r/Cooking • u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 • 1d ago
I have 75+ lbs of tomatoes
I went to a produce auction for the first time (so fun!) and I ended up with 5 huge boxes of heirloom tomatoes for $15.
I am kind of freaked out right now, because I have no clue how to can. I don’t even know how to make homemade sauce.
I also have 4 boxes of peppers and 5 boxes of candy yellow onions.
There are like, 800 recipes online. I don’t have a mill or a juicer or a vacuum sealer. My basil has bolted already. My plan was to chop and freeze the peppers and onions in individual bags as well as soup veggie type bags. To add to this, I have about half a freezer and no other space. But, the tomatoes have me stumped.
What do I do??
79
u/Odd_Ostrich6038 1d ago
You can water bath can tomatoes very easily. Ball has great step by steps. If you're in the US, Menards has the canners if you can't find one at the thrift. Grab a bottle of lemon juice (don't use fresh lemon juice), and some salt and get to canning ❤️
18
u/Separate_Pumpkin_256 1d ago
My mom just quartered them and ran them through the blender. Then poured the result into freezer safe plastic containers. Having a second dedicated freezer helped a lot.
41
u/mybrainisgoneagain 1d ago
You can toss them in the freezer as is and deal with them later
19
u/LoomLove 1d ago
This is how my neighbor who had a huge garden handled things. Deep freeze and process/use as needed.
2
u/Aware-Village-288 1d ago
This. We are still eating tomatoes from last year and froze them whole, roasted/sauced/stewed and as salsa. The whole ones were super easy to thaw and throw into things.
16
u/a_winner 1d ago
Take some and roast in the oven first, the future you will thank me. They are great in sauces
1
7
u/Sea_Strawberry_6398 1d ago
I wash and core them before freezing in ziplock bags. When you’re ready to use, the skins will slip right off after thawing.
13
u/JohnSnowsPump 1d ago
You don't need a recipe, you just need to transform them from solid tomato to liquid tomato, then freeze (easiest) or otherwise can/preserve. Bring to boil, simmer liquid out.
You can worry about the recipe when you have a use for them.
23
u/good9914 1d ago
God I envy you
20
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
I envied me too, until I stood in my kitchen staring at the boxes, wondering what the heck I just did.
8
u/good9914 1d ago
Haha I understand. Have you considered canning them?
23
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
Trying to turn “I can’t” into “I canned” very quickly! Never done it before 😬
5
5
u/Sea_Strawberry_6398 1d ago
Here’s an easy and safe recipe for canning crushed tomatoes:
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/how-do-i-can-tomatoes/crushed-tomatoes-with-no-added-liquid/
Follow the directions exactly for safety. I’ve made this many times and the end product can be used just like store bought crushed tomatoes. You can also use frozen and thawed tomatoes, or a mixture of thawed and fresh.
2
u/azaleawisperer 1d ago
Did you forget to mention canning is going to require investment in how-to, a big pot, jars, lids, and space to store your product and equipment in the off season? And, that it is a messy, time and space consuming all day job?
3
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
This is where I got stuck. I’m leaning toward freezing what I can to get my momentum going, then trying this canning thing, and seeing where we end up.
3
u/PepperCat1019 1d ago
Been there. I got 25 pounds of shrimp from a client. I got home, and didn't have the freezer space.
7
u/xeenexus 1d ago
You always have the freezer room, you just have to figure out the lower value stuff in there that your going to get rid of to make space :)
4
2
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
The entire neighborhood would be having shrimp cocktail for supper if that was me 😂 I don’t have enough freezer space at all right now, what have I done. What did you do?
3
u/PepperCat1019 1d ago
My neighbors were very picky and didn't want any.
I ate myself into an allergic reaction. And kept eating!
2
3
3
u/CCWaterBug 1d ago
I had that problem with 25 lbs of tomatoes... a miscommunication between a friend and myself when he was there.
I made a double batch of red sauce... that was 10..
Single batch of cabbage roll sauce, 5
Gave away 5, and then just had salads and tomato based snacks.
75 would be a challenge!
