Roast-to peel-tomatoes is a new skill I learned this summer that is saving me so much time in the kitchen. If you are preserving tomatoes and use a hot-packing or open kettle method or even a pressure canner, you’ll need to skin those maters first. I learned a neat trick from my friend Tonya at The Wild Carrot Farmstead’s Instagram account. Here’s the full detail on how to do easily peel your fresh summer garden tomato harvest. Read until the end for even more ways to use up all your tomatoes and how to preserve them!
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Is peeling tomato skins necessary?
If you’re canning your tomatoes, you’re likely going to use them in the fall and winter for a soup or sauce in which case, you may want to peel the tomato skins off before canning. Why? It’s more or less a matter of preference.
Tomato skins have a different texture than the meat of the tomato which may not be a desirable texture if you’re looking for a smooth pasta sauce.
The choice is yours to peel or not to peel. Since many tomato canners choose to peel, let’s keep on with that topic.
How to peel tomato skins: one method
Normally to put up my summer tomatoes, I’ll boil a pot of water and drop them in one at a time. Let the skin split then remove from the water and into an ice bath to stop any cooking.
Then remove from the ice bath and peel the skins and also cut off the ends and core.
And it’s kind of a lot of water and mess; however, it IS an effective method.
The Best Hack for Tomato Peeling
But with this method of roast to peel tomatoes, you’ll be able to peel your tomatoes without all the mess.
First, rinse tomatoes and let drain in a colander or lay on a clean kitchen towel. While the tomatoes are drying a little, get 1-2 baking sheets and line them with parchment paper. I like to tuck in the ends by folding them under so there are no pieces of paper hanging out. But with parchment paper, the ends tucked or not tucked don’t really matter.
On a cutting board with a good knife, slice each tomato in half and core. Then lay each half cut side down on the baking sheet.
Once the sheet is full or all tomatoes are halved, turn on oven to a high broil. Place baking sheets inside and allow them to broil for about 3-4 minutes.
UPDATE: I’ve since trashed all my “non-stick” cookware and replaced my cookie/baking sheets with stainless steel. These ones are fantastic and I highly recommend!
Stainless Steel cooking sheets with cooling racks
3 different sizes stainless steel baking sheets
If you choose to use any links in this post, know that my family is SUPER grateful for you doing so!
NOTE:
Keep an eye on them! The goal is not to cook your tomatoes, it is to have the skin split. Because the bigger tomatoes will need more time to split than the smaller tomatoes or cherry and grape tomatoes, try to sort tomatoes based on size onto your baking sheets.
Once you see most skins splitting, take the pans out of the oven.
Allow the tomatoes time to cool for a few minutes before handling. Or if you’re like me and ready to can your tomatoes right now, use some tongs to peel off the skins so you don’t burn your fingers (and be sure to save those skins for this!)
Now these roast-to-peel tomatoes are skinned and ready to be processed however you want do it.
Water bath canning, open kettle style, or pressure canning- your kitchen, your rules. I personally process tomatoes all 3 ways.
Have tried electric or digital pressure canning yet? I have and LOVE it. Here’s my review of the Presto Digital Pressure Canner (unaffiliated and unpaid, just an honest review!)
If you liked this…
Besides preserving tomatoes, my next favorite summer activity is finding new ways to use tomatoes. All of the tomato!
Enjoy a few of my favorite ways to preserve and have zero waste from fresh summer garden tomatoes below:
3 Ways to Preserve Your Summer Tomatoes
or
What to do when you have too many tomatoes: 12 tomato ideas!
Even more tomato things:
Easy Pizza Sauce– make this one in a hurry! If you’ve got some time, make the pizza crust yourself. Try this: thick crust sourdough pizza dough
Tomato Powder– zero waste tomato idea! Use the skins for winter soup flavor.
Fresh tomatoes past your first frost date HACK!
Save it for later!
If you enjoyed this little hack, be sure to come back to my blog where I share regularly things I’m learning in my kitchen, garden, and small-scale homestead with you.
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Affiliate Disclosure:
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. I will always encourage shopping local, small, and direct FIRST. Johnson Home NC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com. As part of this Amazon Associates program, the Website will post customized links, provided by Amazon, to track the referrals to their website. And I thank you for using these links!
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