It’s deer season. With any luck we will be needing freezer space.
Last night I pulled out a few bags of tomato’s I’d frozen. I had the thought of saving some of the canning for when all that heat would be appreciated. Since it was mid 30”s this morning …the heat was appreciated!
Let me tell you, working with frozen tomato’s is so much easier than fresh. I’d much rather slip skins from a cold tomato than a hot one any day.
I’ve read on a few canning sites about using the crockpot to cook the sauce down and decided to try it. I tossed a few bags of frozen maters into the crockpot and set to low, let it do it’s thing overnight. That worked but was a bit messy. Next time I wont let them cook overnight maybe only an hour or so till they are thawed just enough to slip the skins
3 of the many bags waiting in my freezer
after they thawed & started weeping I poured all the liquid off and ran them through the food processer. If I was working one batch I would have left it in the crockpot to reduce & thicken but, I had more bags to go so on the stove this sauce went.
The bit that didn’t fit in the pan I used to thaw the next few bags of tomato's and left them to cook till the sauce pan was available
Worked pretty slick! I’ll be doing this again for sure.
I ended up with 5 quarts and 7 pints cooling on the counter, not a huge batch but a good start.
All the tomato skins I saved and popped in the dehydrator
I ended up with all 9 trays loaded
Last time I tried dehydrating the skins for tomato powder I scorched them. Forgot they were in the dehydrator and the scorch taste carried to all the skins.
This time I’m turning that sucker off before I go to bed!
Have you tried freezing part of your summer harvest and canning in winter?
Stay warm out there!
Katie