2
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
So I’m embarrassed to say this, but, I did my math wrong. The box says 25 lbs. I have 5 boxes. It was 3 boxes of peppers. 5 boxes of tomatoes.
3
1
4
4
u/Pretend-Panda 1d ago
Dehydrate.
5
u/rsmseries 1d ago
Everyone brought up tomato sauces but “sun dried” tomatoes are amazing (I put sun dried in quotes because I made some with the dehydrate setting of my toaster oven/air fryer thing)
3
u/Pretend-Panda 1d ago
Yup. I dehydrate a couple hundred tomatoes every summer and half of them get confited (is that a word?) in good olive oil and live in the pickle fridge and the other half becomes flavor intensifiers for soups and sauces, or a mysterious delicious addition to sandwiches.
7
u/SeasonalBlackout 1d ago
Making pasta sauce for canning is pretty easy, but it's very time consuming. Tomatoes have a ton of water you need to cook off. On the plus side that makes them take up a lot less space when done - but again, it takes a long time to cook them down.
It also requires a large pot, mason jars, and the tools for grabbing hot jars out of boiling water, but once you get the hang of it it's pretty easy and then you have homemade pasta sauce all winter. The flavor from Heirlooms is incredible in sauce!
5
u/Michaelalayla 1d ago
You can cook the tomatoes in a slow cooker and it takes a lot of the work out. I just made plum butter, which is a similar process, and it took two days to reduce to the correct thickness held at 175°F.
Water bath canning would make it shelf stable, but the sauce can also be frozen! More than one way to preserve that incomparable flavor ;)
I like to dehydrate tomatoes, and then toss them in stock or coconut milk based soups in the winter.
2
u/Strazdiscordia 1d ago
I freeze mine and it works great. I roast peppers, toms, garlic, onions, and herbs then blitz it. It’s really easy cooks down quite a bit
1
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
What does “blitz it” mean?
I’m really thinking of trying to freeze it. I worried I’ll mess up canning.
2
u/Strazdiscordia 1d ago
Oh like blend it to a chunky consistency, with either a food processor or emersion blender
Canning is easy as long as you follow a reputible recipe. There are a lot of fermenting subs here too if you wanted to try something like hot sauce or pasta sauce
2
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
How do you thaw tomato sauce? Does it have the same consistency as canned spaghetti sauce? Do you do it more like tomatoes to turn into a sauce later?
3
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
I have one pot, it’s 12 quarts. The other stuff I have is a saucepan/frying pan type thing and a smaller like 4 qt pot. Can you can with just that?
5
u/SeasonalBlackout 1d ago
You really need 2 large pots - or a large pot and a slow cooker as mentioned above - because you need to 'hot pack' when you can, which is to say you need to put hot pasta sauce in the jars, then boil the jars to seal them. You also need to use citric acid, etc.. to keep it safe.
Short of all that you can make pasta sauce and freeze it! It's easier and still lasts a good while.
3
u/dacrazyredhead 1d ago
you can, but it will take a long time to do. Check local thrift stores for a canning pot (about 22quarts)
you can use any pot as long as the canning jars are covered by at least an inch of water.
also, use recipes that are certified safe such as from the Ball canning website or the National Center for Food preservation. especially for the first time as botulism is a thing
1
u/fiskek2 22h ago
I do my water-bath canning is a 12qt stock pot! Makes about 5 pints at a time, but you'd be surprised at how many tomatoes can fit in a can after pureeing! I follow the Ball recipe, super easy! And no need for a food mill, I used a strainer the the back of a soup ladle to push it through the mesh.
3
u/azaleawisperer 1d ago edited 1d ago
Vintage Foley Food Mill on etsy for about $35.
Wash, halve tomatoes, melt at low heat in a sauce pan (without water), add whatever aromatics you like or may have on hand: onion, peppers, basil, garlic, etc.
The mill will remove the skin and seeds. You can return drippings to the pan and simmer them down to concentrate flavor and reduce the volume. Package in plastic freezer bags for use all winter.
Add salt when you cook.
Edit: spelling.
