Roma Tomato preparation for freezing?

Herbmountain

Herbmountain

Inactive
Summerthyme, if you are here let me know how you freeze your tomatoes. Last year I froze them whole and they got real watery. I remember seeing Tony Danzas show a while back and he said he cores out the middle of romas to keep them from being bitter. Should I par-boil them first and what is the process for par-boiling?

I have a ton in the garden and like to make my own home made speggtie sauce. Any ideas here will do. I also do not know how to can and cannot afford a pressure cooker at this time but want to save these lucious tomatoes for winter.
 
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Springledge

Membership Revoked
I'm not Summerthyme ;) but I can tell you what I do and they keep for the whole year until the next crop comes in. If what you are wanting them for are sauces etc this should work great. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and immerse your whole tomatoes in the boiling water long enough to loosen the skins....usually not very long...30 seconds to a minute if the water is boiling good. Take the tomatos out of the boiling water and quickly immerse in cold water to stop the cooking. Then you can just slip the skins right off the tomato.

Then core the tomatos and put them in a cooking pot....I usually cut them in half so they heat up quicker...and just cook them like you would for your sauce. You can cook them until they are thick or just boil them for a few minutes until they are good and hot clear through. Then you can let them cool a little and put them in freezer bags or other freezing storage containers. I usually let them cool in the containers for an hour or so before putting them in the freezer so they won't heat up my freezer and make it work harder.

That's the way that works best for me....others may have different ways. Have fun!!

Springledge
 
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towardyou

Member
I use frozen tomatoes for soups, stews, and sauces. I just wash the tomatoes in soap and water, rinse well, dip them in a very mild bleach water solution (my tomatoes get splashed in the rain, and I want them as clean as possible when I preserve them). Rinse again, dry them off, put them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, freeze them solid and bag them up in freezer bags. Then you can use them individually as needed. If you let them thaw a little before use, the skins slip right off, and thawing them a little more makes them easy to chop. Voila! Frozen tomatoes!
 
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WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Herbmountain,

You don't need to pressure can tomatoes...hot water bath will do if you add citric acid or lemon juice. 2 Tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid per quart of tomatoes. Processing time is 45 minutes in a boiling water bath. Check out the Ball Blue Book for details.
 
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MissTina

Inactive
I was happy with my frozen experiment with the romas. If they went into the freezer extra ripe they came out very mushy. I think the ones which had a little yellow or green at the top were the ones I'm the happiest with. The skins just slid right off! They're on the stove right now so we'll find out as soon as I decide to make soup here in a few months. I like mine a little juicy for the recipes I'll intend to use them with.
 
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