I just core them and put them in a bag in the freezer. To remove the skins just run them under warm water after you remove them from the freezer and gently rub and the skins come right off.
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Most of us know that planting a garden is one of the cheapest ways to provide your family with fresh vegetables. My husband is the chief gardener in our household, and since it is his domain, he gets to decide what to plant.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have 30 tomato plants after a 30 year lapse without a garden. Can I freeze my tomatoes in any way? Please give me some helpful hints.
By Becky B.
Tomatoes are easy to freeze. You can simply wash them well, cut out any bad spots and the stem/core, and pop them in a freezer bag. When you are ready to use them, once thawed they will squeeze right out of the skins!
How do I freeze tomatoes?
By Vander
I've been cutting mine in half, then putting them on cookie sheets to flash freeze. When frozen, just put them in a plastic freezer bag. This way they don't all stick together and you can take out what you need. These will have to be used for cooking, though, and not in salads as they don't retain their firmness. To thaw, just heat in a little water and the skins slip right off. I just used some in fresh tomato soup last night! Yum!
Which is best method for freezing tomatoes, whole with the skin on or chopped up with skin on? I wondered how the texture would be if they are left whole, and then I try to chop them up upon thawing?
By Beth
When I'm in a hurry, the skins are left on. I've frozen tomatoes for years, and prefer the skins OFF because the skins are tough after freezing. Blanching whole tomatoes for a few minutes in boiling water and plunging them into a sink of cold water removes the skins easily.
Can stewed tomatoes be frozen?
By Geri B
Yes, you can freeze the stewed tomatoes. But make sure you keep them in air tight container, and also if you defrost them once, don't freeze it again.
I have some fresh tomatoes, I want to freeze them. Some I will have for later on sandwiches or to dice in salads. How do I do this without them getting soft?
If you freeze tomatoes, you can use them in soups and stews. You cannot use them as you would fresh.
tomatoes do not freeze well due to the high water content; they crystallize in the freezer and then fall apart and go soft.
The best way to preserve tomatoes for salad is to dehydrate them.
Frozen tomatoes cannot be sliced for sandwiches or salads when thawed. They are excellent additions to sauces, soups and stews.
Frozen fresh tomatoes are great for stews and sauces but maybe other uses also.
The government site for food preparation offers this information:
Preparation Select firm, ripe tomatoes with deep red color.
Raw Wash and dip in boiling water for 30 seconds to loosen skins. Core and peel. Freeze whole or in pieces. Pack into containers, leaving l-inch headspace. Seal and freeze. Use only for cooking or seasoning as tomatoes will not be solid when thawed.
Here are a couple of sites that offer lots of information on how to prepare and freeze fresh tomatoes:
www.hgtv.com/
How do you freeze tomatoes and turnips?
By Jewel T. from Danville, VA
When ever my mother had a few extra tomatoes she would wash them, remove the stem and toss them in a plastic bag in the freezer. Then when she wanted a couple for something she was cooking, she would remove however many she needed. Rinse them under warm water and the skin would rub off, then put them in whatever she was cooking and as she stirred them into the pan, she would break them up.
For the turnips, dice and water blanch for 2 to 3 minutes. Be sure to give them an immediate ice water bath after the blanching to stop the cooking process. Drain, pat and remove as much air from the freezer bag as possible to reduce freezer burn.
I was given a box of red tomatoes and I don't want them to go bad. I would like to put them through a blender and then freeze them. Do I have to blanch them first?
Blanching tomatoes before freezing removes the skins which can ruin sauces, etc. A very easy online search for "why blanch tomatoes before freezing" produced many good replies to your question. You can try a search yourself and the always helpful "how stuff works" site below:
recipes.howstuffworks.com/
I want to make a fresh salsa, but need to freeze the ingredients as I get them. Once I have everything mixed together can I re-freeze everything in portion bags? I have a vacuum sealer that I plan on using for both processes. Ingredients will be fresh frozen tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cilantro. The tomatoes and peppers are the only two items I will need to re-freeze once everything has been put together. Please help! I don't want soggy ingredients.
By Dona
I used to freeze my tomatoes (all colours & varieties) but when thawed and stewed they tasted different to fresh stewed tomatoes - not very nice.
I find that I prefer to fry them, I will try freezing some fried tomatos.
I tried frying green tomatoes but the taste and texture was so awful that I fed them to my chickens (they are less fussy than me).
I like fried RIPE tomatoes on toast.
I bought some heirloom seeds from the USA and all germinated. Unfortunately the outside ones got blight in the last few days.
Could you please tell me if it is possible to freeze the yellow cherry tomatoes, and what do you do?
By Sue
This year, for the first time, I planted some some mountain gold tomatoes. Can I freeze these and if so how?
By Janice M
To use up tomatoes, cook them gently, cool, and then freeze for winter stews, etc. Personally, I live on home grown tomatoes, zucchinis, onions, and mushrooms braised together as a side dish or topped with breadcrumbs and baked to have with a roast. In our family it's always cooked on Christmas day as another vegetable with the traditional roast.
Source: Paternal grandmother who many years ago taught me to cook (like 60).
By Jean from Maffra, Victoria, Australia
At the end of the season don't waste those unripe tomatoes. Freeze them for future use. This is a page about freezing green tomatoes.
You can cut down the preparation time for freezing your garden tomatoes by freezing them whole. This is a page about freezing whole tomatoes.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
My husband and I have a garden this year. We always have too many tomatoes to eat before they spoil. I don't really have the money to can them, but how would I go about freezing them to use in recipes throughout the year?
