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Tomatoes are a staple ingredient in most homes and are grown in nearly every garden. Pasta sauce, soups, pizza sauce, salads, and more all rely on these small red fruits for their flavour. But, for those that enjoy using fresh tomatoes in their recipes, how do you keep your tomatoes fresh? After all, the shelf life of a tomato is not very long at all. If you have been wondering how to make your fresh tomatoes last longer, these three simple ways to preserve fresh tomatoes are just what you need.
How to Preserve Fresh Tomato
While there are several ways to preserve fresh tomatoes, the simplest is dehydrating, freezing, and canning tomatoes. Two of the three take time to complete, but they will also give your tomatoes their longest shelf life. This longer shelf life is often stretched into years, provided your final product is stored correctly.
How to Dehydrate Tomatoes
Dehydrating tomatoes can be done in several ways. You can dehydrate tomato slices, dices, or even tomato sauces. Dehydrated sauces can be used as-is for tomato leather or placed in a coffee grinder to create tomato powder that you can use in soups or casseroles.
Since tomatoes have a high-water content, it can take a while to dehydrate them. This is why it is best to have a food dehydrator with temperature control and remove the seeds and other goopy areas from the centre of the tomato before dehydrating. Even doing this, it will take several hours to fully dehydrate tomatoes. Once they are dried, place them in an airtight container and store your dehydrated food in a cool, dark spot to maximize its shelf life.
How to Freeze Fresh Tomatoes
Hands down, the ability to freeze fresh tomatoes whole is the simplest way to preserve them since there is very little preparation involved. In essence, all you need to do is wash them, dry them and freeze them using a vacuum sealer. No, you do not need to blanch tomatoes to freeze them.
As you are pulling them out of the freezer, run them under warm water. The skins will slide right off, allowing you to skip the entire blanching step. At that point, you can add them to your recipe whole, slice them or dice them. Use your frozen tomatoes just as you would fresh!
However, not all varieties of tomatoes freeze well for slicing. Traditional slicing varieties, such as Beefsteak, typically come out of the freezer mushy due to their higher water makeup. If you are planning on freezing tomatoes, opt for a sturdier variety such as Roma instead.
More Tomato Resources
Extending Shelf Life by Canning Tomatoes
Canning tomatoes is the method that will give your tomatoes the longest shelf life. It is also the most labour and time intensive. However, if you want a preserved product that can last years, you will want to learn the process of canning tomatoes.
Tomatoes can be canned two ways and are one of the only foods that can be. You may put your tomatoes in a water bath canner (boiling water canner) or a pressure canner. They can also be canned in any form, from sliced or diced to whole and tomato sauces. Once preserved, store your canned jars in a cool, dark pantry for a shelf life that can last as many as ten years!
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