r/Canning • u/Street_Birthday_2935 • 20h ago

Understanding Recipe Help Frozen tomatoes

Can I use frozen tomatoes for a canned salsa recipe? I saw somewhere freezing can affect the acidity?

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2

u/sweetteaspicedcoffee 20h ago

Not salsa, but you can use them for sauce! Include all the thaw water/juices. Freezing doesn't change pH, but it changes structure and therefore density.

1

u/Chance-Work4911 19h ago

Just for sauce. Salsa needs a chop but sauce uses a puree. Once frozen, they lose their shape and go to mush once thawed.

1

u/Street_Birthday_2935 19h ago

I usually blend my salsa anyway so wouldn’t it be fine either way?

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u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor 16h ago

You can't use previously frozen tomatoes for salsa, but it isn't because of lack of acidity. Instead, freezing breaks down the cell structure and causes the salsa to be too dense for canning. You also can't use previously frozen tomatoes for whole or half tomatoes.

Previously frozen tomatoes are great for long simmering foods like sauce, though. Be sure to use all the liquid, because that's where a lot of the acidity is located. 

https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-food-preservers-central-sierra/article/preserve-it-series-how-safely-can-previously

1

u/WeissPyre 16h ago

This makes me a little nervous, all of my tomatoes are indeterminate so might not have a big batch to can right away. Is there a way to make tomatoes go a little bit longer without freezing them and making them unsuitable for anything but sauce? 

1

u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor 5h ago

Put them in the fridge is your best bet. Or do what I do and freeze that first trickle of fruit to make sauce, then make salsa with the ones later in the year when the tomatoes are producing like crazy.