The tomato freezes and preserve ceithern very good results in its raw form to make future cooked preparations, such as pasta sauces, says the book The secrets of freezing food. However, to consume it in salads, it is not recommended to freeze it, because it loses its original texture.
There are different ways to freeze raw tomatoes: integers; chopped into two or four parts; only the pulp, which is extracted with the help of a sieve or liquefied without adding water and if desired, strained; or in juice, which is extracted with an extractor, the book points out.
The steps to follow for any of these four ways to freeze are as follows:
- Fresh tomatoes are chosen at the desired stage of ripeness.; They are washed, dried, the nipple is removed and if any part is damaged it is also removed.
- They are prepared in any of the four ways that you want to freeze as we already mentioned. To freeze preparations of whole or chopped tomatoes, they are packed in plastic bags No. 1, the air is extracted as best as possible, closed hermetically with a rubber band and if you prefer to provide greater protection, use bag No. 2, marked and frozen. . Pulp or juice preparations are frozen in tightly covered plastic containers, which are marked for freezing.
How to defrost tomatoes for cooked preparations?
If you want to remove the skin from whole or coarsely chopped frozen tomatoes, it is recommended to quickly run them under running water, which helps remove the skin easily.
It is allowed to defrost as little as possible, so that it can be chopped and it is included frozen in the preparation where it is going to be added, which must be very hot and thus excellent results will be obtained as if they were fresh tomatoes.
Pulp or juice preparations can be thawed as preferred, with the application of heat or naturally (refrigerator or at room temperature).
How long can raw tomatoes stay in the freezer?
Raw frozen tomato in any of its forms belongs to the first group of foods, delicate, so it can remain in the freezer. a maximum of 2 months, if your refrigerator has two doors, if it has one, a maximum of 1 month.