How to freeze fresh tomatoes for the winter. How to freeze peeled tomatoes for the winter

Can you freeze tomatoes? Not only possible, but even necessary if you want all year round have access to useful delicious product. Of course, frozen tomatoes have fewer vitamins than fresh ones. But they are much more useful than canned vegetables. If red fragrant fruits are present in your diet all year round, the following positive changes will occur in the body:

• intestinal peristalsis is normalized;
• the composition of the blood will improve;
• the work of the heart and blood vessels is normalized;
• the risk of oncological diseases will decrease;
• general well-being will improve;
• efficiency will increase;
• hair, nails and teeth will become stronger;
• immunity will be strengthened;
• metabolism will speed up.

Which is better: freeze or buy fresh in the off-season

With the development of trade, housewives began to pay less attention to home-made preparations. Indeed, why freeze tomatoes if they are sold in the supermarket all year round? fresh fruits. But are they as tasty and healthy as it seems at first glance? The table shows a comparative description of home-made frozen vegetables and fresh imported fruits from a supermarket.

Table - Comparative characteristics frozen and fresh vegetables

Studies have shown that freezing enhances the activity of certain antioxidants. Due to the violation of the structure of the fibers, the bioavailability of substances increases.

8 rules for tasty and healthy harvesting

Up to a certain point, there was confidence that freezing does not affect chemical composition products. But, thanks to fundamental research, it became clear that such an impact leads to structural changes. Only shock freezing, used in industrial enterprises, allows you to save a maximum of useful substances and the texture of the product, close to the original.

Unfortunately, most home refrigerators, with the exception of the most modern models, cannot provide high-quality freezing. Cooling is very slow, resulting in the formation large crystals ice between fibers. This leads to the fact that when thawing vegetables lose their shape, and most of the nutrients go away with the water. Nevertheless, this option of homemade preparations does not lose popularity. To preserve the taste and minimize vitamin loss, take into account eight recommendations on how to properly freeze tomatoes for the winter.

1. Prepare fresh food. Ideally, no more than six hours should pass from the moment you pick tomatoes in the garden to lay them in the freezer.
2. Choose quality tomatoes. Fruits without stains, mold, rot and mechanical damage are suitable for harvesting.
3. Wash vegetables thoroughly. Rinse the tomatoes three times running water so that no particles of earth remain. Be sure to remove the stems.
4. Decide on the volume. One container or bag should contain exactly as many tomatoes as you can use at one time. In addition, a small batch will freeze faster.
5. Limit air access. If you freeze fruits in a container, it must be closed with a lid. Air must be removed from the bags as much as possible and tightness must be ensured.
6. Don't stuff the container. Freezing, tomatoes increase in volume a little. They can lift the lid and allow air to enter.
7. Label the container. Frozen foods are covered with white frost, and it is not always possible to determine by eye what exactly is in the container. Therefore, stickers with the name of the workpiece and the date of manufacture must be pasted on each container.
8. Do not refreeze. If the product has thawed, it should be consumed immediately. Re-freezing renders vegetables useless and absolutely tasteless.

To freeze fresh tomatoes for the winter, stock up on special bags with a sealed clasp. You can do with improvised means. After placing the workpiece in the bag, iron its edges with an iron through a layer of fabric or paper.

How to freeze tomatoes for the winter: 5 ways

Considering that tomatoes are used in the most different dishes, it is not surprising that the housewives came up with many options for how to freeze tomatoes for the winter in the freezer. Analyze your usual menu and choose the right options for you.

Whole

Peculiarities. Freezing whole tomatoes is a versatile option. The product can be cut into slices, circles, finely chopped, stuffed or processed into juice. For harvesting, it is better to choose small fruits with a minimum number of seeds. The optimal varieties are "Cherry" and "Cream".

How to do

1. Wash the tomatoes and remove the stalks.
2. Dry the tomatoes so they don't stick together when frozen.
3. Place the fruits in a bag or container.
4. Send the workpiece to the freezer.

Do not try to freeze green tomatoes for the winter. When thawed, they will turn into porridge. In addition, because of the bitter taste, the product will be difficult to “attach” to some dishes.

Without peel

Peculiarities. When frozen, the fiber structure of vegetables changes. The flesh becomes more friable, and the peel remains the same tough. Such dissonance will not be to everyone's taste. To rid yourself of extra hassle in the future, remove the skin from the fruit before freezing. It is better to use miniature cherry tomatoes.

