topic Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes? in Kitchen

Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

fthunt — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:01:13 GMT

for upcoming winter dishes? My Kitchen Aid has chopped many for casseroles and Lock n Lock holding them in my freezer. Wondering if I should mush more cuz I prefer fresh vs can store bought. Also - do you freeze green beans - like pole beans? Neighbor with garden doesn't blanch first, just wash snip and freeze. Ideas welcome

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

blackhole99 — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:26:12 GMT

I'm not a fan of frozen tomatoes, but I do freeze green beans(bush and pole), I steam blanch them first though. I never heard of not blanching green beans first, but I would give it a try with a few to see how it works. I do freeze peppers and corn without blanching and that works great.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

kittyloo — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:40:33 GMT

@fthunt funny you should ask. this is our first summer at new location, and we planted tomatoes, and boy do we have them. finding the brandywine is the most delicious of them all. i have been taking the slightly over ripe or boo-booed ones and putting them in a large freezer container to make sauce with.

i also last nite, just threw a bunch in a saute pan, and mashed them a bit added a little this and that and it was wonderful.

hate to waste any of them

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

bluehost — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:46:02 GMT

Martha Stewart grows TONS of tomatoes & freezes them. Of course there is a process to freezing tomatoes. Go to her website for details. It's easy.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

fthunt — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:42:41 GMT

Blanching......that's what Google said - so what does "G" know?

(wink)

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

fluffysmom — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:48:10 GMT

I cook my tomatoes down to sauce and then freeze. I think beans should always be blanched.I've read they can have salmonella if you don't. My Ball Blue Book says blance.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

fthunt — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:49:23 GMT

@kittyloo As I recall - brandywine are the large tomatoes with dark purple/black/red tops - right? I've never had them - look kind of scary LOL

Juicy and all that?

I'm buying cherry and big regular tomatoes at a huge farmer's market down the road and going back tomorrow to see what's left. Neighbor got me interested in freezing beans - I'm new to pole beams and find they have more flavor than the skinny guys. Like to have those on hand during a North'eastern blizzard. For which we're due.......in NY State.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

Sooner — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:53:10 GMT

I don't blanch things--just freeze them. I'm going to cook them anyway and after freezing they go into soup or something like that.

I freeze a lot of kale and corn and other things for soups.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

Spacrazy — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:56:30 GMT

Yes, I usually freeze lots of tomatoes but this years crop hasn’t done so well and we’re able to eat right away. I freeze mine peeled (the boiling water blister peel method). Drain well and freeze them individually on cookie sheets and throw the frozen product in labeled zip lock bags.

If you’re lucky enough to have large slicing tomatoes I quarter them prior to freezing after they’re peeled. Generally I freeze them whole and when they’re thawed they usually are like first day fresh for salads, sandwiches, etc. soooooo good!

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

Annabellethecat66 — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:58:25 GMT

@fthunt Your post was like a red light to me. I love, love (and more love) real tomatoes. But only good tomatoes.

I also said, "When I die put on my tombstone, "Here lies Annabelle....she loved a good tomato:.

My friend grows the most amazing tomatoes you ever ate. This year he planted in his garden over (yes over) 400 tomato plants alone.

He cans them and does just about everything with them you can imagine. He gives me lots and lots and well.....lots of them. I eat so many tomatoes the inside of my mouth gets blisters on them (from the natural acid of the tomato).

He called me last night and told me I need to come and pick up the last of the tomatoes. That's it.....they're done!

OMG! My mouth is watering just thinking about them. I would think you could set them into some tupperware and freeze them, but I don't think they'd taste very good.

Most of his, he cans them. I'll have to ask him how many jars he's canned this year.

I just sent him a text to ask him your question about blanching. He'll get back to me. This guy has an amazing garden. Doesn't use any chemicals.

He has tractors, you name it.

He said just now he canned 197 quarts of tomatoes!

He just said the tomatoes work better canning in glass jars. This guy would know. He still lives in the house his great grandparents built. He lives right across the road from me.

He's one of my best friends.

He just said yes, you should blanch the green beans.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

Spacrazy — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:10:22 GMT

@Annabellethecat66 : Your posts make my day but I didn’t know how much you love tomatoes till now (I love them, too).

If you didn’t know about it let me tell you about the annual Tomato Festival in Jacksonville, Texas. It is the second weekend in June annually and it is everything tomatoes all year long.

