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| So I sort of have to follow a low acid diet and I grew special low acid yellow romas and I am about to can them when it occurs to me, DUH, what good does it do to grow low acid tomatoes and then BWB can them by adding lemon juice to the jars! I didn't bring my pressure canner to the new apt. so I'm thinking I might just freeze them since I have a relatively small amount. So can I follow the recipe in the Ball Blue Book of Canning for seasoned tomatoes, (sans lemon juice addition), and then just freeze instead of BWB? It calls for peeling and chopping them up and heating them/boiling them for five minutes before packing them in the jars. Or would I be better off just peeling them, chopping them and freezing them raw? Which would be better to preserve flavor? Or is is six of one, half a dozen of the other? I like the idea of freezing the seasoned ones because then they would be ready to go to add to dishes I was cooking to create fast chili, spaghetti sauce, creole sauce, etc. Those are the three spice blends in the Ball Blue Book. Not that the low acid tomatoes have all that much flavor to begin with, lol! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| The often-held discussion about why there really is no such thing as a "low-acid tomato" aside, then IMO the best flavor would be achieved by just peeling, chopping, and freezing them plain. Not only does that eliminate the possible bitterness issue the seasonings can develop over time but allows you to use fresh seasonings at prep and serving time. But sure, if you want to add the seasonings before freezing the uncooked tomatoes there is no safety reason why you can't do so. You can also fully prepare them per the recipe, leave out the lemon juice/citric acid, and freeze the cooked mixture. Dave |
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| I'd just rinse and freeze them whole. You can season later and aren't stuck with a particular flavor. The skins willl slip right off under hot water while frozen, then thaw in a colander over a bowl. Add to whatever recipe you're making. The "water" from thawing makes a nice soup base. NO processing will always preserve the best flavor. Obviously, not always appropriate, but may work in this case. Deanna |
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- Posted by lpinkmountain 5b/6a border PA (My Page) on Wed, Sep 3, 14 at 14:26
| I might try both ways and compare. One jar cooked and frozen, one ziplock frozen raw. Same difference since I am doing them a few pints at a time. I just have a small amount of tomatoes. I am saving my big quantities for salsas! |
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- Posted by lpinkmountain 5b/6a border PA (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 10:10
| Just FYI to report back. I used the oven method of getting the skins off that Lucille mentioned in the "Food Mill" thread. While peeling them I realized that a lot of the flavor and goodies were in the peels or just below it. Then what I had after I chunked up the tomatoes was a watery, chunky tomato sauce basically. So I decided to boil it to thicken it a bit. BTW, the FLAVOR of the yellow romas was WONDERFUL. I recommend them and will be growing more next year. The plants are ugly as sin and bug and disease prone, but they still manage to produce prolifically. I'm gonna freeze this sauce. If I was to do it again, I would use my Roma food mill on about half of it and just cook it down to a sauce. If I want intact tomato bits preserved I will dry them, that's the only method that makes sense. I was worried that cooking a sauce might destroy the healthful compounds in the tomatoes, but then I googled this question and came up with this fascinating Cornell Univ. study that says cooking tomatoes actually INCREASES the lycopene. So next time I'm going to cook the sauce down with the skins and seeds in it, to extract all the nutrition first, and then run it through the food mill. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Chronicle,
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- Posted by lpinkmountain 5b/6a border PA (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 17:52
| Oy vey, now I just found out yellow tomatoes don't have lycopene! But they do have more iron. They taste good and will be fun to use, especially in my fave "white chili." Here's a link to the article in Prevention magazine, Which Tomato is Healthier? |
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