If not canning, what else can I do with a ton of garden tomatoes!

[Mummandherboys]

Originally Posted by vjbakke Blanch and freeze them, then in the future you can plan and make sauces and more. Also dehydrating is a good thing to if you have a dehydrator.

This was the other idea...blanching them... heard of this...but don't know what that means... I would love more instructions!

[AugustHope]

My parents freeze them whole. I am not sure they even blanch them. I am fortunate enough to have my parents live around the corner and never have downsized their garden after the kids moved out. I "freezer and shelf" shop at their house all winter long from all the produce they can/freeze. I actually just made homemade spaghetti sauce using some of the whole tomatoes they froze. All I did was take them out of the bag, run them under hot water and the skin came right off. Took the stem out, chopped em up and mixed in all my seasonings etc. Thru it all in the slow cooker and let it cook away. They also make their own ketchup and have canned and frozen it. They make tomato soup and freeze it too. They have 1 huge deep freeze and 3 little ones plus the freezer on both refrigerators packed with garden goodies! Let me know if you would like a recipe for any of the above mentioned and I will call my mom and get the recipe. I can also ask if she has any other ideas. They are always trying new things!

[Mummandherboys]

Originally Posted by AugustHope My parents freeze them whole. I am not sure they even blanch them. I am fortunate enough to have my parents live around the corner and never have downsized their garden after the kids moved out. I "freezer and shelf" shop at their house all winter long from all the produce they can/freeze. I actually just made homemade spaghetti sauce using some of the whole tomatoes they froze. All I did was take them out of the bag, run them under hot water and the skin came right off. Took the stem out, chopped em up and mixed in all my seasonings etc. Thru it all in the slow cooker and let it cook away. They also make their own ketchup and have canned and frozen it. They make tomato soup and freeze it too. They have 1 huge deep freeze and 3 little ones plus the freezer on both refrigerators packed with garden goodies! Let me know if you would like a recipe for any of the above mentioned and I will call my mom and get the recipe. I can also ask if she has any other ideas. They are always trying new things!

Oh this is great...good for them for doing such great things with all their garden goodies! I am very interested in recipes... especially the ketchup! So they just freeze the whole tomatoes in freezer bags maybe?? Good to know I can do that and they still work okay when thawed out...

[momof3BBs]

You can dehydrate them or freeze them whole. Freezing whole makes for great soups in the winter. Just take out of the freezer for a few minutes and run under hot water. The skin comes right off. Take a large knife and slice in quarters and shave out any core.

[AugustHope]

Originally Posted by Mummandherboys Oh this is great...good for them for doing such great things with all their garden goodies! I am very interested in recipes... especially the ketchup! So they just freeze the whole tomatoes in freezer bags maybe?? Good to know I can do that and they still work okay when thawed out...

They aren't firm enough to slice and put on a sandwich, but they work perfectly fine for chili, sauces, even tomato chucnks in pastas. I will get the ketchup recipe for you!