How to do

1. Wash the fruits and remove the stalks.
2. Make a small cross-shaped incision on the peel.
3. For half a minute, dip the fruits in boiling water, then immediately pour over them cold water.
4. Remove the rind.
5. Put on a cutting board plastic bag or wrap it in cling film.
6. Lay the prepared fruits on the surface, cover them with a film or bag and send them to the freezer for a day.
7. Transfer the tomatoes to containers or bags and send them back to the freezer.

Tomatoes are thawed room temperature in 15-20 minutes. It is important that they are defrosted in non-metallic containers, away from light and heat sources.

circles

Peculiarities. Sliced ​​tomatoes are perfect for pizza. At the right time, remove the workpiece from the freezer and place on the dough. It is important that the tomatoes do not need to be thawed, and this saves time.

How to do

1. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into circles 1-1.5 cm thick. Judging by the reviews, if the plates are thin, they will become sour when thawed.
2. Wrap the cutting board with foil, lay the workpiece in one layer, cover with cellophane and send it to the freezer for five to six hours.
3. Transfer the tomatoes to a container or bag and send them back to the freezer.

If you plan to use tomatoes for salads, freeze them in wedges. To preserve the maximum texture of vegetables, you need to defrost them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for about 12 hours.

in pieces

Peculiarities. For lovers vegetable stew easy to freeze tomatoes in small pieces. Just take the blank out of the freezer and send it to the cooking dish. It is important to use juicy and fleshy tomatoes.

How to do

1. Cut each tomato into quarters and remove the seeds.
2. Cut the pulp into cubes.
3. On a board covered with foil, lay the workpiece in one layer. Cover the product with a bag on top and send it to the freezer for three to four hours.
4. Transfer the vegetables to a bag or container and freeze them again.
5. If it is not important that the cubes are crumbly, put the tomatoes in a bag immediately after cutting and freeze.

If you plan to cook a dish of frozen tomatoes, keep in mind that they reach readiness twice as fast as fresh ones. Add tomatoes last.

Tomato "pills"

Peculiarities. If you like tomato flavor in your dishes, right decision will freeze rolled tomatoes. Format vegetable ice very convenient for soup, borscht and sauces. Just take a couple of "tablets" out of the freezer and add to the dish you are preparing. And also this good way disposal of overripe and crushed tomatoes.

How to do

1. Wash the tomatoes, remove the sepals, cut out the spoiled fragments.
2. Pass vegetables through a meat grinder. If you like smooth juice without peel and seeds, rub the puree through a sieve.
3. Divide the workpiece into small portions. Juice can be poured into molds for ice or muffins, into cut bottoms plastic bottles and even in figured children's pastiches.
4. Send the workpiece to the freezer for a day.
5. Remove the tomato "pills" from the moulds. If the ice is not well behind the walls, dip the mold in boiling water for a couple of seconds.
6. Put the blanks in a container or bag and send them back to the freezer.

Tomato puree can be frozen pure form or with flavors. It could be bell pepper, fresh or dried herbs, grated garlic and onions.

stuffed fruits

For active and busy people never enough time to cook. Semi-finished products come to the rescue. But why buy groceries in the store of dubious quality if you can do delicious preparations on one's own? Set aside a few hours to prepare frozen tomatoes for the winter with delicious minced meat.

How to do

For stuffed semi-finished products, choose firm, fleshy medium-sized tomatoes. The peel should be dense so that the fruits do not lose their shape after defrosting. The process of preparing semi-finished products consists of three stages.

1. Preparation. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stalk, cut off the “cap” and remove some of the pulp with seeds.
2. Filling and freezing. Fill the blanks with minced meat, lay them out in one layer on a cutting board wrapped in cling film. Cover the product with a bag and send it to the freezer for a day.
3. Packaging and storage. Transfer the workpiece to bags or containers and send it back to the freezer for no more than four months.

12 hours before cooking, you need to get the tomatoes from the freezer and rearrange them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Place the semi-finished product on a baking sheet, greased vegetable oil and bake for 20 minutes.

Filling options

IN stuffed tomato oh, most importantly, it's delicious and hearty stuffing. The table contains the most good options. The number of components is designed for ten medium tomatoes.

Table - The best fillings for tomatoes

baking stuffed tomatoes, a few minutes before readiness, flavor them with a spoonful of mayonnaise mixed with grated cheese. This will make the filling more juicy and tender.

What to look for when buying in a store

Housewives who have not yet acquired a refrigerator with a function shock freezing prefer to buy frozen vegetables in the supermarket. There are five basic rules for a successful purchase.

