Freezing tomatoes?? gardening question

[disneydreamersx4]

Hi,

I think someone in the gardening post mentioned they freeze tomatoes. Did you mean that you freeze them whole? That would be awesome as we expect to harvest many this summer. Or did you mean you make sauce and then freeze that? thank you

 

[CajunDixie]

I give them a small X slice on the bottom, toss them in boiling water for just a minute, toss them in a bowl of cold/ice water, remove the skin (the reason for the X slice), remove the stem area and toss into a bowl. Once I have a batch done that far I then take freezer bags and open them and turn the edges of the bag down over the edges of a plastic container, this holds the bag open for you. You can write on the bag with a sharpie before you fill it. Leave room in the bag for expansion from freezing. Lay the bags in a single layer in your freezer. Once solid then I stack them to make room for the next item....such as 2 cups of grated zuchinni!

After you skin them you can either leave them whole or cut them up to the desired size before you put them in the freezer bag. Kitchen scissors will give you a quick clean cut right in the bowl.

 

[princessbride6205]

Yeah, that! I used an almost identical method last year. I ended up making tomato sauce with it a few months later and it was awesome!

 

[disneydreamersx4]

thank you so much for the technique!!

 

[wall*e2008]

Hi,

I think someone in the gardening post mentioned they freeze tomatoes. Did you mean that you freeze them whole? That would be awesome as we expect to harvest many this summer. Or did you mean you make sauce and then freeze that? thank you

I cut the stem out and then just freeze them. When I go to use them I run hot water over the frozen tomato and the skin rolls up so it can be removed. Then into the pot to make sauce (what I normally us them for) or into a soup.

 

[shortbun]

Yep, blanch-skin-freeze. I use mine for chili all winter long and sometimes I make stewed tomatoes with diced onions, pepper and croutons on top.

 

[Chicago526]

You don't de-seed them? I heard that cooking tomatos with the seeds can make them taste bitter.

 

[Schmoodle]

I do the same thing and I don't de-seed them. I've never noticed they're bitter.
One thing I do differently is to freeze them on a cookie sheet before putting them into the freezer bags. That way you can take out however much you want without thawing the whole bag.