22.10.2024

How to store tomatoes for longer?

By Lesia

Among fruits and vegetables, tomatoes are essential for preparing delicious sauces. In pasta or mashed potatoes, they add flavour to all dishes. If you want to keep them as long as possible, you should put them upside down, with the stems facing down.

With a light drizzle of olive oil and herbs or balsamic vinegar, tomatoes are a delight to eat without moderation. Instead of freezing or refrigerating them, you can keep them upside down, with the stem facing down.

fresh tomatoes
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Fresh tomatoes – Source: spm

Why put bunches of tomatoes with the stem facing down to store them?
If tomatoes are an essential part of our shopping, it is thanks to the variety of recipes they allow us to make. They combine perfectly with garlic, basil, Provencal herbs or even feta cheese in a salad. Only when they are overripe can these delicious fruits become unusable. Fortunately, there is a formidable tomato trick that can prolong their conservation outside the refrigerator when these fruits are exposed to low temperatures. Whether grown or purchased, tomatoes are delicious foods when placed stem-side down in a basket or near a window. Thanks to this technique, you can preserve them longer to prepare a tomato sauce or delicious preparations.

Thus, by placing this source of vitamins with the stem side down, this food maintains its bright red color and firm, making it ideal for making a sauce or preparing a salad. The pulp is juicy and the appearance of the tomato, which you can grow at home, will remain the same longer than if you had kept it in the refrigerator. This fruit that grows in clusters will not develop mold or rot quickly.

tomato varieties
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Various varieties of tomatoes – Source: spm

Why should tomatoes not be placed in the refrigerator?
Contrary to popular belief, these perfect fruits with onions, shallots or fresh goat cheese should be stored with the stems facing down but also at room temperature. This food is not suitable for refrigeration as its flavour and colour may be affected. Result: the texture of this ingredient becomes floury. The same goes for cherry tomatoes, perfect as an appetizer as they are sweet and perfect for summer. If it is advisable not to place them at temperatures below 12 degrees Celsius it is because these round fruits stop their enzymatic activity that makes them so delicious. However, when tomatoes are ripe, it is recommended not to wait more than two days before cooking them . in sauce with onions or to accompany your summer salads.

stuffed tomatoes
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Stuffed tomatoes – Source: spm

How to store tomatoes that are still green?
If you choose to harvest them or buy them green, tomatoes should not be stored in the refrigerator, but outside at room temperature. This ingredient should be exposed to indirect sunlight to fully ripen. These seed ingredients should bloom with the stem facing down to reap many of the benefits. This prevents moisture from reaching this ingredient, which can be cooked au gratin or mixed with tuna for tasty little glasses. Leaving them out keeps mold and bacteria away from this delicious, sweet-tasting fruit. For tomatoes that are still green, it is recommended to place them in the same position, with the stem facing down but in a paper bag.

antioxidant tomato
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Tomato, source of antioxidants – Source: spm

You will have understood: whether it is a cherry tomato or the classic variety, this delicious fruit will stay juicy for longer if you store it with the stem facing down!