1. Packing date. It should fall at the end of summer - the beginning of autumn, when largest harvest tomatoes. If the vegetables are packed in winter or spring, it means that they have been in the warehouse for a long time before freezing. And not the fact that the storage rules were followed.
2. Best before date. Do not buy a product that has an expiration date of more than six months. Most likely it contains preservatives.
3. Friability. Feel and shake the bag of tomatoes well. The content should be crumbly. If the pieces stick together into several or one large lump, then the product is frozen. Snow inside the package is also a sign of re-cooling.
4. Storage conditions. Supermarket refrigerators usually have thermometers. They should show temperatures no higher than -18°C.
5. Package. The package with tomatoes should not have mechanical damage, should not be wrinkled and misted. A sign of the integrity of the package is a slight swelling.

After choosing high-quality frozen tomatoes, put the package in a plastic bag. Tie it so that an air cushion forms inside. This will support low temperature product while you are carrying it home.

In Russia, tomatoes appeared in 1780 at the suggestion of Empress Catherine. However, the bright red fruits brought from Europe did not impress the nobles. They considered the vegetables to be "not the right taste." But a few years later, agronomist Andrey Bolotov convinced people that tomatoes are not only harmless, but also healthy, and it’s easy to get used to their taste. Since then, fragrant red fruits have firmly entered the Russian culinary traditions. Recipes for frozen tomatoes for the winter will help you enjoy vegetables all year round with interesting history and rich aroma.

Vegetables

Description

Ingredients

Steps

First of all, we collect or purchase the amount of tomatoes that you want to freeze for the winter. It is best to choose vegetables that are undamaged and fairly ripe.



The first method involves freezing almost whole tomatoes. Rinse the tomatoes thoroughly, then dry and cut into not too thin circles as shown in the photo. The thickness of each circle should not exceed one centimeter. We put a plastic bag on the freezer tray, put mugs of tomatoes on top so that they do not touch each other.



We cover the first layer of tomatoes with another bag, lay out the tomatoes again and so on until the vegetables run out. We send the pallet with tomatoes to the freezer for a day.



After the specified time, we remove the tomatoes from the freezer and remove the first layer of the film.



We put the frozen circles of tomatoes in a suitable bag, wrap them up and send them for storage in the same freezer.



Now we proceed to the second option for freezing tomatoes for the winter. To do this, we need to cut the tomatoes into quarters and put them in a blender bowl.



We carefully chop the tomatoes, and then pass the resulting homogeneous mass through a large sieve so that pieces of dense skins do not come across in the freeze. Pour the resulting juice into a plastic container of a suitable volume and send it to the freezer. After 24 hours, we transfer the already frozen juice from the mold to the bag and return it to the freezer.



You can also freeze tomatoes in arbitrary pieces, it all depends on your imagination and desire.



Now you know how to properly freeze fresh tomatoes for the winter in the freezer on your own. simple recipe . Use the blank at your discretion.



Bon appetit!

Tomatoes are a vegetable that does not tolerate frost itself. The fruits begin to turn black and become tasteless. This is what will happen with whole fruits that you want to freeze in freezer, but in any situation there is a way out - just cut the tomatoes into cubes and they will easily be preserved for a year in your freezer chest. The taste and color of the frozen product will not change from this!

Such tomato slices can be added to soups, borscht, main dishes and even casseroles - you will be provided with the taste of a juicy ripe summer!

Ingredients

• 2-3 tomatoes

Freezing tomatoes at home

1. For freezing, choose fleshy varieties of tomatoes so that they have less juice. The ideal option would be the variety "Cream". Rinse the vegetables in water and cut into halves - you will need to remove the black cores with a knife.

2. Then cut the tomatoes into large pieces with the same knife. It makes no sense to chop the product too much, since slicing loses its density during freezing and it just turns out from chopped tomatoes tomato porridge. If you plan to use only the mass without the skin, then before freezing and slicing, scald the tomatoes and quickly move them into cold water, and then remove the peel from them by cutting them crosswise.

3. Prepare freezer bags or containers ahead of time. Roughly divide the tomato slices into parts and put it in bags.

4. Release the air and tie the bags as tight as possible so that the juice does not leak out.

• For tomato: Colander
• Kitchen paper towels
• deep bowl
• Inventory for the first recipe: Freezer
• Straw for drinks
• Inventory for the second recipe: baking sheet
• Polyethylene food film
• Cutting board
• Paper kitchen towels
• Freezer
• Vacuum sealed bag with plastic closure - as needed
• Straw for drinks
• Inventory for the third recipe: One and a half liter plastic bottles - 6 - 7 pieces
• Freezer
• Plate
• deep saucepan
• Skimmer
• deep bowl
• Cutting board
• baking sheet
• Polyethylene film
• Vacuum sealed bag with plastic closure - as needed
• Straw for drinks
• To defrost: Fridge
• deep bowl

Cooking frozen tomatoes.

