Is it possible to freeze tomatoes for the winter?
It is believed that freezing tomatoes for the winter does not make much sense, since the vegetables contain too much liquid, which, after defrosting, will turn the original product into porridge.
But, firstly, in addition to salads from fresh vegetables, tomatoes are used in the preparation of hundreds of hot dishes. And for such dishes, the consistency of the tomato is not critical, while the aroma of summer and tomato taste will be adequately provided.
If we compare the benefits that thawed tomatoes will bring to the body compared to any tomatoes from the store in the winter, then here too the scales will undoubtedly tip towards the side of thawed fruits. Especially if they were grown on their own plot.
Finally, frozen tomatoes can bring significant savings to the family budget and save energy (no need to run to the store again in winter).
And for freezing tomatoes to bring real satisfaction, you just need to understand its basic principles and follow the simple tips described later in the article.
Unripe apples: what can you do with them?
Apple is one of the healthy and popular fruits , which retains its beneficial and healing properties for six months. Fruit trees can be found on every summer cottage.
Many people have encountered the problem of unripe apples falling off in the middle of summer. What is the reason?
This may be a biological process, excess or lack of moisture, improper care, poor nutrition.
What to do with unripe, unripe green fruits? There are many options. You can prepare juice, confiture, make jam and much more.
Are tomatoes frozen one at a time?
This method works for freezing one tomato or several that will fit in a single layer in a resealable plastic bag. Place the tomatoes inside the bag. Seal it by letting out as much air as possible - use a straw. Seal the bag and place it in the freezer, arranging it so that the tomatoes are not squashed and remain in a single layer. Let the tomatoes freeze completely before moving the bag. Once they are frozen, you can group them together so they take up less space.
You can also use this same technique to freeze additional tomatoes to add to those already frozen. Keep a small bag of frozen tomatoes in the freezer and simply add new ones. Be sure to freeze new fruits before grouping them with already frozen ones.
Selection of tomatoes and the subtleties of freezing
Any types of tomatoes can be stored in ice: red, yellow, cherry, etc. You should not freeze only green tomatoes: they contain a lot of solanine and are only suitable for canning. Ripe tomatoes should be intact, without mold spots or traces of pests. Overripe tomatoes will not store well. Fleshy varieties with dense rather than watery pulp are preferred.
The easiest way to freeze tomatoes is to freeze them whole. They will take up a little more space, but the preparation time will take a minimum.
What can be made from unripe apples?
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From summer carrion collected under apple trees, you can prepare a lot of delicious things - from the simplest compote to original winter preparations.
Everyone knows that apples contain many useful substances, including pectin. But did you know that unripe fruits contain much more pectin than ripe ones?
And pectin is a gelling substance. Therefore, unripe apples are an excellent base for jams and jellies.
Preparing tomatoes for freezing
The most important thing when preparing tomatoes for freezing is to thoroughly rinse and then dry the fruit. After all, it will no longer be possible to wash frozen tomatoes, and there is no need for excess moisture on them during freezing. Excessive moisture on the tomatoes will turn into ice, which can stick the fruit together and, when defrosted, will deteriorate its taste and texture.
It is best to dry tomatoes on a paper or cloth towel, laying them out in one row. The better they dry, the easier and faster the freezing process will be.
If tomatoes are cut into pieces before freezing, then to maintain their shape, excess juice is also allowed to drain if possible.
Containers for freezing and storing tomatoes should easily withstand low temperatures. These can be either plastic or silicone forms or containers. For good preservation, they should also be sealed fairly tightly to protect the tomatoes from additional odors and prevent excess moisture from evaporating during storage.
Thawed tomatoes cannot be re-frozen - this will completely ruin their taste and smell. Therefore, all storage containers must be selected so that their contents can be used at one time. For ease of identification of products, it is better to sign all bags and containers, indicating the name of the product and the date of freezing.
Helping frozen seedlings - video
Tomatoes are a whimsical plant. And the basis for successfully obtaining a future harvest is laid precisely during the formation of the bush, even before it is planted in open or protected ground. With great effort, you can grow healthy, productive bushes from weak seedlings, but it is almost impossible to do this from sick seedlings.
That's why it's so important to see the first signs of their ill health. Understanding the causes and taking emergency resuscitation measures can save the future harvest
There can be many of them, and not all of them indicate that the bush is dying irrevocably. To find out the true cause, you may have to sacrifice one seedling, carefully remove it from the ground along with the roots and take a good look at the plant from the root to the very top in good lighting.
