Sammy,

Freezing tomatoes is the simplest thing on earth and is my favorite method for preserving tomatoes for cooking if I have freezer space available. You can freeze whole tomatoes without removing the skin. I generally freeze them in those white freezer boxes with red lids that they sell on the canning aisle, but when all my boxes fill up, I just use either freezer zip-lock bags or Food-Saver vacuum-sealed bags.

When I remove the tomatoes from the freezer to use, I let them thaw a little and then, when I pick them up I can squeeze each tomato and the skin pops right off.

Canning is more involved. To can, you can drop the tomatoes into boiling water for a few seconds, and then drop them into cold water and the skin then will pop right off. That's how I've done it all my life until a couple of years ago, Two or three years ago I bought a Villaware/Roma tomato strainer and now, when processing tomatoes for canning or freezing, I usually use it. It removes the skin and the seeds, which is an advantage if you don't want seeds in your pasta sauce, for example. Had I know how much easier canning would be with a tomato strainer, I would have bought one 25 years ago.

The method I choose to process any given batch of tomatoes varies, depending on how much time I have and also on how I intend to use the tomatoes.

For salsa, I use the tomato strainer to remove the skin and seeds and then make and can the salsa using a boiling water bath canner.

For tomatoes to use in pasta sauce, I use the tomato strainer to remove the skin and seeds and then freeze the pure tomato puree in those plastic freezer boxes.

For tomatoes to use in cooking soups and stews like Chicken-Tortilla Soup or Taco Soup, I either freeze them whole in freezer bags or process them the same way I process tomatoes for pasta sauce.

One advantage to freezing tomatoes whole is that it allows you to deal with them at a non-peak harvest time. It also allows you to 'save up' a lot of tomatoes in the freezer until you have enough to cook up a batch or salsa or sauce or pureed tomatoes.

Canning is definitely more time-consuming, but I can so much that it seems relatively easy and simple to me. Like everything else, once you're used to doing it and have a routine worked out, it is pretty fast.

This year, with the tomato harvest being lower than usual, most of my canning tomatoes went into making/canning salsa and very few went into the freezer. I also made that decision based on the amount of onions, sugar snap peas, broccoli, peppers and peaches that already had filled a substantial amount of freezer space.

I fill up two deep freezes and the freezer compartments of two refrigerators every summer with home-grown produce. Once they are full, my options are limited to either canning or drying, although I also have DS's two dorm refrigerators from his college days that I can plug in and use in a pinch.

Food preservation is so worth it, but if I use up most of my tomatoes for salsa, fresh eating (of course!) and dehydrating, then buying canned tomatoes for cooking doesn't bother me. I buy canned organic tomatoes by the case at CostCo when I run out of frozen cooking tomatoes.

In a slow year when the garden isn't producing huge amounts of produce, I have time to can my own tomatoes for cooking, but in a busier year, canning the fruit, peppers, sauerkraut, salsa, pickles, etc. takes up enough time as it is and I just freeze tomatoes.

In a busy tomato year, you can preserve the tomatoes in many different ways....as frozen whole or pureed tomatoes, frozen or canned salsa, frozen or canned pasta sauce, canned whole tomatoes, canned pureed tomatoes, catsup, cocktail sauce, tomato jelly, dried tomatoes (with a food dehydrator or in some convection ovens), etc.

The website of the Home Food Preservation Center tells you all you need to know about home food preservation and it is the bsst online source to find research-backed, government-approved, safe food-preservation methods. I've linked it below.

The Ball Blue Book is also a great resource and Wal-Mart has it on the canning aisle, though maybe not at this time of the year. I steer clear of canning books or cookbooks that do not feature research-backed, safety-approved recipes.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation

I freeze the tomatoes like Dawn does. Except if using in chili or stews I just through them in and then skim off any skins that float to the top. I don't bother taking them off before putting them in usually. It is the same way with roasted peppers. I remove any real loose skins before freezing. I will chop some in the processor. Others I freeze whole. If eating a whole one I will remove the skin after thawing it. If using it too cook with I just throw them in the pot many times frozen. Has worked well for me. I also don't remove skins or seeds when making salsa from tomatoes or peppers. I guess it is more how and where you learned. Jay