September 16, 2009

How to Peel Tomatoes

Tomatoes.
Yup, we got 'em!

Three or four of the plants were started from seed back in March. Those plants have several small green tomatoes on them, and considering this is the middle of September, I doubt they'll ripen before we get a frost. We did put in some plants from the nursery and although they've just begun to ripen in the last few weeks, they have thrived. Big fruit; no blossom end rot, which we've experienced in the past; no worms or other buggy things, and best of all, they were grown without chemicals.

We've been picking them here and there and sharing them with our tomato-less neighbor, but a few days in the high 80's recently gave us this bounty. Now I know that many of you know how to peel tomatoes, but there's somebody out there who's going to Google "how to peel tomatoes". Hopefully they'll end up on my blog and learn a thing or two!
First, make two shallow cuts on the blossom end of the tomato. Which is the blossom end of a tomato? It's opposite the stem. Make a cross... just deep enough to slice the skin. Making these cuts will allow the peel of the tomato to separate easily from the meat of the fruit.
Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and put the tomatoes in (in batches, if need be) for about a minute. You can see in this picture that the skin on the tomato in the foreground is already beginning to peel itself!
After a minute (yes, 60 seconds) remove the tomatoes from the hot water and put them in an ice bath. The tomatoes won't cook in the hot water, and the ice bath will cool them off enough for you to handle.
You can see how easily the skin comes off. There's no urgency about taking them out of the ice water, either. No harm done if they sit there for a bit. I used to think that you had to take one tomato, put it in the simmering water, plunge it into the ice water and peel it immediately. Not so. I think reading somewhere that you must plunge the tomato in ice water conveyed a sense of immediacy to me. Take your time... enjoy!
After all my tomatoes were peeled, I put them on a sheet pan and put them in the freezer for two hours. I wanted to halve them and take the core out and I thought I'd lose less juice if I froze them for a bit beforehand. It worked!
I took them out of the freezer after two hours and halved them, cored them and then put them back in the freezer overnight so they were solidly frozen. Because... I wanted to use the Seal-a-Meal to vacuum pack them and if there's too much liquid, which there would be if they weren't frozen, things don't work so well. If there's too much juice in whatever you're vacuum packing, the vacuum sucks up all the juice instead of air and it won't seal. I learned that long ago... the hard way! 1. Freeze 2. Vacuum pack. This makes life much easier! BTW, do you have a Seal-a-Meal? I couldn't live without it!
Here are the tomatoes all set for the freezer. I didn't seed these, so I'll use them mainly to add to soups and stews this winter. We've got plenty more big tomatoes on the vine and I'll skin and seed a batch to use for tomato sauce.

This was our first garden in Montana and we learned a few things along the way, but have enjoyed our spinach, bell peppers, tomatoes, radishes, onions, zucchini, jalapenos, basil, savory, and parsley. My gardener grew a huge zucchini and I'm going to stuff it with ground antelope meat and cook it on the grill... watch for it!

17 comments:

  1. Karen, this is a wonderful tutorial. I hope you have a gazillion google search hit.

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  2. Thanks for the tutorial. We are tomato-deprived in our garden this year. Just a hand full of yellow grape tomatoes every few days.

    I'm headed to the farmers' market on Saturday and will stock up and try your method of peeling and freezing.

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  3. Great idea for freeing tomatoes...I bet there will be lots of searches for this info!
    Love all those gorgeous tomatoes!

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  4. Oh! would that I had the tomatoes to put up this way. I finally was able to buy some wonderful varieties of heirloom tomatoes at a recent farmers' market. But, at $3 a pound, I'd have gone broke buying enough to freeze. Great instructions on peeling. I can vouch that it does work.

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  5. I discovered a new way to peel tomatoes this year which totally appeals to my laziness -- I cut the tomatoes in half and roasted them for 45 minutes. The flavors concentrate, and the skins peel easily right off.

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  6. I'm so jealous of your bounty. Yes, I have one of those thingys, but another brand...FoodSaver. Other than my coffee pot, it is probably the most used appliance in my house. I use it to vacuum seal everything!

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  7. Wow you really do have a ton of tomatoes! I keep toying with the idea of getting a seal-a-meal. This makes me want to get one. Great Post, very helpful.

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  8. I'm wicked jealous, I want fresh garden tomatoes! Great tutorial. :)

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  9. Great way to peel tomatoes, thanks for the tutorial! I have to peel tomatoes for my daughter as she loves them but doesn't care too much for the peel. Thanks!

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  10. Your tomatoes are gorgeous! Great tips!

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  11. Great bounty Karen and super tomato peeling tutorial. Gorgeous tomatoes!

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  12. You've been missed Karen!

    Excellent tutorial and great photography.

    I hope you have a wonderful weekend. xo ~m

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  13. If you're freezing them you don't even have to peel them first. I learned this trick from Rick Bayless, who freezes huge amounts of tomatoes for his restaurant salsa in the winter. You can just bag them, and run the frozen tomato under running water (or pop in a bowl of warm water) briefly when you take them out of the freezer. Skins peel right off.

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  14. What great information. I am printing this out for my garden next year. THANK YOU!

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  15. bring on the grilled antelope, looking forward to that post, will be watching

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  16. Outstanding! I always need just half a tomato for something but when buying they look so yummy I end up with 6 or 7 and never eat them (its a sad shame I know). I am going to skin, core & vacuum seal frozen tomatos from now on to make stews and sauce all winter. Thanks for this!

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  17. You are amazing! I should be doing this - so you may have talked me into it :-). You are an imspiration.

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