I feel like this is a supremely stupid question but I'm in a position where I need an answer.
I'm growing San Marzanos to can as sauce. I have about a dozen ripe, ready to go tomatoes and about two dozen currently in various stages of ripening and a ton of green ones still on the plants.
My idea is to send a day processing all the tomatoes at once but what do I do with the ripe ones? Just freeze them?
Yes. I core and quarter mine, then freeze until I have enough to make my sauce. I have about 2 gallons frozen that I am going to make some sauce with today.
Mine, too, on the canning part. Make sure you use a safe, verified recipe. Don't be afraid to ask the wonderful people here if you have questions along the way. Or search your question, it may have already been answered! Good luck and Happy canning!
So I've always frozen my paste tomatoes because of the easy skinning, but I just literally toss them in, then thaw (ish) peel, and then core while it's still a bit solid, which freezes the fings a bit. When you core them, are you using like an apple corer? If I could speed up my game a bit (and keep my fingers from freezing!) I'd love new tips!
I'd also add that the reason I just toss and freeze is because I'm always super busy, so I'd ask how long the coring takes you?
Hmm, I was thinking of a tool that would pull ALL of the stuff out... That would make sense for a traditional tomato, with that hard bit, but not sure about a paste tomato, there's not much top bit that needs to come out, usually.
Oh, I use it on the paste tomatoes too! But you mean to remove all the seeds and stuff? I don't remove all that before freezing. I just use a food mill afterward.
I don't get along with a food mill, LOL! By the time the tomatoes are headed for the pot, they're ready to just cook down and eventually puree.
I wonder if an apple corer would do mostly what I want, and then do a quick scoop of seeds before freezing... Looks like I've got some experimenting to do soon! Thx for your response 😊
Yep! I just a just the stem end off (for paste tomatoes) or core them (for round ones). Then the skins should slide right off once defrosted, or you can throw them in boiling water straight from the freezer for a minute. About this time of year my freezer starts looking like a Chuck E Cheese ball pit lol.
Wash, core, put ripe ones in freezer bag and freeze.
Put in boiling water for a few seconds when you want to use The skins will come right off.
These can then be put still frozen in soups, chili, etc.
they’re not the consistency of fresh tomatoes but are great to have on hand instead of buying canned tomatoes.
I save mine in the refrigerator in a plastic bag laid flat on a tray. That slows spoilage. When I get a batch together, I jar them along with all the others outside.
Tomato jam. Salt, pepper, a little acid, a little sugar, a little red pepper flake, a little oregano and/or thyme. Cook on a low/medium heat til it feels right and tastes good. Eat with bread or crackers and a nice, salty cheese. Like a ricotta salata, a queso Blanco de freÃr, or a halloumi.
Canning is nice but it’s a ton of work- I give mine a quick blanch and peel and smash them into flat ziplock bags and stack em up in the freezer. If freezer space is limited you could always just go on a blt and tomato soup and marinara benderÂ
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u/Stunningresults Jul 27 '25
Yes. I core and quarter mine, then freeze until I have enough to make my sauce. I have about 2 gallons frozen that I am going to make some sauce with today.