Step 1: Choose and Prepare Tomatoes

For high-quality freezing, without much loss of tasty and very healthy juice you have to choose hard varieties tomatoes, with a thick skin, are fleshy and it is desirable that they be a little underripe and a little juicy. Tomatoes, which are commonly called “cream”, are ideal for freezing, they are small in size and freeze perfectly quickly. To begin, sort through the tomatoes and remove spoiled, crushed, rotten and very soft.

Then put them in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold running water so that all dust and dirt is thoroughly washed off. Hold the tomatoes for minutes 15 in a colander to drain all the water, dry them with kitchen paper towels and put in a dry clean deep bowl. Tomatoes are prepared, you can transgress to freezing.

Step 2: Frozen Tomatoes - Recipe One

The first recipe is very easy and simple. Prepared dried tomatoes, lay in small portions V vacuum bags close the plastic lock by lightly pressing it down with your fingers, leaving a small space for thin tubule through which children often drink juice. Insert a straw into the hole and suck out all the air from the bag. When there is no air left in the bag, pinch the end of the tube through which you sucked out the air with your finger, slowly pulling it out of the bag. Use your fingers to push out the remaining air by pulling out the tube, tightly close the bag with tomatoes and put in the freezer. Tomatoes will be frozen through 24 hours, depending on fruit size. For such a freezing, it is desirable that the diameter of the tomato does not exceed 3 - 4 centimeters. Such tomatoes retain their properties and vitamins for 7 - 9 months. This type of frozen tomatoes is suitable for preparing stuffed tomatoes, salads, and any other dishes.

Step 3: Frozen Tomatoes - Recipe Two

The second method is also very easy, but in its process, tomatoes can lose a small amount of juice. For less fluid loss from the tomato, the fruits should be very firm, fleshy with little juice. Of course, a small amount of juice will be lost, and here, the choice of tomato is very important, the “cream” is ideal, it is a little juicy and very hard. To get started, take small baking sheets, cover them with plastic wrap. Now take a clean knife and a clean cutting board, make sure the knife is sharp enough. Put the dried tomatoes on the board and cut them into rings or slices with a thickness and the first and second cuts should not exceed 1 centimeter. Then pat dry the tomato slices with paper kitchen towels, place on a baking sheet, freeze in the freezer for 4 hours. Then, taking them out of the freezer in small pieces, place the tomatoes in airtight bags in medium portions, and close the bags as written in the first recipe. Then send the bag of tomatoes back to the freezer. Such tomatoes are stored in the freezer for 1 year and all their vitamins and nutrients are preserved. This type of tomato is suitable for making salads, soups, sauces and any other dishes.

Step 4: Frozen Tomatoes - Recipe 3

The third freezing method is a bit laborious and requires little effort on your part. To do this, you will need pre-chilled water or 2 kilograms of ice per 5 liters of ordinary cold water. Personally, I pre-cool the water in the freezers by pouring it into ordinary 1.5 liter plastic bottles from mineral water. For 5 kilograms of tomato, you need about 5 bottles of chilled water. Just fill the bottles with running cold water, put in the freezer and refrigerate down to -3 degrees. The main thing is that it does not turn into ice. Then put a deep saucepan full of running water on the stove, turned on at a high level, bring it to a boil and turn off the stove.

Gently place the tomatoes in boiling water with a slotted spoon, and leave them to steam for 1 minute.

During this time, pour chilled water into a deep bowl with plastic bottles and then, using the same slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes and transfer them to a bowl of cold water.

Let them soak in chilled water 1 - 2 minutes.

Remove one fruit at a time from the water and carefully remove the skin from each tomato with a knife.

And now you can act as you wish, you can cut the stalks from the tomato, cut them into slices or chop small pieces as you like.

Basically, I freeze such tomatoes whole.

Place whole fruits without skin on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 4 - 6 hours, depending on their size, until completely frozen. Then, take the frozen tomatoes out of the freezer in parts, put them in airtight bags, and close them as described in the first recipe. It is desirable that in one bag there are from 5 to 8 fruits. Put the tomatoes in the freezer and wait for winter. Such tomatoes are stored for 1 year, they can be used to prepare sauces, gravies, marinades for meat, pizza, soups and many other dishes.