The appearance of the plant usually gives a clue as to what exactly caused the wilting. By and large, there can be two of them - care errors and infectious contamination. You should know that diseases are also often the result of errors in living conditions.
Cooking frozen tomatoes.
Step 1: select and prepare tomatoes
For high-quality freezing, without large losses of tasty and very healthy juice, you need to choose firm varieties of tomatoes, with thick skin, fleshy and preferably, they should be a little under-ripe and a little juicy. Tomatoes, which are popularly called “cream” tomatoes, are ideal for freezing; they are small in size and ideally freeze quickly. First, sort through the tomatoes and remove any spoiled, squashed, rotten or very soft ones.
Then place them in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold running water so that all dust and dirt are thoroughly washed off. Keep the tomatoes 15 to drain all the water, dry them with kitchen paper towels and place in a dry, clean deep bowl. The tomatoes are prepared and ready to be frozen.
Step 2: Frozen Tomatoes - Recipe One
The first recipe is very easy and simple. Place prepared dried tomatoes in small portions in vacuum bags and close the plastic lock, lightly pressing it with your fingers, leaving a small space for a thin tube through which children often drink juice. Insert the 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 the air with your finger, slowly pulling it out of the bag. Using your fingers, push out the remaining air, pull out the tube, tightly close the bag of tomatoes and put it in the freezer. The tomatoes will be frozen in 2 – 4 hours, depending on the size of the fruit. For such 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
Step 4: Frozen Tomatoes – Recipe Three
Reviews from gardeners
Bring them into a warm place and spray them with Epin. Last year my first 10 froze. Stepchildren went straight to the ground and from under the ground from the axils of the former leaves. The bushes lost about 3 weeks, but the harvest was normal. You will always have time to cut it.
When the seedlings in the boxes froze, only those where “only sticks” remained did not recover. On the rest, after 2-3 weeks there was practically no noticeable damage. Once a week they fed the leaves with urea. They were about a week behind the “non-frozen” ones in growth.
How to freeze fresh tomatoes for the winter
The procedure for freezing tomatoes varies somewhat depending on the purpose for which the finished vegetables will be used.
How to freeze whole tomatoes
In general, only tomatoes with dense flesh of small and medium size are frozen. A variety of creams are ideal for these purposes.
This is the easiest recipe for freezing tomatoes for the winter, especially if you don’t peel them. It is enough just to wash the fruits and dry them well. Then they are placed in portions in small quantities into bags. Ziploc bags work well for this purpose. But regular lunch bags will work too. As much air as possible is released from them and the bags are tied or zipped, and then placed in the freezer.
Use of green fruits: what can be made from them?
Unripe apples can be used to prepare a variety of dishes. It is worth noting that the unripe fruit makes excellent drinks , apple cider vinegar and many simple dishes.
Let's prepare the following dishes based on unripe apples.
For preparation you will need apple juice and sugar . Use the proportion 1:1. Boil apple juice with sugar for several minutes, pour into molds, close tightly.
Unripe apples can be used to make jelly and confiture
Confiture
To prepare you will need apples and sugar . Wash the fruit, cut into small slices and add a small amount of water. Cook for about 30 minutes, then add sugar to taste. Cool the resulting confiture and place it in sterilized jars.
To prevent the confiture from becoming moldy, you should not close it until it has cooled down. To close the jar, use only a plastic lid with parchment paper on the bottom.
Apple chips
Ideal for filling pies and pies. Peel the apples and grate them on a coarse grater. Wash the jars well, compact the grated apples into the jars .
Place 50 grams of sugar on a half liter jar. Sterilize jars of apples for 20 minutes.
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Honey-apple tea
To prepare, you will need a peel, which needs to be slightly browned in the oven . For 1 liter of water you will need approximately 200 grams of peel.
Combine the ingredients, bring them to a boil, leave the broth for 20 minutes, add honey.
Making vinegar
Wash the apples, core them, and place in a container. Pour water over the fruits, add 30 grams of sugar to 1 liter of water .
Tie the neck of the container with a napkin. The apples will ferment; as soon as the process stops, strain.
Store vinegar unopened . Homemade vinegar is rich in useful substances, so it can be used in cooking and traditional medicine.
Unripe apples can be used to make vinegar and be used in cooking and folk medicine.
