Tomatoes can be frozen whole, stewed, or as plain tomato sauce. You can use plastic food storage containers with tight-fitting lids or straight-sided mason jars.
Freezer Directions:
First, cool the stewed tomatoes by setting the kettle into a sink of ice water. Ladle tomatoes into wide-top freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label, and freeze for up to 10 months.
Cover and cook until tender (10 to 20 minutes). Place pan containing tomatoes in cold water to cool. Pack into containers, leaving the following headspace. Seal and freeze.
Yes, you can freeze tomatoes for up to 6 months. You can freeze them uncooked, cooked or even from a tin.
Freezing tomatoes reduces their flavor. Enzymes responsible for a tomato's taste are rendered inactive below 50ºF. Thawed tomatoes are not appealing to eat by themselves …
Frozen tomatoes become soft after thawing so you wouldn't be able to use them raw, such as in a BLT sandwich. For cooking though, they are perfectly fine. In fact, freezing tomatoes for sauce is ideal when it's tomato season yet you don't have time to make sauce until after the summer harvest rush.
Lay the tomatoes out on a flat freezer-proof sheet, in a single layer and not touching, and place in your freezer. Once they're fully frozen, transfer your tomatoes to sealable plastic bags and return to the freezer where they'll keep for six months or more.
To defrost frozen tomatoes, either allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge, at room temperature for about an hour, or under warm water. One of the best things about frozen tomatoes is how easy they are to peel! Once they're defrosted, the skins should slip right off.
Make sure you keep the temperature of the freezer at 0°F or below to ensure proper freezing. Frozen tomatoes will retain their flavor for 12 months. This gives you plenty of time to thaw them to use in your favorite sauce, stew, or soup recipes.
Put slices on a cookie sheet and freeze for 2 hours. Remove slices and put them into freezer bags or containers. OR slice tomatoes into at least 1/2-inch slices. Package in a rigid airtight container and fast freeze.
Place the tomatoes in a gallon-sized zip-top freezer bag. Force out as much air as possible and tightly seal the bag. Freeze the tomatoes. Lay the bag flat in the freezer and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
Peel and quarter tomatoes, then pulse in a food processor until crushed. Tomatoes can be frozen up to 6 months.
If you're making a fresh tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes, the tomatoes should be peeled, cored, and seeded. The result will be a smoother sauce without any seeds, core, or peel in it. Don't worry, it's an easy and quick process.
Stewed tomatoes will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Freeze stewed tomatoes for longer storage.
While the freezer does impact a tomato's texture, it doesn't ruin its vibrant, acidic flavor. Some diehard canners will argue that canning tomatoes preserves more of the fresh flavor, and they may be right.
However, frozen tomatoes do work well in sauces and stews. As you simmer the sauce or stew all that extra water will evaporate, leaving you with fresh tomato taste. Alternatively, you could consider cooking the tomatoes into a tomato sauce, and then freezing that.
Prepare a large saucepan of boiling water, as well as a large bowl filled with ice water. In batches, add the tomatoes to the boiling water in 2-minute intervals. Using a large slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes to the ice water and let sit for 1 minute. Place the tomatoes into large resealable bags and freeze!
Generally, yes. It will probably take longer to reduce.
If you have the freezer space, you have everything you need to preserve tomatoes without the hassle of a boiling water bath or pressure canner. Yes, I'm talking about freezing tomatoes—whole! When most people think about preserving their food, they think jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles, and other canned goods.
Preheat your oven for 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven for two to three hours. Alternatively, tomatoes can be dehydrated using a food dehydrator. Dried tomatoes can be stored on the counter for a few days or frozen for up to six months.
Long, slow cooking concentrates the flavors and brings out sweetness by breaking down carbohydrates. Some of those carbohydrates caramelize, giving rich, "brown" flavors like those in cooked meat. Let it go too long, though, and you can over-concentrate the flavors. Eventually, it will even burn.