Step 5: Defrost Frozen Tomatoes

It doesn't take much effort to defrost frozen tomatoes. If you are not pressed for time and have plenty of time to spare, just take the amount of tomatoes you need in a bag from the freezer and leave them to defrost in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf, where there is less cold air circulation during 3-4 hours. If, nevertheless, you have little time and urgently need to cook something, put the bags of tomatoes in a deep bowl of cold water, through 30 minutes they will thaw and be ready for eating or cooking any of your culinary ideas. In no case do not pull out tomatoes from sealed bags, defrost tomatoes only in them, no matter what type of defrosting you choose.

Step 6: Serve Frozen Tomatoes

Frozen tomatoes are thawed before serving or using. They are added to salads, first and second courses are prepared. They grind and marinate meat, poultry in them, prepare sauces, soups, gravies, ketchups, put them in baked goods, stew with vegetables. Such tomatoes retain all their nutrients and vitamins, and if a person who chooses between frozen and fresh store-bought tomatoes is "fresh", then he will receive fewer vitamins. The choice is yours! Eat healthy and get vitamins!

Bon appetit!

- Do not freeze tomatoes in large portions, the convenience of freezing tomatoes in small portions is that at any time you can get the amount of tomatoes you need and use for your needs.

− If you do not have freezer bags, place the frozen tomatoes in portions in regular plastic bags, which in turn put in small plastic or iron containers. Wrap them in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.

- If you are not sure about the quality of the tomatoes you bought, and think that they may contain various kinds of chemical elements, you should prick the tomato a couple of times with a toothpick around the stalk and soak in cold water for 30 minutes during this time most of nitrates and chemicals will come out and dissolve in the water. BUT! Not all varieties of tomatoes will survive such a soaking, dense, fleshy with a small amount of juice and hard fruits will do!

- If you are going to stew frozen tomatoes, you can not defrost them. In the process of stewing or frying, they will thaw themselves.

Tomatoes are such a valuable product in terms of their nutritional properties that their consumption should not be seasonal. Great amount fiber, minerals and useful organic acids make tomatoes a fruit that must certainly be included in daily diet any person. What is the way out? How to save a tomato so that you can easily add it to food at any time? Canning and pickling does not give the desired result. Therefore, many housewives began to wonder whether it is possible to freeze tomatoes for the winter? After all, if such a procedure is easily done with berries, mushrooms and herbs, why can't tomatoes be harvested in this way. It is known that storage at low temperature preserves in products large quantity vitamins and other useful substances. While heat treatment completely destroys many of them. Therefore, the question of whether it is possible to freeze is solved by itself. Of course yes.

There are many options for harvesting tomatoes in the most natural form. It all depends on how you subsequently apply this product. Very often, tomatoes are used to prepare various sauces or as flavoring additives for first or second courses. Therefore, the question naturally arises: is it possible to freeze tomatoes for the winter so that in the future it is required minimal amount efforts on their additional processing? There is such an option. Of the products, only the tomatoes themselves are required. And the cooking process will look like this:

1. Select the most ripe and large tomatoes, rinse them thoroughly.
2. Twist the products in a meat grinder.
3. Arrange the finished product on disposable plates and carefully place in the freezer. For packaging, if desired, you can also use plastic bags. The result is a monolithic piece of tomato mixture, from which you can easily chip off the right amount.

IN Lately pizza is very popular. Many people enjoy making it at home. Interesting, but is it possible for this? There is also such a way. In this case, about washed vegetables cut into thin rings. Then cover the tray in the freezer with food paper and put the cooked pieces on it. After freezing, the blanks must be stacked in bags and stored for as long as desired. These tomato rings are useful for more than just pizza. With them you can cook wonderful meat in French or make fragrant omelette with vegetables.

But what if you want to make a salad in winter? Can whole tomatoes be frozen or is it impossible? Quite the opposite. This option is even simpler than the previous ones. IN this case it is necessary to wipe the washed vegetables dry, cool in the freezer. Then put them in pre-prepared bags. And only after that finally freeze. In order for the product to better preserve its appearance, from the packages it is necessary to pump out the air as much as possible. Sometimes only tomato pulp is required to prepare some dishes. In this case, before freezing, the tomatoes must be dipped in boiling water for a few minutes so that the peel bursts. And after that they can be frozen whole or cut into pieces.

It is impossible to unambiguously answer the question of how to freeze tomatoes correctly. For each specific case have your own, most convenient way. Some, for example, believe that it is best to harvest clean for the winter. To do this, cut the washed vegetables into pieces, chop in a blender, and ready juice pour into special molds and send them to the freezer. This option allows you to have in stock not only excellent flavor additive, but also a wonderful nutritious drink. Nutritional properties it retains 90 percent. Such juice is much healthier and tastier than those drinks that are on store shelves.