Top 5 Techniques for Preserving Tomatoes

Mission accomplished- you dreamed of delectable home-grown tomatoes and you have attained your goal with bountiful success. However, unlike shopping at the supermarket, it's impossible to grow just the right amount of tomatoes. If you've been following the advice we've laid out, then chances are you're sitting on a surplus of tomatoes, and not even you and your family can eat them all. You may share some with your relatives and friends, but there will still be too many left. Selling them off at the local farmer's market may be an effective way technique, but not everyone has the opportunity. In this article, we'll show you some simple techniques for storing and preserving tomatoes.

Planting all your tomatoes at once often means harvesting a bulk of them at once. If you stagger your planting, this will assist in overcoming that problem, but only to a partial extent. Knowing how to preserve tomatoes is a sensible way to deal with this wonderful problem of growing tomatoes.

The first step you can take to preserving tomatoes is to store them in a cool place for about a week or two, to keep them fresh. You will know how many tomatoes you and your family want to eat per week, so put aside those for current use and then decide how to preserve the rest.

How to Preserve Tomatoes by Sun-Drying

There are multiple ways to preserve tomatoes, and one of the most popular is by sun-drying it. There are a variety of ways to prepare and serve sun-dried tomatoes and most would admit that they enhance any dish that you put them in. Unfortunately, the taste of sun-dried tomatoes is often proportional with their costs at the local grocery stores. Making your own sun-dried tomatoes is a great way to demolish any extras you have from harvest..

For sun-drying tomatoes, one can choose to naturally sun-dry them or simply get it done in the oven. If you are pressed for time and want to enjoy your delicious tomatoes in a hurry, you may want to use the oven method of drying since direct drying in the sun is a two-week process.

Sun-drying is the cheapest method of drying tomatoes, as it can be done using direct sunshine. You can also use a food dehydrator which is equally effective and protects your tomatoes from bugs getting in during the process. There is a temperature control that you can set to dry your tomatoes and the real benefit of sun-drying the tomatoes this way is smelling the delicious vegetable as it cooks.

Sun-dried tomatoes is commonly made with plum types like Roma and San Marzano. To make your own, simply slice plum tomatoes lengthwise. Plum tomatoes are commonly used for sun-drying because it is less juicy and possess more solid content to endure processing. It is this reason why the plum tomato is the preferred choice to use even when it is out of season.

After slicing the tomatoes lengthwise, remove the green pithy stem and sprinkle the tomato with salt. Lay the cut side up on basket or a slatted tray. You would need to keep insects out, so cover the tray with gauze or netting. During dry sunny days, position the tray in a sunny area. Ideally, outside temperature should be at leastthan 90 degrees with less than 60 percent humidity level. Bring it inside when the sun goes down. Preserving tomatoes this way takes about three days depending on the weather, and also how dry you would like your tomatoes. Before storing them, dust off the salt, then store packed tightly into sterilized air tight glass jars, in a cool dark place. Even if you do not have plumb tomatoes, you can use Sun Gold tomatoes which is part of the cherry tomatoes family; Roma and San Marzano tomatoes are also best for sun-drying as well.

If you are using the food dehydrator for sun-drying, you simply stack them on the rack making sure that they tomatoes do not touch. Next, you can add your favorite seasonings on it whether it is salt or spices before turning it on and setting it for 140 degrees F. Let it cook for 8 hours.

Oven-Drying Method for Preserving Tomatoes

The oven-drying method to preserve tomatoes follows the same method as sun-drying. The only difference is that you are cutting and placing the tomatoes in your oven. Set the oven at its lowest temperature or possibly between 100 -120 degrees F. Leave the tomatoes in the oven for up to eight hours. To prevent it from burning, simply leave the oven door ajar for a few hours before taking them out.

How to Preserve Tomatoes by Freezing

Freezing tomatoes is another popular and simple option for preserving tomatoes. Wash the tomatoes, dry them, and place them in a large storage bag and put them in the freezer. It is common to boil the tomatoes to remove skin before freezing. Another way in which you can prep your tomatoes before freezing is by removing their skins. An easy way that this can be accomplished is by sitting them in ice water or boiling them. After leaving them for a few minutes, the skin would soften making it easy for you to remove them. The freezing process provides you with tasty tomatoes with which you could make sauces and casseroles when winter comes around.

How to Store Tomatoes by Bottling

Bottling is another method of storing tomatoes. You can use glass jars to store your tomatoes. To ensure airtight sealing, the jars should be free of cracks and chips. Also ensure that there is enough head-space between the lid and the fruit. (Yes, tomatoes are really considered more as fruit than vegetables). To preserve tomatoes in bottles, use mason jars that are manufactured specifically for home canning, rather than mayonnaise or used jam jars.

Preserving Tomatoes in Oil

Preserving tomatoes in oil is another method of storing tomatoes. San Marzano plum tomatoes are great for this process. To get your tomatoes slightly soft, the oven-drying method mentioned earlier works well if you set the oven to 120-160F for 6-8 hours. Remove any excess salt by dusting, and then pack tomatoes into hot, sterilized glass jars. Cover with olive oil to just about 1cm above tomatoes. Tap the jar gently so as to knock out any trapped air, and seal immediately. Store the jar in a cool dark place. Knowing how to store tomatoes in oil is very convenient because tomatoes preserved in oil make great hors d’oeuvres or tapas.

Preserving Tomatoes with Jams, Relishes, and Concentrates

There are still more ways to preserve tomatoes. You can make jams and relishes with them in an effort to not let them go to waste. Tomatoes make some of the best preserves and condiments for a pantry. You can make sauces, salsas, chutneys and even tomato concentrate from the best tomato varieties. Beefsteak, Roma, Better Boy and Lemon Boy tomatoes are popular varieties for preserving.

Tomato concentrate is a useful commodity in the kitchen, especially when you can grow tomatoes. It is probably the most complicated and time consuming of all the tomato preserves. You need many tomatoes to make a small jar of paste, so this is a great way to use up your surplus tomatoes.

How do you preserve tomatoes by way of a concentrate? Chop ripe tomatoes roughly, cutting off bad bits if any. Place the tomatoes into a large pan. Season the tomatoes well with sea salt then cook over low heat for 20-40 minutes, stirring occasionally so they do not stick. Cook until they disintegrate and become pulpy. Let them cool slightly and pass the pulp through a sieve, pressing with the back of a spoon until only the skins and seeds are left in the sieve. Rinse the pan and return the sieved tomatoes into it.

Cook over low heat until the pulp is reduced to a thick, dark red paste. Once you are satisfied that you have the right consistency, you may then be wondering how to store tomatoes? Spoon the concentrate into sterilized glass jars, add a layer of olive oil to cover the paste, then seal immediately. Store your concentrate in a cool, dark place. Refrigerate it once the jar is opened.

Continue to experiment with various ways of how to preserve tomatoes. You will be able to choose the ways which suit you best to preserve tomatoes. You may even find that preserving tomatoes is as enjoyable as growing your own tomatoes.