kitchen back that way.

How do you do yours differently?

 

[lesa]

If I have extra and freeze, that is just about how I do it. I will tell you, if you let the tomatoes thaw, the skins literally slip right off. You would still need to remove the seeds, but the skin comes off in big pieces. You might still get a couple pieces floating in your pot- which you can use your technique for. Give it a try... I learned this method from Patwithchickens. She was so full of knowledge. I sure do miss her. Happy Tomato Season!

 

[MontyJ]

When I freeze tomatoes, I blanch them for a minute or two in boiling water. The skins slip right off and the tomato is still cool enough to handle for removing those bad spots.

 

[digitS']

. . . To me, there are two types of tomatoes. One is the perfect without a blemish tomatoes. You know, the type you get at the store. . . .

I try to have those, Ridgerunner! Not from the store but from my garden . Then, I blanch them just like MontyJ does, to get the skins off.

I really don't like to grow tomatoes that split. I was looking at a picture of Bandywine tomatoes that were heavily fluted. I'd never get those to ripe without them splitting. In fact, Gary O Sena tends not to crack but the 2 fruits on my plant were damaged by the weather and sprinklers already :/. Sunscald and split - they were a long way from ripening.

Heirlooms? Yes, I'm hoping the next tomatoes set on Gary O do a little better - 2nd year in my garden. Thessaloniki is real good about not splitting - for an heirloom, certainly! Most of my larger tomatoes are hybrids but there are enuf heirlooms ~ reds, yellows & pinks ~ to make for interesting sauce.

I put whatever is handy in the kettle. If there is ground beef thawed - I might have that cooked and in there towards the last. Whatever ingredients go into that freezer bag -- I write down on the outside. It can run on to quite a paragraph but then, you know how I am . . . . Onions, salt and pepper always and there is usually plenty of basil available.

Steve

 

[baymule]

When I only have a few tomatoes, I blanch them, then dunk in icy water. I slip the skins off and core them. Zip loc bag them up and freeze for later. When I freeze something, I like it ready to go when I take it out of the freezer. Then I can drop them in a pot, add other veggies, make soup and can it.

 

[bj taylor]

what's a good amount per zip lock that works well for recipes and such? i'm going to do this tomorrow. I've got quite a few tomatoes & have got to do something with them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Has anyone tried tray-freezing peeled and cored or chopped tomatoes? Thats where you spread them out on a cookie sheet and freeze them, stirring them every so often so as they freeze so they dont stick to each other or stick to the pan. Once they are frozen solid, you put them in a zip-loc bag and only take out what you need.

I do that for chopped onions, chopped sweet peppers, peas, sliced carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, things that you sometimes want to add a few at a time. I use a sheet of waxed paper on the cookie sheet. Seems to help keep them from sticking to the pan and easier to stir while freezing. You still need to move them around a bit as they freeze so they dont stick together or stick to the waxed paper.

And be careful when you stir them that you dont spill them off the side of the tray and into the bottom of your freezer. Dont ask how I know that one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Bay, I see where your method for smaller amounts would work really well. I like the Idea of ready to use like that. Thats why I tray freeze so many things.

Im not sure how much blanching and slipping the skins off before I freeze them would help me with larger batches since I have to run them through the Squeezo and/or food mill anyway. Every seed has to be removed because of my wifes diverticula. I often freeze a gallon or more of cored tomatoes at a time when the tomatoes are really producing. I know it would save milling time but would that make up for the blanching and peeling time, plus all that extra dishwashing the blanching equipment? Im probably talking about six or seven separate blanchings for each turn at the food mill. Im not convinced it would save that much overall time on my major processing batches since I remove most of the skins while they are cooking down anyway.

But for smaller ready to use batches, yes it sounds real good.

 

[baymule]

Ridgerunner, the seeds don't bother anybody in the family, so I just leave them in for soups. I have one of those old aluminum cone shaped strainers. It has legs that come off and a wooden mallet to roll around in the strainer to mash the tomatoes. It strains out all the skins and seeds. It comes in handy for making tomato sauce. I am a sucker for old kitchen stuff. I am a sucker for new kitchen stuff........oh heck, I am a sucker for all kitchen stuff.

I freeze things on a cookie sheet and bag them up so I can shake out what I want, too. I wash berries, put them on a cookie sheet and freeze. Then I bag them up. Now that I have a Food Saver, I find myself making smaller packages and freezing them. With the Food Saver bags, I don't get the ice crystals like I do in the bigger bags. I can even drop the Food Saver bags in a pot of boiling water and cook the food inside the bag.

 

[digitS']

what's a good amount per zip lock that works well for recipes and such? i'm going to do this tomorrow. I've got quite a few tomatoes & have got to do something with them.

We may have left you hanging out there, BJ. We need to Ketch you Up as a real garden tomato lover . Did everything go okay?

I intended to use that freeze on cookie sheet technique for chopped-up rhubarb. So often, I'm just doing 1 pot of things at a time and want to try that rhubarb barbeque sauce recipe this winter I was talking about a few months ago. DW, however, tossed everything in bags while complaining about how much room I was taking up in the fridge with a 2nd cutting of rhubarb.

One pot is what I do with the tomatoes. I use the same pot for sauce making as for blanching, just a quick scrub in between and then it's on to the sauteing of the onions & garlic. A big bowl of skinned tomatoes goes back in at some point.

Steve