Thursday, July 22, 2010

Freezing Tomatoes!

Are you flippin’ kidding me?!  I never knew tomatoes would freeze as a viable way to preserve them.  Never thought about it.  I’ve been spending the past few weekends canning and I’m still overrun with tomatoes.  I learned from a commenter over at Sacramento Vegetable Garden that tomatoes can be fresh frozen.  That’s right.  FROZEN!  I did a quick search and learned a wonderful trick.  Now I’m going out to harvest this evening.

Enjoy.

PS – If you wander over to Sacramento Vegetable Garden don’t be startled by Bill’s music when it starts up.

TIME PASSES…

DSC_1843_4753Here’s the haul from this evening’s harvest.  There’s a bunch more to follow.  This freezing thing is a nice option that I’m excited to try.  Meanwhile, this bounty is chilling in the garage refrigerator.

11 comments:

Missus said...

Hi Maybelline;

I've been freezing plum (paste) tomatoes like this for years, and always with good results. I just fill a medium sized freezer bag with tomatoes, and freeze.

Whenever I need a "can" of tomatoes in a recipe, I put the frozen tomatoes into a bowl and pour hot water from the kettle over them.

The peel comes right off, and the tomatoes are thawed by the time I need them in my soup, stew or whatever.

Why make it harder than it has to be, right?

Amy said...

What a beautiful blog and the dog on the header is so cute. He is one big guy! I wish I had tomatoes to freeze...good ideathat I will have to remember when I have them. :)

And Sow My Garden Grows said...

Looking at all those red tomatoes and the green ones in the back - tomato envy here!!!

Bill Bird said...

Yeah -- I've got tomato envy here too. Hating you now Maybelline! I'm weeks away from a harvest like that girl -- WEEKS AWAY. Oh -- yes -- some readers are big fans of the music -- others not so much.

MAYBELLINE said...

Hate?! Come on. Where's the love, Bill.

Maureen said...

I freeze them until I have enough to make a big batch of sauce to can....but it looks like that is not an issue for you :)

Melissa Price said...

Maybelline, last year I froze ALL my tomatoes. I didn't can a single one. No need to blanch them. I just cut the tops off and tossed them into freezer bags. When I was ready to make soup, I just thawed them, the peels slipped right off, and into the soup pot the went. Easy-peasy. I was a working woman last year, so there wasn't time to can. One of my coworkers told me about this 'trick'. Glad you're in the 'know'... : ) Melisa

Melissa Price said...

BEAUTIFUL TOMATOES!!! (Forgot to tell you that!)

MAYBELLINE said...

I haven't heard one negative comment about freezing tomatoes so the harvest from last night is being quick frozen in the freezers tonight then will be stored in freezer bags tomorrow. I'll have tomatoes canned, frozen, and canned as salsa. My food storage is moving right along. Thanks for all the great help. What a time saver AND no swamp pants!

Diane@Peaceful Acres said...

To be VERY honest...I'm so jealous of your beautiful tomatoes!!!! Oh my. I knew it....I just scrolled up to see...just what I guessed...you have to be in CA to have such perfect looking fruit!!! They really look wonderful. How's the flavor?

MAYBELLINE said...

*Diane: California is definitely the land of fruits and nuts (in all forms). The flavor is super. I'll be harvesting this evening to make more salsa. Carumba. I need to have a fiesta!