Drying
Wash the fruits, cut into thin slices and place in one layer. It is necessary to dry only in partial shade . For drying, it is recommended to use an electric dryer; the apples will dry in it in a few hours.
From drying you can cook compotes with the addition of other fruits.
Bake in the microwave
Wash the apples and cut out the core. Put a spoonful of honey inside, you can mix the honey with nuts. Place the apples in a large container and place in the microwave.
Bake the fruit for 15 minutes . You can bake unripe apples in the oven, the principle is the same.
Juice from unripe apples
Distill the apples into juice , this is the best solution. To remove the sour taste of unripe fruit, add more sugar.
Jam
Make jam that can be used to make pies and open pies.
You can make jam from green unripe apples
We use it for candied fruits
Wash the apples and cut them into slices; if the apples are small, you can cook them whole. Place apples in boiling water for 5 minutes, remove and quickly plunge into cold water. Add sugar to the water in which the apples were boiled and boil the syrup.
Pour hot syrup over cooled apples . After 8 hours, drain the syrup, boil and pour over the fruit again. Repeat the procedure several times until the apples become transparent.
Then take out the apples and place them on a parchment sheet, dry the fruits in the oven. Sprinkle dried candied fruits with powdered sugar.
Store in a closed container in a dark place . The remaining syrup is ideal for soaking baked goods, so preserve it in sterile jars.
As you can see, unripe apples are also useful . They can be used to prepare a variety of dishes.
If you see apples that have fallen in the summer, don’t be upset; store the fruit for the winter .
How to defrost tomatoes correctly
Actually, only whole tomatoes are subject to defrosting, those that are planned to be used for stuffing and frozen in the form of puree or juice, if it is planned to make tomato sauce from them.
To preserve the shape of whole fruits as much as possible, place them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for 12 hours.
If you plan to cut whole tomatoes in any way, then it is better to let them first thaw for 15-20 minutes at room temperature, and then cut them in any convenient way.
Tomatoes frozen in slices, slices and other ways are not defrosted at all, but are used in the preparation of dishes in their original form.
Source
The benefits and harms of unripe fallen apples
An apple is a fruit of health; there is an opinion that the fruit can replace any doctor .
Fiber , which is part of the fruit, is absorbed for a long time, so the feeling of hunger is not felt for a long time. The healing power of unripe apples:
- Strengthen the immune system, as apples are rich in antioxidants. These substances prevent body cells from degenerating into cancerous tumors.
- Apples can lower blood sugar levels.
- Regular consumption of apples reduces the incidence of heart disease by 20%.
- Apples are a wonderful prevention of anemia.
- The fruit has a beneficial effect on the skin.
- The presence of apples in your daily diet will prevent constipation.
- The functioning of the gastrointestinal tract is normalized.
- Unnecessary fluid is removed, that is, they have a diuretic effect.
- Hemoglobin increases.
- The level of nervous excitement in the body decreases.
Unripe apples contain vitamins, microelements, and are a source of easily digestible iron.
The benefits of apples are obvious. It is worth noting that the fruit is even used in dietary nutrition . There are several-day diets, the essence of which is that you can only eat fresh apples.
Thanks to such fasting days, the body is cleansed without harm to health.
Despite the beneficial properties of apples, they can also cause harm to the body . This concerns the fact that it is now very difficult to purchase organic apples. After all, they are mainly treated with chemicals in order to have an attractive appearance longer.
But not only processed fruits, but even pure apples can cause harm:
- Allergic reactions.
- Increased gas formation in the intestines.
- Unripe apples negatively affect tooth enamel, so be sure to rinse your mouth with water after eating apples.
- It is strictly forbidden to consume the fruit at an acute stage of gastrointestinal ulcer.
- Hydrocyanic acid, which is contained in the seeds of the fruit, can harm the body.
Is it possible to freeze tomatoes for the winter?
It is believed that freezing tomatoes for the winter does not make much sense, since the vegetables contain too much liquid, which, after defrosting, will turn the original product into porridge.
But, firstly, in addition to salads from fresh vegetables, tomatoes are used in the preparation of hundreds of hot dishes. And for such dishes, the consistency of the tomato is not critical, while the aroma of summer and tomato taste will be adequately provided.
If we compare the benefits that thawed tomatoes will bring to the body compared to any tomatoes from the store in the winter, then here too the scales will undoubtedly tip towards the side of thawed fruits. Especially if they were grown on their own plot.
