Erath Extension Agent Lonnie Jenschke
How to store tomatoes One of the simple joys of summer is access to greattasting tomatoes.
Whether grown and picked at “color break” from a home garden or bought fully ripened at a local farmers market or grocery store, tomatoes are a treat.
There are some tips and tricks to help you get the most from your tomato harvest or purchase, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert. Joe Masabni, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension small-acreage horticulturist.
Nothing will taste as great as a tomato at its peak, so timing is a major factor to consider when ripening tomatoes.
They can ripen in days or weeks, depending on the variety and stage at which they were picked, so buy or pick accordingly.
Any tomato reaching the “breaker stage” will continue to ripen off the vine, Masabni said. This is the stage where the bottom of the tomato has started to change from green to yellow.
The best place to let tomatoes ripen is on your kitchen counter. Ideally, ripe or ripening tomatoes prefer temperatures around the mid-60s, but Masabni said room temperature in most homes is fine.
However, breaker-stage tomatoes can be stored in a refrigerator to halt the ripening process. This allows you to pull them from the fridge and let them ripen as needed.
If you’ve picked an entirely green tomato, it will not ever ripen. It’s best to use these for a favorite recipe, like a relish or fried green tomatoes.
Once a tomato is at the breaker stage, it can be classified as vine ripened. Even though it doesn’t look ripe yet, it has all the sugars and essential compounds necessary for it to reach its mature color and full flavor.
If you can protect your tomato plants from pests that is best, but don’t have any qualms about picking your tomatoes and allowing them to finish ripening off the vine, because they will still have that same wonderful flavor.
Make sure you store the tomatoes with a little space between them on the counter or in a container to allow air circulation, Masabni said.
“Tomatoes should be stored how you see them at the market – out in the open,” he said. “Consumers often do it wrong – they treat onions like tomatoes and tomatoes like onions when it comes to storage. Keep your onions in the refrigerator, not the counter or the pantry.”
Do not keep tomatoes in a closed bag unless you want to hasten the ripeningprocess.Ethylene gasproducedbytomatoes ripens them quicker when held in the bag.
Tomatoes will also ripen more quickly if left in warmer temperatures, like on a porch or in an outbuilding. This can happen quickly, so you’ll want to check on them daily in temperatures above 80 degrees.
“Do not refrigerate ripe tomatoes unless you just can’t eat them,” Masabni said. “Refrigerators can affect the taste and texture of a ripe tomato, so let them ripen on a counter and then eat or cook with them.”
Local livestock exhibitors Lyrick Curry and Rylien Wade placed high at the national Red Angus Youth Expo, finishing 7th and 8th place respectively in their contests.