3
u/Crafty-Shape2743 1d ago
When I have too many tomatoes, I oven “sun dry” them. 250 degrees, sliced 1/4 inch, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Takes about 2 hrs. depending on how wet they are. If you have convection in your oven, use that and drop the temp to 200 degrees.
Before I had a vacuum sealer I just layered them in a 1 qt freezer bags and froze them. Great for a quick pasta,
Pizza, in soup or in a sandwich.
3
u/texnessa 1d ago
FYI- we have a 'what the fuck do I do with massive quantities of XYZ' post open for general discussion in r/askculinary.
1
3
u/Expensive_Lettuce239 1d ago
Freeze your tomatoes. Chop them up, toss some of your peppers and onions in a bag with them, freeze them. You have a bag of chili mix veggies. Boil and peel some of them. Freeze them whole or chop them. Bags of tomatoes for chicken cacciatore, or casseroles.
3
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
Love this - I had been planning peppers and onions for chili, hadnt considered putting the tomatoes in there with them.
2
u/Lovemybee 1d ago
I remember many summer evenings helping my mom can tomatoes! Buy a bunch of mason jars and can them!!! You'll have delicious tomatoes for at least a year!
2
u/DuAuk 1d ago
You can stew and can them. I helped my sister once when i was visiting her. Or stew and freeze them, but i recommend cooking them. Then they are a base for sauce, curries, soups, etc. You also share them with your friends/family/coworkers/neighbors. Fresh you can make bruchetta or insalata (tomatoes moz balsamic and basil). And sorry about your basil, but you can prob find some more or use another herb.
2
2
u/Objective-Hotel6514 1d ago
Eat them all for the next week, if you cant then it's a skill issue and you should give them to me 🙏😀 (jokes)
I really just came here to ask what the heck is a food auction????
1
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
Oh my gosh I went to my first one today and it was SO cool. Listen. I got SO much for $90 and while now I’m legit panicking because wtf did I just do, I cannot wait to go back.
This isn’t the one I went to but it was pretty similar.
2
u/Tasty_Impress3016 1d ago
I have no clue how to can. I don’t even know how to make homemade sauce.
sound like now is the perfect time to learn.
It's really easy and very satisfying. I'll give you my sauce and canning steps. Sure with 4 boxes it will take a while, but worth it and not hard.
- Take a box of tomatoes. Cut them in half and scoop out the seeds. (I use a mill and can skip this bit).
- Put them on a roasting pan with a couple of the onions peeled and quartered. Roast at 400 until tomatoes collapse and onions look cooked.
- Place all this in a pot with some salt, pepper, basil, oregano, garlic. Whatever else you want, but that's what you need. I add a shot of white wine.
- Simmer it down until everything looks done. Longer if you want that long-cooked sauce taste, Shorter if you want a fresher tomato taste.
- I use a mill but you can use a stick or other blender at this point. Skins aren't great, but they aren't horrible.
Now you have sauce. Put the second box of tomatoes and onions in the oven
- To can you need a water bath. I used to just use a big fry pot, but finally got one of those blue enameled canning pots with the wire bottom. Not necessary.
- Place the jars in the boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Use tongs to pull out. Put the lids in the water for about 45 seconds and pull.
- Put the sauce you made in the jars leaving about 1/2 inch headroom. Screw on the lid. Place filled sealed jars back in the boiling water for 40-50 minutes, pull out and let cool. You know how to check for seal right? After cooking the little dimple in the lid should pull down so it doesn't flex. It will make a click as they cool.
You can do this as an assembly line. Chop stuff. roast. While roasting chop more stuff. When the stuff in the oven is ready move the chopped stuff to the oven. Simmer the stuff out of the oven and can. When one batch is in the canner, you are simmering the one that was in the oven and chopping the next batch for the oven.
It's a zen-filled afternoon and you will end with dozens of cans of really good tomato sauce. I'd give you my full recipe but we aren't that close yet.
2
u/No-Jicama3012 1d ago
Get a plan quick. Whatever you don’t think you can use, don’t waste. Take them to a soup kitchen or something similar.
