The recipe should specify that. If it call for 30 lbs of tomatoes and doesn't include something like "peeled and chopped" then it means literally 30 lbs of tomatoes and what to do with them will be in the instructions, not the ingredients list. It is the order of the words and their location in the recipe that tells you.

If it says 30 lbs of peeled, cored, and chopped tomatoes they would be weighed after.

Most any recipe I can think of off hand that calls for such large amounts and in pounds means just that 30 lbs of the ingredient as is.

Dave

If the ingredient is "30 pounds of tomatoes", that's the raw weight. The first line of the directions SHOULD say something like "Peel and chop tomatoes" or whatever preparation is necessary for the recipe.

If the ingredient is "30 pounds of tomatoes, peeled and chopped", then it would be 30 pounds AFTER they have been prepared.

Hope that helps.

...and Digdirt types faster.

Lol!! Big thanks to both of you!! I will be scrutinizing every little thing about every little thing from this day on. Get used to me here! Appreciate ya. :-D