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#1
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
Last year, I had lots of nice red golf-ball sized tomatoes. Though I
enjoy lettuce, cucumber & tomato (+salt, pepper & mustard) sandwiches, I could not eat them all. I gave some tomatoes away but I still had many. So I had to find a way to preserve them. I thought of sun drying them... but it was late october here in Canada and the sun was nowhere around. So I decided to oven dry them instead. I sliced them all in half, and placed them on an oven tray. I salted them. I preheated the oven to a high temperature and then put the tray in for I think about an hour. They dried out. Note : aim to dry them out, not cook them. Then I put them in ziplock bags and put them in the freezer. That was last summer and I still have some in my freezer today. Its just as good as the day it went in because I'm using 3 methods of preservation (drying, salting, freezing). No bacteria or fungi can grow. I take a few out of the ziplock bags and just throw them into food that I cook. They're great. For the health concious, you can throw them into water to let the salt dissolve out and then put them in food. I'm going to do the same this year if I have some left over. Although I will consider giving some to the local food bank as well. |
#2
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
PlucknGro wrote: Last year, I had lots of nice red golf-ball sized tomatoes. Though I enjoy lettuce, cucumber & tomato (+salt, pepper & mustard) sandwiches, I could not eat them all. I gave some tomatoes away but I still had many. So I had to find a way to preserve them. I thought of sun drying them... but it was late october here in Canada and the sun was nowhere around. So I decided to oven dry them instead. I sliced them all in half, and placed them on an oven tray. I salted them. I preheated the oven to a high temperature and then put the tray in for I think about an hour. They dried out. Note : aim to dry them out, not cook them. Then I put them in ziplock bags and put them in the freezer. That was last summer and I still have some in my freezer today. Its just as good as the day it went in because I'm using 3 methods of preservation (drying, salting, freezing). No bacteria or fungi can grow. I take a few out of the ziplock bags and just throw them into food that I cook. They're great. For the health concious, you can throw them into water to let the salt dissolve out and then put them in food. I'm going to do the same this year if I have some left over. Although I will consider giving some to the local food bank as well. How about drying them out and powdering them? |
#3
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
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#4
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
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#5
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
Regarding storing tomatoes, if you like chili in the winter just put
them whole into freezer bags and freeze them until you're ready to cook chili. All you have to do is run them under warm water to remove the skin and toss them into the crockpot with your other chili ingredients and they certainly enhance the flavor. Andrea |
#6
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 20:38:16 +1200, Kelvyn
wrote: In article, says... I did the same (in oven)..roma are best for this treatment and i quarter them so they dry better/faster...then i tightly packed them in glass jars, added a lot of chopped basil and covered with olive oil....it worked ok. kelvyn. ----------------- Please note: I feel obliged to post this - I'm not going to argue the point with you (or anyone else), but I feel a responsibility to post what I know about it. Having once presented reliable sources of information, I have nothing further to say on the subject and people can make up their own minds whether or not to follow the USDA (and other) recommendations. ------------------ Before you do it again, please read this: ----------------------- How do I can oil with herbs? Can I can pesto? Herbs and oils are both low-acid and together could support the growth of the disease-causing Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Oils may be flavored with herbs if they are made up for fresh use, stored in the refrigerator and used within 2 to 3 days. There are no canning recommendations. Fresh herbs must be washed well and dried completely before storing in the oil. The very best sanitation and personal hygiene practices must be used. Pesto is an uncooked seasoning mixture of herbs, usually including fresh basil, and some oil. It may be frozen for long term storage; there are no home canning recommendations. From: The National Center for Home Food Preservation, http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/questions/FAQ_canning.html#31 ---------------------------------- I know that the tomatoes are high-acid, but the basil is not. I would definitely question the safety of 'preserving' even tomatoes in oil: modern varieties of tomatoes are not necessarily high-acid enough to even can safely using the water-bath method of canning, and the addition of some acid (lemon juice) or use of a pressure canner for tomatoes is now recommended