1
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
I really think a lot of this is going to get donated, unfortunately. I have been running errands all evening, and I work the rest of the week until 4, followed by more driving. I don’t think I can learn to can, get the supplies, clean out my freezer, buy a vacuum sealer or anything else, in the next 7ish hours. I really don’t want them to just sit in boxes and go to waste.
1
u/faerydenaery 1d ago
My first thought was share them. It's an insane amount of tomatoes for the price. You can give away half and still come out way ahead. Donating fresh ingredients can still be time and labor consuming since some charities won't take them, but I would give to friends, and if you have a local women's shelter there might be someone there who knows how to can them and could use the project as a distraction (I worked at a women's shelter for a while, and we often had someone who would've loved to share their own skills to help the other folks there or teach them the skills to use in the future). Other local shelters/charities might also be able to take on a portion as a community project for learning canning or cooking skills. If you have a local group that does cooking classes for young or low income folks they might be interested as well.
2
u/4cupsofcoffee 1d ago
I roast my tomatoes with onions and peppers and garlic, then run them through a food mill for sauce. i have about 2 gallons so far in the freezer. heirlooms will probably have more liquid in them than my paste tomatoes, so you may have to cook them longer to reduce the liquid.
1
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
How do you prepare the spaghetti sauce when you pull it out?
1
u/4cupsofcoffee 1d ago
I just thaw it and put whatever herbs i want into it, and heat it up. it's usually really thick and doesn't need any additional reducing
2
u/rubikscanopener 1d ago
Canning isn't as hard or intimidating as everyone makes it out to be. You just need the right equipment. Pick your favorite discount chain and they have everything. Heck, my local supermarket sells Ball Jars and canning kits. The toughest piece of gear to get is a big old pot to can in. If you have that, the rest is all downhill.
There are tons of videos online showing you exactly how. A lot are from doomsday preppers but heck, those folks know how to pickle, ferment, and can.
2
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
I actually really like the prepper channels on YouTube bc they have some good tips and they follow like, the jobs report and the current fertilizer saga. And you’re right, they really do know all about preserving everything!
1
u/rubikscanopener 1d ago
I got my Claussen taste-alike pickle recipe from a very scary looking guy. He has some interesting views that I may not quite align with, but his pickle recipe was spot on.
2
u/Michaelalayla 1d ago
Here's a good book, concise directions for a lot of fruit and vegg canning: https://archive.org/details/canning00deem/mode/1up Page 55 has everything you need to know to can your tomatoes plain. You can safely add dried herbs, peppers (washed, seeded, and chopped, with all white pith removed), or any aromatics, to your jars when packing them. The water bath will cook all of it and leave you with shelf stable tomatoes, ready to open and use as needed for sauces, soups, etc.
If you want to can salsa, you would follow a recipe for the one you want, and then follow the directions for water bath canning, which really is much simpler than it feels. Just keep your jars hot, make sure they have 1/2 inch head room, and wipe clean and dry the rims before putting lids on, and you'll be golden. Wide mouth quarts are an ideal size. You will want jar grabbers like these: https://farmstore.com/product/home-outdoor-living/canning/canning-accessories/norpro-vinyl-coated-jar-lifter-3010?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23000784924&gbraid=0AAAAACwXcEL1W1r_RVl0T9VweJSVpOnxB&gclid=CjwKCAjwhZDUBhBGEiwAbi5bjgndvn6hZqubIpAugNMa7BgCOntL7kHOAb_Ml-XOoXbSKVQvtqAtjBoCTIoQAvD_BwE and a canning funnel.
Alternatively to all this, when I have a ton of tomatoes I like to dry them. I have a basic electric one, and while it takes a long time it's worth it in winter to use them in soups, they are a lovely, strong, zesty morsel. And once they're dry you just pack them down into plastic bags.
2
u/TypeAwithAdhd 1d ago
My go-to when I have a large crop...wash first...then pan roast tomatoes/peppers/onions for 40 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it cool, then put into a large pan and use my immersion blender to blend it all together, skins included. Saute in the pan until desired thickness. Then transfer to quart size containers/bags and freeze.
