Tomato question - Discuss Cooking

**bigdaddy3k** · 07-10-2009, 03:04 PM

Last year I had a bumper crop of Romas. I had no time so I froze the lot. I know a brief dip in boiling water will allow me to remove the skins but if I allow them to thaw completely they collapse and they are near impossible to seed.

Do the seeds really have that much of an effect on the flavor of sauce? Can I just skin, chunk and process into sauce?

GB · 07-10-2009, 03:16 PM

Personally, I do not mind seeds in my sauce.

BreezyCooking · 07-10-2009, 03:20 PM

While it's certainly a personal preference, I never bother seeding tomatoes for anything (except fresh ones that I'm stuffing). I don't bother seeding the commercial whole canned tomatoes I buy either. In fact, I rather like the seeds in the sauce, & paste tomatoes like Romas don't have as many seeds as the big slicers do anyway.

Also - there's no need to dip frozen tomatoes in boiling water to remove the skins. Just run them under warm tap water while still frozen & the skins will slip off easily in your fingers. I find this one of the benefits of freezing tomatoes whole as is. And frankly, if I'm making a fresh, rustic type of pasta sauce, I frequently don't bother skinning them either. But again - personal preference.

GB · 07-10-2009, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreezyCooking

I never bother seeding tomatoes for anything (except fresh ones that I'm stuffing).

I am the same way, but for me I would add one other time I seed them and that is when the added moisture the would be detrimental to the dish. Other than that I leave em in.

luvs · 07-10-2009, 03:51 PM

see, i would seed them. i find seeds to be unpleastant. i'd halve & squeeze them, then pick the remainder from them after boiling them.

BreezyCooking · 07-10-2009, 03:54 PM

Why would you boil them after halving & squeezing them, especially if they were frozen?

luvs · 07-10-2009, 04:21 PM

i'm talking 'bout tomatoes raw! like prepping for a concasse!KitchenSavvy: Tomato Concassé

luvs · 07-10-2009, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvs

i'm talking 'bout tomatoes raw! like prepping for a concasse!KitchenSavvy: Tomato Concassé

though thier score shold be smaller & they should shock them in ice water after boiling. & they should boil 30 seconds, not a minute.

BreezyCooking · 07-10-2009, 04:59 PM

Posted by Luvs:
"see, i would seed them. i find seeds to be unpleastant. i'd halve & squeeze them, then pick the remainder from them after boiling them."

Luvs - I'm sorry but I think you're a little bit confused here.

First off, per the very link you provided for "Tomato Concasse" (which I'm aware of & do prepare once in awhile) the tomatoes are WHOLE when they're scored & DIPPED in boiling water for peeling. They're NOT halved & seeded before the dipping, which is what you said & what I was questioning. If you were to halve & seed the tomatoes before dipping them, the flesh would partially cook & absorb SO much liquid, the tomatoes would literally disintegrate. And the tomatoes are really just "dipped" in the boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute depending on the size & type of the tomato - not actually "boiled".

Also - the original poster was talking about tomatoes - FROZEN tomatoes that is, for sauce, & a concasse of tomato really isn't used for sauce, unless the sauce is really no more than a gourmet garnish or a fresh rustic-type sauce for an appetizer portion of pasta.