Freezing Tomatoes

This is the time of year when most home gardens are producing lots of fresh homegrown tomatoes. If you want to have your delicious tomatoes all year round, try freezing them. Freezing tomatoes will preserve their delicious flavor, although not their firm texture. Once the tomatoes are thawed they lose their firmness and become mushy. These tomatoes are perfect for soups, juices, or sauces.

To freeze tomatoes, you must first prepare them by washing them thoroughly with clean water. Cut away the stem scar on the top of the tomato. Tomatoes can be frozen either with their skin or peeled. If you want to remove the skin before freezing, blanch them first by dropping the tomatoes into a pan of boiling water for roughly one minute. Remove the tomatoes, cool under running water, and the skins should then slip off easily. If you choose to freeze your tomatoes with the skin on, once the tomatoes are thawed again the skin will slip off without any problem.

Place your tomatoes on a cookie sheet and freeze them individually. Once they are frozen solid, remove them from the sheet and at this point you can place several together in a freezer bag to keep in your freezer. Only use bags specifically designed for freezing to keep the tomatoes from getting frost burn. You can remove one or more tomatoes easily when you want them using this method. Another way to freeze tomatoes is to chop them up first and then freeze them. You can also juice your tomatoes and just freeze the tomato juice. There are many uses for frozen home grown tomatoes. Even if your garden is producing too many tomatoes for your family at this point, you will be happy you have them later.