Preserving Tomatoes

[workjw]

So the thread "do you consider canned veggies processed" has made me wonder how you all preserve your tomatoes. We have an abundance of tomatoes every year, both from our garden and my neighbor who continues to grow them even though she doesn't eat them. Lucky me!

Last year I canned a few batches with a water bath canner, but I was doing a LOT of tomatoes at one time, so I got lazy and froze the rest of them. I assumed they needed to be heated before freezing, so I boiled and peeled them, but do they really need to be heated? or peeled and cored for that matter? That would be a MAJOR time saver if they don't.

And here are some questions that I should probably know the answers to, but is it any more nutritional 1 way or the other if you are going to cook them anyway (like in chili or sauce)? Is there any reason I can't go back and can the tomatoes that I have frozen (like for batches of salsa)?

[mamadelbosque]

I can tomatoes. I use lots of canned tomatoes because frankly, IMO store-bought "fresh" tomatoes are freaking awful - occasionally you'll get some that are OK, but they are few and far between. Last year tomatoes around here did awful, so not only did *we* not have any to can, but there were hardly any to be bought locally to can either (year before I canned 90 odd quarts plus a dozen or so pints). As a result, I'm being reduced to buying store-bought canned tomatoes again. :sniffle:

All we do inorder to can them is wash/core/dice. Blanching is unneccasary - as long as you don't mind the peel We do have a pressure canner though, which makes canning much quicker

[KristyDi]

I can them myself. If I were you I'd look into getting a pressure canner since it would make the process quicker and you're getting your tomatoes free. My friend and I went in together on a pressure canner and we plan to work together to can stuff this summer. It's much more fun to do all that work with a friend to talk to. It's also nice to have 2 pairs of hands working.

You could also look at making difference sauces with the tomatoes. I'm looking through my book of canning recipes and there are tons of recipes for tomatoes. Depending on what your family likes to eat you could make salsa, bbq sauce, pizza or pasta sauce etc. Just make sure you use a recipe tested and approved for canning.

To answer your original question I grabbed my Blue Book which also has directions for freezing. It only has directions for freezing tomatoes as sauce or tomato juice. For the sauce it says to wash, core, quarter and cook till soft. Then run through a food mill, return to pan and cook till reduced by half. Then cool and pack into jar or plastic boxes to freeze.

[Mpenny1001]

I freeze my tomatoes whole. I just rinse them, pull of any remaining stem, and toss them in a freezer bag. They do take up a bit of room that way, but when I need to use some all I have to do is pull them out, run them under hot water to remove the peel, then chop them up and add them to whatever I'm making.

Ideally I take the time to peel and chop before I freeze them, but they generally are ready for harvest at the same time everything else is ready for harvest, so it just doesn't get done, lol!

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by Mpenny1001

I freeze my tomatoes whole. I just rinse them, pull of any remaining stem, and toss them in a freezer bag. They do take up a bit of room that way, but when I need to use some all I have to do is pull them out, run them under hot water to remove the peel, then chop them up and add them to whatever I'm making.

That's what I do. Super easy.

[velochic]

I can my tomatoes in various forms... diced, crushed, whole, and in other recipes (beef stew, soups, etc.). I grow hybrids, and because I cannot guarantee that they are below that magic threshold of 4.6 pH, I pressure can everything. I don't like to add lemon juice or vinegar to my tomatoes to ensure that they are safe for water bath canning and I don't like the water bath recipes I've read. Pressure canning is safer, anyway.

I also have a dehydrator (you can use an oven if you don't have one) to make dried tomatoes. These can also be whizzed up for tomato powder (with a bit of water, it's like tomato paste, only much fresher tasting). They can be preserved in olive oil (in your fridge or freezer... these are not shelf stable in oil).