[sclarke624]

If I was going to make a tom chutney can I freeze the toms in some way to make a chutney later.  I ask as I have some toms that really need doing something with as going soft and I'm not going to the shops for a week or so.

[tode]

Don't see why not.
We had a bit of a glut, ended up roasting 'em in the oven, and then freezing (for use in stews, ragouts .....). Takes up a lot less space than whole toms.
Have also tried bottling tom soup (as suggested by somebody, earlier), but no guarantee. 

[sclarke624]

Don't think what I want to do is going to work for me, I was thinking of saving time with all the skinning by freezing then defrosting and skinning.  Don'#t see a way round that.  As I think skinning after defrosting would be difficult.

[Val H]

Skinning would be a real fiddle after they had been frozen and de-frosted. Drop them in some boiling water now, the skins will come off easily enough, and then run through a blender and freeze the puree.

[sclarke624]

Thanks for that Val.

[LittleRedHen]

I've done this for years with excelent results.  I've also frozen tomato sauce that I made because I ran out of jars.

[gillie]

"Skinning would be a real fiddle after they had been frozen and de-frosted"

No, actually it is not.  I freeze tomatoes, then take them out and drop them a few at a time into hot water.  The skins come off immediately, then I start cooking with the still frozen tomatoes.

Cheers,

Gillie

[plum crumble]

hmmm - just looking sideways at huge pile of toms that have finally ripened. Already have garage full of chutneys and pickles, and OH is giving me THE LOOK again which means "no more blinking chutney mate"! So, Delia's tom sauce it is - I would imagine it would freeze well in portion batches - great if you need a quick meal - just cook up some pasta, defrost the sauce, to which you could add prawns or chicken or olives - top with a bit of cheese and/or yogurt and a few chives. Lovely.

[Val H]

I freeze tomatoes, then take them out and drop them a few at a time into hot water.  The skins come off immediately, then I start cooking with the still frozen tomatoes.

How do you get around the cores?

[gillie]

What cores?  It is no different than the traditional method of dunking tomatoes in boiling water.  I never remove pips, but I do hate the 'quills' of skin that you get if you leave them in a soup or sauce.

Cheers,

Gillie

[Val H]

The top of the tom where you pull it off. When I'm skinning them, I cut a cross at the top so that I can remove the hard bit when peeled. Was thinking it would be difficult to remove if the fruit was frozen. I don't bother with removing the pips either.

[gypsy]

I fill my slow cooker/ crock pot call it what you will with tomatoes and a smidging of olive oil, set it on low and leave it all night. Next day I let it cool then pick out the skins and any other bits that I don`t fancy eating and divide into portions for the freezer.  Catherine 

[gillie]

"The top of the tom where you pull it off. When I'm skinning them, I cut a cross at the top so that I can remove the hard bit when peeled."

Our tomatoes don't seem to have noticeable hard bits.  If I have any with greenback or blossom end rot I cut those bits off before freezing, but I would not grow any varieties which persist in that kind of behaviour a second time.

Gillie