Freezing Fresh Tomatos

[Great-Kazoo]

So........ not being much of a gardener and don't really eat many tomato's over time. Been considering getting a bunch of Romas, with the intent to freeze them. It Looks like it's a straight forward clean, cut (if desired) and freeze in what ever size container one chooses. We don't can (yet) and want to have some on hand for sauce etc. You opinion[s]

[crays]

Can, don't freeze. You will be rewarded with flavor, over availability.
Frozen tomatoes are mushy and lacking flavor, in my experience. I don't can yet either, but commercially canned tomatoes are superior to frozen tomatoes, in my opinion.
If you don't want to get into canning, at least process them into sauce before freezing. I will let The Grey and others take it from here..

My sister and bil can their toms, and usually share with us, but I sincerely think you will be disappointed with anything but sauce, if frozen. My .02

[newracer]

We blanch them to remove the skins and then freeze them. We use them in sauces and they are great.

[HoneyBadger]

We always make a huge batch of pasta sauce with our crop of tomatoes and then freeze them in quart-sized freezer bags. Works out perfectly for nights when you don't want to do a ton of cooking or clean-up.

[Irving]

What about the nights where you don't want to do any defrosting?

[Wulf202]

They thaw out mushy. Other than that it's not a big deal

[Great-Kazoo]

We always make a huge batch of pasta sauce with our crop of tomatoes and then freeze them in quart-sized freezer bags. Works out perfectly for nights when you don't want to do a ton of cooking or clean-up.

This


What about the nights where you don't want to do any defrosting?

Microwave is your friend


They thaw out mushy. Other than that it's not a big deal

After some reading i "think" i might roast a bunch in the slow cooker mixing some basil, oregano and garlic from the garden. I'd like to can a bunch, unfortunately time & storage space doesn't work.

[HoneyBadger]

What about the nights where you don't want to do any defrosting?
Order pizza. [Abused]

[Great-Kazoo]

Order pizza. [Abused]

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=JN.GMfDsWuYu%2btjQbp%2bVOZSJg&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300

[Hummer]

We freeze our garden tomatoes every year, usually Romas and Sweet 100's. We slice them in half and place on a cookie sheet, cut side up, and put them in the chest freezer. Next day, transfer them to a ziploc and back into the deep freeze. Double bagged, they can keep their flavor well and are great in a stir fry or on burgers. Sweet 100's are much sweeter, and my favorite. We also dehydrate the Sweet 100's.

We stock up on the bounty from the gardens and use it throughout the winter. We harvested and froze a lot of snow peas earlier this summer. For a while we were picking about a gallon a day. Last night we had garden beets and garlic, frozen since last year. Great with elk steak and veggie kebobs.

[rbeau30]

The sauce from your home grown tomatoes will be heckuvalot more tasty than any thing on the shelf at the store IMHO.

Good Luck!

Learn how to can!

[TheGrey]

When Romas were on sale, I bought 100#, with an expectation of canning. I read that by freezing them, you can then thaw them later and they'll slip right out of the peel.
I used Ziploc gallon freezer bags, fit anywhere between 12-16 per bag, and stacked 'em deep in the chest freezer.

Here's what I discovered:

It does make them easier to peel. But core them before you freeze them, and it will be even easier.
Fully thawed previously-frozen tomatoes are squishy, slick, watery and some of the 'meat' tends to come off with the skin. I canned some like this and they look a bit like red brains in a jar after canning. They taste fine, but they're just not pretty. If you're planning on quartering them, or chopping them into pieces, wait until they are about half-thawed and strip away the skin. Only the skin will come off, and the tomato will hold its shape so you can dump the chunks into your pot or can.

If you're making tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce, freeze them, peel/core them, and toss them into an electric turkey roaster and let them cook down. Use an immersible blender, and measure out specific amounts into freezer bags. When placed on their side, you can stack the freezer bags in your freezer and they take up little room. They'll thaw quickly. :)