Freezing tomatoes

[Glen Bryan]

I've got a bunch of San marrazano that I want to put away for the winter I really want to try to freeze them if it will work. how should I do it I've got a really good vacuum sealer can I just cut them into pieces then pack in the bags and freeze them

[Worth1]

I could babble on about freezing tomatoes but here is a link to a thread in the food preservation section.
It will answer more of your questions than I can write.

Worth

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=8294

[Labradors2]

No time to read Worth's link. What I do is freeze my tomatoes whole in freezer bags. When I'm ready to make sauce, I pop each one under the hot tap until the skin splits, slip it off, and we're off to the races!

Linda

[Worth1]

Just dont expect much of a tomato when you thaw them out.
They break down to nothing about 10 times faster when you are cooking them than a canned one.
So if you want anything that resembles a tomato in your soup put it in at the very last and just heat it up.
Don't expect to make tacos with them either.
Worth

[Worth1]

I would like to add I have used 5 year old frozen tomatoes that were just fine.

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

Mmm Tomatosycle

We froze bags of cherry tomatoes a few years back.

Didn't do it again.

[PhilaGardener]

I halve cherry tomatoes and freeze on a cookie sheet. Then bulk in a bag in a chest freezer to top homemade pizza all winter long. By the time January comes around, they are great!

[Tracydr]

I just dry cherry tomatoes and any extras when I'm not canning. Those MWCs and CC are incredible in sauce, pizza,child and soup all winter. Plus, it's shrunk down to a little Baggie that I store one the door of the fridge.
I tried marinating in red wine this summer but preferred the plain.
This method works very well with paste tomatoes, too.

[Glen Bryan]

To dry cherry tomatoes do you just cut them in half?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Glen Bryan

To dry cherry tomatoes do you just cut them in half?

This is the best way yes.

In Italy they make a paste by spreading sauce out on a huge board and letting it dry to almost no moisture.
After it is dried they scrap it up and make a ball out of it.
This paste is nothing like the cooked down canned paste.
I have made small test batches of it here at home it is the bomb.
It is like the flavor of a thousand tomatoes in your mouth at the same time.
Worth

[taboule]

>>> In Italy they make a paste by spreading sauce out on a huge board and letting it dry to
almost no moisture.

=====
Any idea for how long? In the sun, and no risk of spoilage?

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Worth1

This is the best way yes.

In Italy they make a paste by spreading sauce out on a huge board and letting it dry to almost no moisture.
After it is dried they scrap it up and make a ball out of it.
This paste is nothing like the cooked down canned paste.
I have made small test batches of it here at home it is the bomb.
It is like the flavor of a thousand tomatoes in your mouth at the same time.
Worth

Dang! That sounds amazing. Worth, can you post a link ,for the technique? I want to try it. Pretty please?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by taboule

>>> In Italy they make a paste by spreading sauce out on a huge board and letting it dry to
almost no moisture.

=====
Any idea for how long? In the sun, and no risk of spoilage?

Strattu is what it is called you can look it up but as you know when you start looking up words that we dont use here you end up reading in an other language.


I dont think you would be able to make it where you live but you can buy it.
It can take several days (close to a week) in the hot sun and you have to stir it around with a paddle or something every now and then.
The temperatures need to be close to 100 and low humidity.
I have read where people put it in a jar with olive oil on top and it keeps in the refrigerator for months.
But I bet it will keep without refrigeration without spoiling with the right amount of acid.

I'll give my friend Joe from Sicily a call and get the low down on it.
He knows more about (Real) Italian food than anyone I know.


Worth

[imp]

I looked it up on google search and got about to page 5 before having to translate, <smile> and just copied some links for ya'll that have some good pictures and recipes to make the strattu.

http://www.ciaoitalia.com/my_weblog/...-with-attitude

http://www.debic.com/es/bakery/blog/...secret-strattu

http://honest-food.net/2009/09/14/es...atto-conserva/

http://www.italymagazine.com/news/si...-paste-strattu

I just did a paste for paste, LOL!!!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Dang! That sounds amazing. Worth, can you post a link ,for the technique? I want to try it. Pretty please?

Okay I can do better than a link.

I just talked to my friend and he has called his father that has done it for years.
My friend has done it too.
He was born and raised in Palermo Sicily.
Everything I get from these fantastic people is spot on.

Here is what you do.
Blanch the tomatoes to crack the skin and run them through the tomato mill.
Get a big sheet of plywood with some sides on it so the stuff doesn't run of.
You could cut it in half down the middle if you want so it would be 2X8.
Or even smaller like 2X4.
Spread out the sauce with nothing added to where it is around 3/8 thick and set it in the sun.
Now you will have to go out two or three times a day to stir/mix it up and spread it again.
This is a very important step if you dont it will stick to the plywood.
At night bring it in under a cover so it doesn't get wet.
In a few days it will become a paste.
It is up to you how thick you want it but it needs to be thick.
Put it in a jar with olive oil on top put it in the refrigerator if you want.
It will last forever.
Remember when you do this you are not only concentrating the tomato you are also concentrating the acid.
You wont notice the acid because you are also concentrating the sugar.
These folks have been canning and preserving food for many years and from hearing them talk they are very food safe.
Estratto is what it is called and means extract in English.
It is nothing like cooked canned tomato paste.

Now I have a reason to buy a tomato strainer.
Worth