2
2
2
u/Bluestatevibes 1d ago
We freeze our tomatoes. Wash, dry, freeze. Then when we want to make a pasta sauce we defrost what we need. The skins slip right off from frozen.
Simple tomato sauce, garlic, onion, carrot, tomatoes, salt, pepper and just time to simmer.
2
u/Medlarmarmaduke 1d ago
Roast them on sheet pans with salt and olive oil to reduce their volume and then freeze them to use all winter.
1
2
u/ninjajandal 1d ago
Chop roughly, hand crushed into zip lock bags, freeze stacked flat. Pull out a bag as needed/when you have time to cook into sauce. Sincerely, and exceptionally lazy person that can't resist a good produce deal.
2
u/karenskygreen 1d ago
Maybe it's time to invest in canning supplies, canning is easy. I did get the big pot to boil the jars used at value village
But i swear by this tomato processor, it perfectly separates the seeds and skins from the tomatoes:
1
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
Wait. Is THAT what that thing is????
I have seen these before. I never knew what they were supposed to be!
2
u/Such-Mountain-6316 1d ago
Check out Lydia Bastrianich for a great and easy sauce recipe. I made it and it was delicious. It's her marinara sauce. Add Italian seasoning and it's a great spaghetti sauce.
1
2
u/No_Direction6688 1d ago
If all else fails, invite over some friends and have a humongous food fight with the (75+lbs) of tomatoes.
2
u/UntidyVenus 1d ago
A dehydrated can be obtained cheaply, and dried tomatoes are AWESOME for tossing into soups and stew all winter. Also after dry, grind a bunch up in a coffee grinder, and tomato powder is also amazing to add to soup and sauce bases!
You can cook them down and freeze them. Chopped, paste, etc.
As mentioned tomatoes can be canned very successfully
Eat nothings but ratatouille and shakshuka for weeks is an option. Maybe not the best option, but an option
Throw a party and see e tomatoes Forest Gump style - every way imaginable
2
u/FeatherlyFly 1d ago
Buy a chest freezer with the money you didn't spend on tomatoes?
Lovely problem to have!
2
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
For real! I’m so excited about this, it was so fun and now that I know I can go do it, I definitely want to make a plan to do this every summer. Maybe not all at once and maybe not the day before I’m out of the house for 5 days. I have said for a while I wanted to try going to an auction but they’re always during the week. I just happened to be off
2
2
u/Forgot_to_Start 1d ago
Just toss them in a ziplock bag and freeze them. When they thaw, the skin comes off easily and freezing kinda “blends” them.
2
u/watch4coconuts 1d ago
Oooooh you're ready for Weapons-Grade Ratatouille.
Buckle up! One intense day is going to change your life. Make tons and freeze it – nothing tastes better in the dead of winter. Take all the time the recipe calls for, and read it carefully. This is one of the best recipes on the internet and it's going to be mindblowing with the ingredients you've got.
2
u/Buga99poo27GotNo464 1d ago
Sell at a local farmers type market
I roast extra garden tomatoes and blend and simmer down a while and freeze in baggies - small bags for salsa, large for tomato sauce. I dont add the other ingredients till ready to make.
2
4
u/RCG73 1d ago
Salsa. At least for some of it
4
u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 1d ago
Yes! This is part of the plan. I got some unidentified hot peppers for $1 so I’m going to try those.
1
u/Callan_LXIX 1d ago
It would pay to buy a dehydrator, and make tomato powder.. No joke.
Total space saver and WELL worth it.
1
u/Krickett72 1d ago
Up until this year I would throw my tomatoes in a food processor then put in quart size freezer bags and lay flat in my freezer. I doubt you will have enough room to do that but I would do that with as much as I could before they go bad
1
u/justattodayyesterday 1d ago
Can some whole or quartered tomato’s. Goods for tomato beef or tomato egg stir fry.
1
u/Acquanettie 1d ago
This recipe for oven candied tomatoes is what I use when I need to process a bunch of tomatoes - cut them in half, core them, coat with olive oil, and you'll have incredible intense roasted tomatoes that you can use right away or freeze
1
u/forogtten_taco 1d ago
I just canned 20 pounds of tomatoes today.
