Why peel tomatoes

canningfood-preservationfreezingpeelingtomatoes

Everyone seems to think it is necessary to peel tomatoes before canning or freezing them. Since I do not peel tomatoes when I'm cooking with them (soups, salsa, etc.), I'm wondering if I can freeze them without peeling them. Does freezing/canning do something to the texture of the tomato that makes the peel a problem?

Best Answer

When tomatoes are cooked (which I assume you plan on doing for canning or after freezing) the skins become tough and usually detach from the tomato. Since you usually don't mind this, you shouldn't mind it with canned tomatoes either, but many people do - even when pureed the texture is different.

When freezing you can freeze whole and the skin should come off easily when thawed.

One way to get around the texture issue would be to puree the tomatoes and then force them through a food mill, which will help to remove tough bits - do this either before canning or after freezing.