You will love it.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

hellokitty — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:15:16 GMT

I can most of my vegetables but I do freeze a few. I do not blanch.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

Sooner — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:18:10 GMT

The latest Instant Pot has a function for canning things. That would be nice. Although you can put up tomatoes using the water bath method. I used to do that and they were good!

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

Carmie — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:22:46 GMT

I usually freeze tomatoes and did so this year again. I do them in batches and different ways. Some I cook down and put into a blender to make them smooth.

Some I just wash and freeze whole with the skins on. When I want to use them, I run them under cold water while frozen and the skin just peels right off. Mostly use for soups this way.

Some get diced and put into the blender raw.

And finally I freeze some of the cooked purée with fried peppers, both mild and hot, some with and some without onions.

I use Freezer safe zip lock bags and freeze them flat. Then I store in a storage container standing up on their ends like books. They take up little room in my freezer.

I freeze everything this way.

I sometimes freeze blanched green beans, but didn't do any this year.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

fthunt — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:25:51 GMT

@Annabellethecat66 Interesting read A-cat. My parents also had acres of v garden and my widowed grandmother loved to can everything - big cooking pressure cooker sizzled away day after day......... and she could snip beans faster than a spider moves. Cellar basement had rows and rows and shelves and shelves of canned goods. Ahh no Wegmen's then.

So - me off to the market tomorrow to see what's left in veggie department - hope for beans and tomatoes before the pumpkin flood.

Thanks for your input - to be safe - think I'll blanch the beans if available.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

drizzellla — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:29:46 GMT

I find it is so easy to just can tomatoes. So easy to do and don't have to worry about the freezer, if the power goes out or if I have enough room.

I blanch them because I peel the skin off all the tomatoes. It makes such a good sauce because I determine what I want. If I don't want any seeds I make sure I take out all the seeds. If I want the tomatoes thick I cook them a bit.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

fthunt — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:35:49 GMT

Lots of good tips here - I didn't know from frozen (tomato) to cold water bath = easy skin off.

Who knew?

Thanks - I'll keep reading!

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

sabatini — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 01:00:00 GMT

I freeze roasted tomatoes all the time. They come in handy!

Large or Roma tomatoes, I slice thickly, and cherry or grapes tomatoes are left whole, unless they're very big, then they're sliced in half.

Lay on a foil lined cookie sheet, drizzle w/ olive oil & roast in a low oven.

Remove from oven when done to your liking, cool, then put the whole sheet into the freezer. When frozen, pop the tomatoes off the foil and place in Ziploc bags.

SO MANY uses, and SO delicious!

Tossed w/ angel hair pasta: saute garlic in olive oil, splash in some white wine, then add the frozen roasted tomatoes and simmer just until heated through, toss w/ angel hair, add Parmesan.

Smear on toasted baguette w/ goat cheese & fresh basil.

Use on your homemade pizza.

Add to anything at all.

I wish I had your bumper crop!

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

Carmie — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 01:11:59 GMT

@sabatini I never though of doing that. They sound delicious. I'd probably eat them before I got them into the freezer. Yumm.

Re: Do you freeze a lot of fresh tomatoes?

AuntMame — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 01:17:21 GMT

@sabatini wrote:
I freeze roasted tomatoes all the time. They come in handy!

Large or Roma tomatoes, I slice thickly, and cherry or grapes tomatoes are left whole, unless they're very big, then they're sliced in half.
Lay on a foil lined cookie sheet, drizzle w/ olive oil & roast in a low oven.

Remove from oven when done to your liking, cool, then put the whole sheet into the freezer. When frozen, pop the tomatoes off the foil and place in Ziploc bags.

SO MANY uses, and SO delicious!
Tossed w/ angel hair pasta: saute garlic in olive oil, splash in some white wine, then add the frozen roasted tomatoes and simmer just until heated through, toss w/ angel hair, add Parmesan.
Smear on toasted baguette w/ goat cheese & fresh basil.
Use on your homemade pizza.
Add to anything at all.

I wish I had your bumper crop!

This is what I do. I used to roast all the extra tomatoes along with garlic, peppers and onions. I would also roast all the green tomatoes from the garden. Then I'd chop everything up into salsa which I would freeze. Would add it to Tex-Mex and chili all through the winter. But simply roasting the tomatoes and freezing them is so much easier and just as good.