by the USDA. Reliable sources of information on canning include the following: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html - The National Center for Home Food Preservation, recently established by the US Department of Agriculture at the University of Georgia. These folks are pulling together information from a variety of sources, and have become a very, very useful resource for home food preservers. http://extension.usu.edu/publica/foodpubs.htm - Utah State University extension publications http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publication...ions_usda.html - a copy of the USDA 'Complete Guide to Home Canning' http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publication...n_guide_03.pdf - Guide 3, Selecting, Preparing, and Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products Pat |
#7
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
Blanch them, peel off the skins, run thru the blender and pour into
freezer bags and freeze them. Nothing like fresh 'mater sauce for pasta etc over the winter. Our youngest would have a fit if he didn't get his winter doses of spagetti with moms homemade sauce. PlucknGro wrote: Last year, I had lots of nice red golf-ball sized tomatoes. Though I enjoy lettuce, cucumber & tomato (+salt, pepper & mustard) sandwiches, I could not eat them all. I gave some tomatoes away but I still had many. |
#8
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
When last we left our heros, on Fri, 29 Aug 2003 08:38:16 -0400,
Pat Meadows scribbled: On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 20:38:16 +1200, Kelvyn wrote: In article, says... I did the same (in oven)..roma are best for this treatment and i quarter them so they dry better/faster...then i tightly packed them in glass jars, added a lot of chopped basil and covered with olive oil....it worked ok. kelvyn. ----------------- Please note: I feel obliged to post this - Pay attention to the nice lady. She's absolutely correct. I shared a table with a very nice man from the CDC at a conference a few years back, and he told me about the sharp rise in cases of botulism since making flavored oils has become popular with home gardeners. I cheat when I can my flavored oils, I use the autoclave in the lab where I work. I wouldn't risk it, otherwise. left in because it should be read again, nothing new past this point but my .sig ----------------------- How do I can oil with herbs? Can I can pesto? Herbs and oils are both low-acid and together could support the growth of the disease-causing Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Oils may be flavored with herbs if they are made up for fresh use, stored in the refrigerator and used within 2 to 3 days. There are no canning recommendations. Fresh herbs must be washed well and dried completely before storing in the oil. The very best sanitation and personal hygiene practices must be used. Pesto is an uncooked seasoning mixture of herbs, usually including fresh basil, and some oil. It may be frozen for long term storage; there are no home canning recommendations. From: The National Center for Home Food Preservation, http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/questions/FAQ_canning.html#31 ---------------------------------- I know that the tomatoes are high-acid, but the basil is not. I would definitely question the safety of 'preserving' even tomatoes in oil: modern varieties of tomatoes are not necessarily high-acid enough to even can safely using the water-bath method of canning, and the addition of some acid (lemon juice) or use of a pressure canner for tomatoes is now recommended by the USDA. Reliable sources of information on canning include the following: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html - The National Center for Home Food Preservation, recently established by the US Department of Agriculture at the University of Georgia. These folks are pulling together information from a variety of sources, and have become a very, very useful resource for home food preservers. http://extension.usu.edu/publica/foodpubs.htm - Utah State University extension publications http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publication...ions_usda.html - a copy of the USDA 'Complete Guide to Home Canning' http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publication...n_guide_03.pdf - Guide 3, Selecting, Preparing, and Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products -- "Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart." "ElissaAnn" |
#9
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
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#10
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My suggestions for storing tomatoes
How hot was the oven? Did you keep the door closed?
Thanks, Dianna On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 22:31:40 GMT, PlucknGro wrote: So I decided to oven dry them instead. I sliced them all in half, and placed them on an oven tray. I salted them. I preheated the oven to a high temperature and then put the tray in for I think about an hour. They dried out. Note : aim to dry them out, not cook them. _______________________________________________ To reply, please remove "fluff" from my address. |
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