# Canning Frozen Tomatoes



## Awnry Abe (Mar 21, 2012)

I have some "older" frozen tomatoes, mostly in quart zip-loc bags. Most are from 2011, a few from 2010. Some have various additives, such as basil, garlic, and olive oil. As to the preserved-ness of the bagged product, I would call them all good. (I wouldn't hesitate to eat even the 2010 batches). 

I would like to get them out of the freezer by canning them. I am currently canning my 2012 tomatoes, and thought it would be a good time to take care of all of them. 

Would you advise this? If so, would it be ok to mix them into a single stock pot?

And a related question that I could probably find out by searching...What is the shelf life of canned tomatoes?


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

They would be fine to can. 
My only hesitation is that I personally don't like the taste of frozen tomatoes, so I might not waste the energy canning them. But if you like them frozen, then they should be fine. They are certainly safe.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Let them drain after thawing.
Frozen tomatoes produce a LOT of thin juice.
Save the juice to can up for soups etc.. it makes yummy minestrone soup.


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## dkhern (Nov 30, 2012)

i think all would be fine also. canned life would be till they dis colored i would guess years


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## Patches (Aug 9, 2006)

I have canned several times from the freezer. If I am too busy in the summer, I just put whole tomatoes, skin and all in freezer bags and can later on. I also drain them some. They make fine salsa too.


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

I handle my tomatoes this way routinely, but came to find that this method makes them best for sauce and paste. When tomatoes freeze, the fluids inside the cells of the tomato become sharp crystals that puncture the cell walls as the freezing liquid expands. When defrosted, the clear liquid we see is the result of the cells losing this fluid.

I usually take them directly from the freezer and place them in a big stockpot over low to moderate heat. And as the liquids become apparent, I skim them off and toss them. (I know, it's awful; but I used to make an effort to put it on acid loving plants, but there was no apparent difference. I figure conservation of my time is as worthy a pursuit as any other.) Then when most of the liquid is gone and the tomatoes are good and hot, I run them through the food mill and return the sauce to the stockpot to cook down to the desired consistency. If I have a whole ton of sauce to deal with, or if I want paste, I pour the whole mess into an clean old inside-out muslin pillowcase and hang it from a cupboard door handle to drain until it reaches the consistency I want. That's faster than reducing it by cooking. Once it's at the right consistency I can heat it and process it in jars.

I don't like things like stewed tomatoes or tomato chunks from frozen. I've done it before and the texture is way too mushy for me, more like wet kleenex. If I want stewed tomatoes, I do a run or two (or three!) from fresh, and save the frozen ones for sauce and paste. I can accumulate a bunch and can sauce in the fall when the weather's cooler.


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## Sunflowerhill (Dec 30, 2012)

I have used frozen bags of tomatoes to can salsa with and they were just fine. They tasted no differently than fresh. Like Chickenista suggested, cook them in a pot (yes, I would mix it all together!), drain them and stuff them in court jars and can~ and save the liquid and can it separately for stews and soups!


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## Awnry Abe (Mar 21, 2012)

Thanks everyone. I ended up with 14 qts of perfect sauce that was just hogging space in the freezer.


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## blooba (Feb 9, 2010)

Patches said:


> I have canned several times from the freezer. If I am too busy in the summer, I just put whole tomatoes, skin and all in freezer bags and can later on. I also drain them some. They make fine salsa too.


Yea, freezing them with the skins on makes skinning them simple, just run under cold water and the skins just peel right off.


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