Red, juicy and sunshine, tomatoes only shine in summer. But what to do when the stalls are emptying in the fall? Good news: it is quite possible to freeze them to savor them all year round. Whether you are a amateur gardener or adept of purchases in cagettes at the market, freezing your tomatoes is a simple and economical solution to limit food waste. Two dietitians, Stéphanie Ballot and Alexandra Murcier, deliver their advice and the limits of the freezing of tomatoes.
Why freeze tomatoes and is that useful?
The tomato is made up of more than 90 % water, which makes its conservation special. Clearly, freezing is not suitable for a salad of fresh tomatoes, but perfect for your sauces, soups or simmered dishes.
If freezing keeps your tomatoes longer, it is not without consequences. Alexandra Murcier underlines the losses related to this mode of conservation: “We lose a small part of vitamin C in freezing, but we do not lose Lycopene, the antioxidant present in the tomato which is one of its main nutritional benefits. We also lose in taste for freezing, we can therefore already advise to use freezing exclusively for cooked use of tomatoes and not raw. “
Different freezing methods
Depending on the use, several techniques are available to you:
- Gross freezing: whole tomatoes or cut into quarters, placed on a plate before being enlargement;
- After cooking: in cooled home sauce, then packaged in suitable boxes or bags;
- Passenger puree or juice: frozen in ice cubes, very practical to dose then.
Alexandra Murcier recalls: “The tomatoes poorly bear freezing because they are composed largely of water, therefore to the defrosting they lose texture“.
How long to keep your tomatoes in the freezer?
The ideal conservation duration varies between 6 and 12 months at -18 ° C. To avoid freezing burns, it is essential to use hermetic bags and hunt the air as much as possible. Also remember to label your sachets with the freezing date to manage your stocks.
On the use side, no need to defrost your tomatoes before cooking: they can be added directly to a pan or pan. On the other hand, for more delicate use, let them return gently in the refrigerator.
Finally, our expert concludes: “”It is necessary to favor rapid freezing (pass below – 18 degrees quickly), condition tomatoes in hermetic containers to limit oxidation, consume them quickly after freezing and especially never defrost them and then reconge them“.