12/30/2025
December isn’t harvest season. It’s holding season.
These tomatoes were cored and lightly slit, then frozen whole. No blanching. No peeling. Just enough prep to make the next step easier, then put away when summer was generous and time was not. Most food waste doesn’t come from lack of knowledge. It comes from lack of margin.
Freezing them like this buys time.
When they thaw, the skins slip right off and excess water separates on its own. What’s left is dense, tomato-forward flesh ready for sauce, soup, chili base, or later canning.
This works for paste tomatoes, slicers, and cherries. It also works for end-of-season tomatoes you grabbed cheap because you didn’t want to waste the opportunity. Flavor holds. Acidity doesn’t change. You’re not compromising quality. You’re choosing when the work happens.
They can stay frozen for months. Long enough to get through winter. Long enough to wait until there’s space on the stove and in your head.
Freezing isn’t the final step. It’s a pause button.
Sometimes the most practical preservation choice is the one that lets you come back to it when you actually have the capacity.
That’s not cutting corners.
That’s working with the season you’re in.