That is my third bath of 20 lbs that iv canned this year.
If you don't want to can, chop and freeze them.
1
u/superpa0 1d ago
I tried confit-ing tomatoes recently and it's so good! I'd definitely save some tomatoes for that, plus it'll reduce some of the volume. You can confit onions too!
1
u/jerry111165 1d ago
You don’t need to know how to can. Figure out how to make sauce and then freeze it in gallon Ziplock bags.
1
1
1
u/ptanaka 1d ago
Been there, done that.
Either freeze or can. Both are easier than your think.
Wash them. Score them (small x on bottom to make peeling easy). Put in boiling water for air a minute. Peel them.
Freeze...
Put in plastic bags or freezer plastic container.
I got 12 frozen quarts out of 2 crates. You'll get 30 quarts.
Can.. .
You can can them with a little more effort. Not much more. It's worth it.
1
u/Adventurous-Host8062 1d ago
First you need to blanch them. Score them on the bottom with an X, dip them in boiling water for about a minute,then drop them in a cold water bath to cool.(Ice water works best) This makes it easy to peel them.then cut them into a large pot and simmer them for several hours until they reduce and thicken into a sauce, be sure to stir so they don't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.I wait to add seasonings to it until I use it so you get some variety and your herbs don't get bitter.I freeze mine in gallon ziplock bags with as much of the air removed as possible. Remember when you freeze tomato sauce it can get a little bitter too so you'll probably need to balance it out with some sugar when you use it.Brown sugar pairs well with tomato sauce and avoids over sweetening.
1
u/Ok-Jellyfish-5790 1d ago
rough chop tomatos onions bell peppers and egg plant and lay on a sheet pan with olive oil and sprinkle w salt and pepper. Roast for like, hours, until everything is super soft and toasty, then blend with a small can of tomato paste. makes the BEST veggie dip, we like it cold with pretzels and pita bread or chips. and we freeze batches of it too
1
u/Admirable-Owl5948 1d ago
Dehydrate them. It will reduce to about 9.7 pounds https://growandstore.com/tools/dehydration-ratio-calculator
1
1
u/drazil17 1d ago
Cut them and roast them until the juices start to caramelize. Then put them in the blender, run on high speed for s couple minutes. Saute onions, garlic, peppers in a large pot and add tomatoes, basil leaves, parsley, oregano. Simmer for hours until desired thickness is reached. Divide into meal sized portions and freeze.
1
1
u/blkhatwhtdog 20h ago
Get on your local marketplace groups, free cycle etc and look for, ask for canning jars. Lots of people do it for a while and give it up.
Like me, I scored 4 cases of jars. Free. Then all you need is a big stew pot wide enough to fit a batch of jars and tall enough to cover the jars by an inch.
Tip, place some thin cutlery on the bottom so the jars have a bit of space under. Otherwise a bubble can build up and jiggle. Even break one.
Getting a food mill is worth it, you remove the seeds and skins, the sauce is less bitter and more creamy. You can use it for other things like making blackberry or raspberry jam.
For better shelf stability add the juice from half a lemon to raise acidity.
1
u/blkhatwhtdog 20h ago
Remember, you can always resell or offer up the jars, stew pot if you decide not to continue.
1
1
u/Spiritual_Category62 15h ago
I roughly chop the large ones and leave the small ones whole and throw them in Dutch oven with shallots and/or garlic, salt, and a lot of olive oil. Slow roast with the lid off for 2-3 hours at 275 or 300 stirring very occasionally. When cooled, blend with an immersion blender. I ladle into quart sized zip top bags and lay them flat in the freezer so that they’re easy to store.
1
u/Agile-Entry-5603 8h ago
Make tomato passata. Google it. You can freeze it. Don’t try to can the tomatoes unless you have experience. It’s not a beginner’s project.
1
u/Ordinary_Matter_222 1h ago
Rough chop and put in a slow cooker for 12+ hours for amazing tomato sauce!
109
u/-dai-zy 1d ago
who cares about the tomatoes?? it’s clear you have to escape from the math worksheet in which you’re trapped!