Freeze tomatoes - raw or cooked?
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
We are being overwhelmed by our tomato crop and I would like to freeze some. As I use them mainly in soups and casseroles, I don't want to make a sauce or puree, just freeze the tomatoes. But which would be better: just freeze them whole as they are (they are small 'Gardeners Delight') or cook them and then freeze the resulting pulp? Any thoughts?
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retropants
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may I suggest getting one of those passata contraptions? from SoI?
You then have lots of pulp that freezes very well.
You then have lots of pulp that freezes very well.
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Primrose
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Monika - for the first time last year I froze quite a few of my surplus tomatoes raw, rather than processed and was very pleased with the way they performed. They were all cherry tomatoes of some kind - Gardeners Delight, Tumbling Red & Yellows and Sungold. I just put them all in those Lakeland Zip Lock bags and remember to take a handfull out well before I need them so they can thaw naturally rather than defrosting in the microwave (although I've done that too). I imagine if you quartered the bigger tomatoes they would tend to stick together once frozen because of the surface moisture, and be a little more difficult to ease apart.
The skins do tend to split as a result of freezing, but they otherwise stay intact. I've been using them in soups & caseroles, but also just taking a large handful out, thawing and looking them in a pan with a touch of olive oil to eat with grilled bacon. They taste deliciously fresh as soon as the juices begin to run. Go for it !
The skins do tend to split as a result of freezing, but they otherwise stay intact. I've been using them in soups & caseroles, but also just taking a large handful out, thawing and looking them in a pan with a touch of olive oil to eat with grilled bacon. They taste deliciously fresh as soon as the juices begin to run. Go for it !
Many thanks, retropants and Primrose. I am going to follow your suggestion, Primrose, and freeze them whole like you did. They are all cherry tomatoes, so very small but solid and tasty.
I wanted them in their skins, you see, retropants, hence no passata!
I wanted them in their skins, you see, retropants, hence no passata!
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retropants
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Ah! I see! sorry!!
Well, I have done the deed - I have frozen about 50 small tomatoes raw. I didn't wash them at all because I don't use sprays or anything and I didn't want them to stick together. So I now have about 50 little red bullets rattling in a freezer bag!
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Primrose
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Well done Monika! Am sure you'll enjoy having this touch of sunshine to enjoy during winter months. My freezers (kitchen & garage) are now crammed full and I STILL have lots of tomatoes ripening, despite having given quite a lot away.
My cupboards are full of jars of jam, marmalade & chutney and I have no storage space left yet I don't want to waste them so am faced with menu planning for lots of tomato-based dishes for the next week or so. Much as I love them, I'm beginning to flag a little, especially as my OH likes variety in his meals.
I remember my mother's war-time larder being full of Kilner jars of preserved tomatoes. I may have to resort to trying that method. (Most of their lawn in wartime was converted to growing tomatoes and runner beans. The tomatoes were bottled in brine and the beans were salted down in large earthenware crocks.)
My cupboards are full of jars of jam, marmalade & chutney and I have no storage space left yet I don't want to waste them so am faced with menu planning for lots of tomato-based dishes for the next week or so. Much as I love them, I'm beginning to flag a little, especially as my OH likes variety in his meals.
I remember my mother's war-time larder being full of Kilner jars of preserved tomatoes. I may have to resort to trying that method. (Most of their lawn in wartime was converted to growing tomatoes and runner beans. The tomatoes were bottled in brine and the beans were salted down in large earthenware crocks.)
Hi again Primrose,
I find Tomatoes that are really ripe and done in Kilner Jars have a wonderful taste. Somehow they seem to mellow and drained and heated and eaten 'on toast' really great. Also put into soups and casseroles they somehow make the dish.
JB.
I find Tomatoes that are really ripe and done in Kilner Jars have a wonderful taste. Somehow they seem to mellow and drained and heated and eaten 'on toast' really great. Also put into soups and casseroles they somehow make the dish.
JB.
I remember my mother's Kilner jars! We seemed to have hundreds of them, all full of goodies, including lots of apricots and peaches (they grew well were we lived). Every so often, one would go bad because during the war it was very difficult to get hold of new rubber rings, and then they smelt awful or they even "exploded"! No freezers then!
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Primrose
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Yes, I seem to remember an explosion happening in my mother's larder with something she had bottled. I guess food science was probably not quite so well understood then, but to be honest, it's one of the reasons that has been holding me back from bottling my surplus tomatoes. We used to make a lot of our wine year ago and I'm only too conscious of the things that can go wrong with fermentation and bacteria if you don't get things 100% right.
I was wondering if putting a campden tablet (sodium metabisulphate) in each Kilner jar would stop bacteria forming/fermentation/explosions in the same way that it acts in winemaking. Does anybody have any ideas about this because I'm somewhat wary of tackling the bottling by way of putting them all in a big pan of boiling water and going down that route.
I was wondering if putting a campden tablet (sodium metabisulphate) in each Kilner jar would stop bacteria forming/fermentation/explosions in the same way that it acts in winemaking. Does anybody have any ideas about this because I'm somewhat wary of tackling the bottling by way of putting them all in a big pan of boiling water and going down that route.