Frost has arrived and there are a lot of green tomatoes… but you don’t have time to can them.
I have all of these green tomatoes but I also have a long list of things to do and I don’t want to spend the day canning.
So, I freeze-dried them and I can make something with them later! It’s as simple as that.
How to Preserve Green Tomatoes
To preserve green tomatoes, you can freeze them, can them, or turn them into relish or some other pickled recipe. I chose to freeze-dry them.
Before the frost hurts the tomatoes, pick them!
Wash them
Dice them (I use my KitchenAid DICER attachment, making this job a quick and easy one)
Place them on freeze-drying trays
Either pop them into the freezer to process later or directly into the freeze-dryer. (Because I had 4 trays of diced green tomatoes, I opted to freeze-dry them right away)
Freeze-dry them until all the water has been removed
Vacuum package them (I use Mylar bags or canning jars with an oxygen absorber in them to extend the storage time.)
When you have time to pickle them or you want to use some green tomatoes in a recipe, open up the storage package and prepare them for ….
Enjoy; living the simpler life with perks such as freeze dryers and food processors
Green Tomato Relish Recipe
!!! WARNING: The following has not yet been tested !!!
On my list for my green tomatoes is to make some relish. Now, my diced tomatoes are freeze-dried and I don’t have time right now for canning, so this recipe is on my list for the future - AND it will be an experiment because my tomatoes, onions, and peppers are all freeze-dried. That means that there is already no water content, so no soaking, steaming, or straining involved.
Ingredients
4 c diced green tomatoes
1 c diced sweet onion
1c diced peppers
2tablespoons pickling salt
2cup sugar
2tablespoon mustard
2 teaspoon celery salt
2 tsp ground cloves
2 cup pickling vinegar
My plan for the experiment:
Create a brine, with all the ingredients except the vegetables, by heating until everything is dissolved
Taste test and adjust if needed
Add the brine, slowly, to the freeze-dried ingredients just until the liquid is absorbed
Add extra brine, if desired, to get the desired consistency
