I haven't posted much this year, cuz I didn't plant much of a garden
(stupid weather.) But I am getting more tomatoes now from my 4 plants
than we can eat or give away. I made 8 pints of salsa last weekend, and
peeled-n-froze 4 quarts of sliced tomatoes last night. Have a lot more
to pick and do something with this weekend. Probably more salsa, or
maybe plain canned tomatoes.

So I got all the tomatoes peeled and sliced, and juiced a few to pour
over, then went looking for my freezer containers. I couldn't find any.
I've got quite a few *somewhere*, but no telling where -- maybe they
are all in the freezer (doubt it.) So I went to Walmart and bought a
couple of packs of quart plastic containers. Holy crap! A package
costs $2.24, and they only have 3 now instead of 4.

What about microwavable deli containers, like soup usually comes in from
the Chinese takeout places? They actually seem sturdier than freezer
containers, and they are tapered more so stuff will slide out while
still mostly frozen. I have reused deli containers for freezing and
they work well, but I haven't tried longterm freezing. Can anyone think
of a reason they won't work? I suppose they might get brittle when cold
and crack if dropped from the freezer -- I can live with that.

Bob

Not sure about that. Those chinese to go boxes are designed to keep stuff hot. Why not spring for a few boxes of the right gizmos and use them for molds. Put the tomatoes in there and freezer solid them move the finished product over to vacuum or freezer bags..wash and reuse the containers. Works well for large batches of brick chili anyway. Keep us posted on what you decide. Thanks.

bigwheel wrote:
> Not sure about that. Those chinese to go boxes are designed to keep
> stuff hot. Why not spring for a few boxes of the right gizmos and use
> them for molds. Put the tomatoes in there and freezer solid them move
> the finished product over to vacuum or freezer bags..wash and reuse the
> containers. Works well for large batches of brick chili anyway. Keep us
> posted on what you decide. Thanks.


I was talking about the round plastic deli containers rather than the
coated paper Chinese boxes -- the thicker ones designed for hot foods
(they have tighter lids too.) The Chinese paper food boxes are an
interesting idea and would be even cheaper, at least for onetime use.
The don't seal airtight at the top though, so might not be good for
longterm freezer storage.

I have frozen bricks of chili before; I don't recall what I used for the
mold. Popped them out when frozen and wrapped with freezer paper.
Worked pretty good.

Bob

I went to the local restaurant supply store yesterday and bought some
clear polypropylene deli containers. They didn't have any of the paper
Chinese togo boxes.

The containers aren't quite as thick as the ones I was looking for, but
they say they are "microwaveable for reheating" -- so they should be
heat resistant enough for hot-packing. Pints were about $5 for a stack
of 50, and quarts were about $8. Lids not included; I think those were
about $2.50 a package (also 50). The empties stack a *lot* more tightly
than square freezer containers.

I froze 6 pints of chili, and 4 quarts of peeled tomato halves in tomato
puree last night (raw packed) and they worked well. It'll be
interesting to see how they survive the dreaded Red Chili Grease.

Bob

zxcvbob wrote:

> I went to the local restaurant supply store yesterday and bought some
> clear polypropylene deli containers. They didn't have any of the paper
> Chinese togo boxes.
>
> The containers aren't quite as thick as the ones I was looking for, but
> they say they are "microwaveable for reheating" -- so they should be
> heat resistant enough for hot-packing. Pints were about $5 for a stack
> of 50, and quarts were about $8. Lids not included; I think those were
> about $2.50 a package (also 50). The empties stack a *lot* more tightly
> than square freezer containers.
>
> I froze 6 pints of chili, and 4 quarts of peeled tomato halves in tomato
> puree last night (raw packed) and they worked well. It'll be
> interesting to see how they survive the dreaded Red Chili Grease.

Bob,

i always pack freezer items when they are going into plastic
cold, that way the grease does not stain the plastic so heavily,
also i do not reheat in any plastic containers as the grease
will melt the plastic. much better to knock it into a glass
bowl and then reheat.

this way, you'll get maximum life out of those container
and won't be eating any strange chemical combinations from
the grease melting the plastic...


songbird