zxcvbob wrote:

> Peter Aitken wrote:
>
>> > wrote in message
>> ups.com...
>>
>>> I've got a great market near my house that has great discount prices on
>>> produce.
>>>
>>> This week they have heirloom tomatoes for about 79 cents a pound.
>>>
>>> I want to buy a whole bunch for use in tomato sauce. If I cut them up
>>> and put them into a plastic container, will they freeze and defrost
>>> well?
>>>
>>
>>
>> Probably not. They need to be boiled, if only briefly, to destroy
>> enzymes that will degreade them.
>>
>>
>
>
> Not really true with tomatoes. They are usually scalded in order to
> loosen the skins for peeling before freezing them, but they are not
> cooked long enough to blanch them.
>
> Some people just freeze them whole and peel them as they thaw them.
> That's what I would do for freezing a few of tomatoes.
>
> I wouldn't pay 79¢ per pound for tomatoes to freeze for cooking
> though; commercial canned tomatoes are better for cooking IMHO.
>
> Buy a bunch of the tomatoes and eat BLT sandwiches, tomato and
> mayonnaise sandwiches, fresh salads with tomatoes, etc. Buy canned
> tomatoes for cooking.
>
> Bob

I never scald mine, but I don't peel them either, I put the sauce or
soup through a food mill.

Canned tomatoes are indeed good for cooking, better than fresh for most
recipes, but has nobody ever *given* you a load of tomatoes? It's not
unusual at this time of year, I'm not going to knock them back if I can
freeze them for later.

Christine