Finally, frozen tomatoes can bring significant savings to the family budget and save energy (no need to run to the store again in winter).
And for freezing tomatoes to bring real satisfaction, you just need to understand its basic principles and follow the simple tips described later in the article.
Advice from Edana: use “extra” ingredients
After preparing canned vegetables, I often have leftovers: a head of peeled onion, a couple of carrots, half a pepper or a bunch of herbs. What to do with this goodness? I finely chop (grate) all the leftovers. I mix it, put it in small packaging bags and put it in the freezer.
This mixture can be stored without thawing until spring. When preparing borscht or stew, just take out one bag, tear it and pour the contents into a frying pan (saucepan). The complete feeling that the dish is seasoned with fresh vegetables and herbs!
We recommend preparing assorted tomatoes in grape sauce from unripe green and yellow tomatoes.
Source
Preparing tomatoes for freezing
The most important thing when preparing tomatoes for freezing is to thoroughly rinse and then dry the fruit. After all, it will no longer be possible to wash frozen tomatoes, and there is no need for excess moisture on them during freezing. Excessive moisture on the tomatoes will turn into ice, which can stick the fruit together and, when defrosted, will deteriorate its taste and texture.
It is best to dry tomatoes on a paper or cloth towel, laying them out in one row. The better they dry, the easier and faster the freezing process will be.
If tomatoes are cut into pieces before freezing, then to maintain their shape, excess juice is also allowed to drain if possible.
Containers for freezing and storing tomatoes should easily withstand low temperatures. These can be either plastic or silicone forms or containers. For good preservation, they should also be sealed fairly tightly to protect the tomatoes from additional odors and prevent excess moisture from evaporating during storage.
Thawed tomatoes cannot be re-frozen - this will completely ruin their taste and smell. Therefore, all storage containers must be selected so that their contents can be used at one time. For ease of identification of products, it is better to sign all bags and containers, indicating the name of the product and the date of freezing.
How to freeze fresh tomatoes for the winter
The procedure for freezing tomatoes varies somewhat depending on the purpose for which the finished vegetables will be used.
How to freeze whole tomatoes
In general, only tomatoes with dense flesh of small and medium size are frozen. A variety of creams are ideal for these purposes.
This is the easiest recipe for freezing tomatoes for the winter, especially if you don’t peel them. It is enough just to wash the fruits and dry them well. Then they are placed in portions in small quantities into bags. Ziploc bags work well for this purpose. But regular lunch bags will work too. As much air as possible is released from them and the bags are tied or zipped, and then placed in the freezer.
In a similar way, you can freeze halved tomatoes for stuffing.
Flavored Apple Cider Vinegar
- four kilos of apples
- glass of sugar
- carnation
- Bay leaf
- allspice peas
- water
Dissolve sugar in five liters of boiling water.
Chop the apples, put them in a bottle, and fill them with hot syrup. Close tightly. We insist in a warm place for two or three weeks.
Then strain the juice into a bottle and add spices.
We tie the bottle with a cloth and leave it in a warm place for nine weeks. We monitor the process: perhaps fermentation will end earlier. As soon as this happens, close the bottle tightly and store it in the cellar (refrigerator).
For convenience, vinegar can be immediately poured into small bottles.
As for spices for flavoring, this is a field for experimentation. Choose any flavoring herbs and spices to suit your taste. For example, tarragon, lemon balm, dill seeds, caraway seeds.
How to defrost tomatoes correctly
Actually, only whole tomatoes are subject to defrosting, those that are planned to be used for stuffing and frozen in the form of puree or juice, if it is planned to make tomato sauce from them.
To preserve the shape of whole fruits as much as possible, place them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for 12 hours.
If you plan to cut whole tomatoes in any way, then it is better to let them first thaw for 15-20 minutes at room temperature, and then cut them in any convenient way.
Tomatoes frozen in slices, slices and other ways are not defrosted at all, but are used in the preparation of dishes in their original form.
Winter salad “Danube”
Cooking time: 45-60 minutes.
Make the marinade: mince red tomatoes (or use ready-made juice), add oil and vinegar, and spices. Boil it.
Cut the vegetables into small pieces (straws or slices, as you like), dip in the marinade and boil for 15 minutes.
Place the boiling salad into prepared jars and roll up. Wrap it up for a day. There is no need to additionally sterilize such preservation.