Food Safety Feature Articles
Remember to keep tomatoes safe if freezing or canning
Gardens are beginning to produce an abundance of tomatoes. As a result, the dilemma of how to preserve the tomatoes has begun. Vine-ripened, disease-free, firm tomatoes are the best for preserving.
“Tomatoes can be frozen or canned following proper procedures. Safety is the key. It is not safe to open kettle or oven can tomatoes” said Tammy Roberts, nutrition and health education specialist, University of Missouri Extension.
Freezing tomatoes is easy according to Roberts.
Just wash and dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Peel and core, and freeze whole or in pieces.
Roberts also recommends packing the tomatoes into a container, leaving one inch of headspace, and then seal and freeze.
“It is best to use frozen tomatoes for cooking because they will not be solid when thawed. I put frozen tomatoes in crock pot soups, stews and chili,” said Roberts.
A hot water bath or pressure canning is required to can tomatoes.
Tomatoes used to be considered an acid food, but most varieties are now low-acid.
To safely can tomatoes, acid needs to be added. Roberts recommends using two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice per quart of tomatoes or one-half teaspoon of citric acid per quart.
The next step in the process is to wash and dip tomatoes in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Then dip them in cold water, peel skins and leave them whole or half.
Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to quart jars and leave one-half inch head space. Process quarts in a water bath for 50 minutes or pressure can for 25 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure.
For more information contact Tammy Roberts at (417) 682-3579 or your local Extension office.
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Last update: Wednesday, June 24, 2009
