I have a bunch of tomatoes...what can I do with them?
 

I just collected a bunch of tomatoes yesterday and not sure what to do with them.

Most of them have bad cracks on top due to watering issues...

Can any of these be canned? and How(what type)? Sauce, stewed, etc.?

Crnkovic Y
Indische F.
Brandywine
Cherokee P
Captain Lucky
Chocolate stripes
1884
Black Krim

I've made Sauce, Soup and froze blanched tomatoes with my harvest this year. Do whatever you think you'd use more of!

I followed this sauce making process and it worked great! [url]http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=11841[/url]

Make tomato juice. It's easy to do. If you reduce it down by about 40%, the thick juice can be canned and later made into sauces, salsa, soup, ketchup, juice, etc. Canning is easy with only the need for a Boiling Water Bath.

Save the skins and any seeds. Put them on some parchment paper on a cookie sheet and dry them in the oven at about 185 degrees. When crispy dry, put them in a processor and make tomato powder. I use it in all kinds of dishes to add a touch of tomato flavor or as a garnish to enhance the eye appeal of food. Add to baked or mashed potatoes, cornbread, soups, stews, white breads, meat loaf, etc. etc. Put it on anything you where you would use ketchup, tomato sauce or paste, etc.

I also do some okra this way.

Tomato Vegetable Juice
 

[url]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?VUEFV[/url] 26 August 2013 Tomato Vegetable Juice
Twenty six litres of juice was made from garden produce. Utilized were tomatoes,basil,celery,peppers,Walla Walla onion,garlic. The produce (40 pounds) was cut into small pieces, water added to cover, cooked until soft and blended into a slurry. This was strained through a food mill and the output of the food mill as further processed in a Champion Juicer to extract all nutrients.The juice was poured into litre jars and pressure canned at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for storage.Pictures depict the process.

You can also chop the tomatoes into any size you like and freeze them in hard containers or plastic bags. I froze chopped tomatoes last year. I had so many tomatoes that we are still eating them (yay!). I chopped the tomatoes and put them in a giant mixing bowl. Then I used a one cup measuring cup and scooped 2 cups of tomatoes into quart size baggies. I squeezed out as much air as possible then flattened and stacked them in the freezer. They are still holding well in the freezer/deep freeze. I froze more than 25 bags of tomatoes. Of course, we ate a bunch fresh and I gave some away, too.

I use the frozen tomatoes in soups, stews, Indian recipes, etc. It's also nice to freeze the tomatoes since you can freeze as needed without getting out the canning equipment for a few tomatoes at a time. Good luck!

Christy