In our review of Creamy Creamless Tomato Soup last week, we accidentally divulged that we'd been storing our fresh tomatoes in the fridge - a big no-no that many of you were quick to point out!
You were right to slap our hands, and here's why...
Food Science: The Best Place to Store Tomatoes...and Why
Tomatoes are surprisingly delicate, we've discovered! Harold McGee in his book On Food and Cooking explains that refrigerating tomatoes damages the membranes inside the fruit walls, causing the tomato to lose flavor and develop the mealy texture we associate with mid-January grocery store tomatoes.
So the best place to store tomatoes is, indeed, on the counter top at room temperature. They actually continue to develop flavor until maturation peaks a few days after picking.
If you (like us!) have been keeping your fresh tomatoes in the fridge, try letting them sit out at room temperature for a full day before eating them. McGee says that some of the enzymes will re-activate and boost the flavor back up.
The moral of the story is this: tomatoes are meant to be eaten, not hoarded. And preferably, they should be eaten right away, immediately, as soon as you're home from the farmer's market, and without delay!
Related: Tastes Like Summer: The Perfect Tomato Sandwich
(Image: Flickr member visualdensity licensed under Creative Commons)
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Food Science, Summer, Ingredients - Vegetables, storage, Harold McGee, tomatoRelated Links
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I have learned my lesson about this too.
Unfortunately after my first crop of tomatoes earlier this summer (which were fantastic!!) the most recent tomatoes have been small and quick to rot on my window sill. Any suggestions?
view labchick's profile
labchick, a suggestion... don't put the tomatoes on your window sill in direct sunlight as the sun is probably ripening them too quickly.
view KrapArtist's profile
I tried to tell my father-in-law this, to no avail! Maybe he prefers the mealy texture.
view jamiealyse's profile
What if "room temperature" in your kitchen during the summer is 90 degrees?
view Sparkiy's profile
I also want to know the answer to Sparkiy's question about room temp.
view peacelily's profile
the answer to the warm kitchen is try to store the tomatoes in the shade, and eat within 2 days of purchase. Maybe you can put a small bowl of tomatoes on table in another room if the temp is cooler elsewhere in your home? My small kitchen also gets really hot in the summer, but that's not reason enough for me to eat mealy tomatoes.
view 212gretchen's profile
My family and I have always had fridge-tomatoes. I'll have to try this and see if I notice a difference!
view Mrs.Mack's profile